Coast to keep it country

THE Gold Coast has done again.

The city will cement its credentials as the new home of country – and live TV awards shows – when Foxtel’s Country Music Channel Awards return to The Star Gold Coast in March.

The 8th annual CMC Music Awards 2018 event will mark the second time the Coast has hosted the country shindig, which precedes the annual CMC Rocks festival.

The largest annual fanvoted awards in Australian country music, this year’s 7th annual CMC Awards ceremony, hosted by Aussie country star Morgan Evans, brought a who’s who of country music to town for what many hailed the best awards ceremony in the event’s history.

The 2018 CMC Music Awards will be televised live it from The Star on Foxtel’s CMC on March 15 – the eve of the 2018 CMC Rocks festival, which returns to Willowbank, Ipswich, from March 16-18,

The festival bill includes country megastars Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker and Kelsea Ballerini, fellow US artists Dustin Lynch, Randy Houser, Bretty Young, Brothers Osbourne, Luke Combs and Aussies Busby Marou, Christie Lamb, Melanie Dyer, Bayklou and hometown favourite Casey Barnes, with many of them expected to walk the red carpet on the Coast.

The Star showed off its credentials as a live broadcast venue when it hosted the 2017 CMC Awards in March this year and has since been named as the new home of the Logies.

TV’s night of nights, the 2018 Logies will be held at the Broadbeach hotel and casino in August after Queensland successfully poached the event from Victoria.