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By Mark Brown
Special to MSN Music
They made it look effortless last year, so they're back this time around. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood will host Wednesday's 43rd Annual CMA Awards, and the chemistry onstage is real. In an interview during a hectic week that includes mini-concerts, hosting the show and being up for their own CMAs, Paisley and Underwood take it all with good cheer, wisecracking and poking fun at themselves as chaos reigns around them.
See photos: Carrie Underwood | Brad Paisley
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MSN Music: Touring is hectic enough, but a week like this must be like touring on steroids.
Brad Paisley: We're not really supposed to answer a question with steroids in it.
Carrie Underwood: We do not use performance-enhancing drugs.
Paisley: Exactly. The CMAs have begun drug testing for Kenny Chesney, myself and a few other male artists.
Underwood: He's nominated for seven awards? Come on!
Paisley: So if we could just rephrase the question without steroids.... (laughs) It's certainly different from touring with us. We are really used to that. But now we have to learn to do something that guys like Steve Martin and Billy Crystal get paid big bucks to do. There's a good reason they get paid that.
Underwood: We do it for free though.
It's easy to do this poorly, but the reports from rehearsals say you two still have the touch.
Paisley: I think that we both have great chemistry. You jump into this and you think abut the fact that someone's going to buy a TV, they're going to plug it into an electrical outlet ... when you plug that TV into an outlet they've got their expectations for the show and we're really trying our best to give them what they want. More than anything just move this thing along, try to make the show all it can be.
Underwood: Having done it last year we've got more confidence in ourselves as hosts.
Have you considered not doing it? If I were up for an award I wouldn't want to present or host. I'd curl up in my chair all night.
Paisley: Oh no. Trust me, having been nominated one year for six awards and losing all six, there's nothing worse than three hours in that chair with no reason to get up. It's a lot more fun to host.
Underwood: You're not going to win every award you're up for. If you lose it's OK, because it's "Oh, I've got to change my clothes, I've got to be ready for this".... There's not much time to dwell on not winning.
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