Halsey and Kelsea Ballerini Perform Racy Tribute to Coyote Ugly at 2020 CMT Music Awards

Halsey and Kelsea Ballerini went all-out at the 2020 CMT Music Awards by performing "The Other Girl" in a "promiscuous" homage to the movie Coyote Ugly to mark its 20th anniversary.

By Lindsay Weinberg Oct 22, 2020 3:04 AMTags
Watch: "Coyote Ugly" Turns 20: E! News Rewind

Even though bars are closed in many cities, Halsey and Kelsea Ballerini let us relive our best nights of bar-hopping with their performance at the 2020 CMT Music Awards

The singers did not hold back, wowing with a racy rendition of their song "The Other Girl" on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

They performed on a bar set with red lights and stunned in matching leather outfits. The red-hot show paid tribute to the 2000 dance film Coyote Ugly, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Kelsea wrote on Instagram, "living out coyote ugly dreams tonight with my girl."

Kelsea and Halsey were feeling rowdy, with Halsey recreating some of the film's bartop dancing sequences and stomping her pink snakeskin boots on the counter. The 26-year-old star also had pink glittery eyeshadow, of course. 

Kelsea started out in a cowgirl hat, twirling olives in a martini glass, before she leaned against the bar to belt out her song. She borrowed the lyrics when captioning her lace-up romper look on Instagram, writing, "I bet you're more promiscuous than I."

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Coyote Ugly Cast Then and Now

CMT Music Awards co-host Ashley McBryde joked that the duo was rocking "moves that would probably get them thrown out of a bar." 

The pair dropped their collab, "The Other Girl," this spring as part of Kelsea's self-titled album and performed it on CMT Crossroads in March. Another duet of theirs, for Halsey's "Graveyard," earned both artists a nomination for the 2020 CMT Performance of the Year, but they lost to Chris Young on Wednesday night.

Kevin Winter/CMT2020/Getty Images for CMT

Just two weeks ago, Coyote Ugly star Tyra Banks revealed that a reboot or sequel of the film is in the works, with actress Maria Bello down to return. The story is based on the real-life Coyote Ugly Saloon, which started in New York in 1993. 

The original film's soundtrack includes "Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz and several LeAnn Rimes hits, such as "The Right Kind of Wrong," "Please Remember," "Can't Fight the Moonlight" and "But I Do Love You." That is to say, Coyote Ugly is perfect for the country-lovin' crowd.

Onstage, Halsey appeared with long locks of hair, even though she debuted her new 'do—a shaved head—on TikTok earlier this week. "When I was bald everybody was so damn mean," she tweeted last week. "Now every hot girl ever has a bald head does that mean I can go bald again or what."

CMT

Kelsea, fresh off her duet with Luis Fonsi, dialed it up a notch at the CMT Music Awards in Nashville, Tennessee. The 27-year-old musician, who wore vintage Tom Ford on the red carpet, was among the most nominated country artists of the night. She was a contender for Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "homecoming queen?"

The Grammy nominee is also up for the Country Artist of 2020 award at the 2020 E! People's Choice Awards next month. And Halsey is in the running for the PCA for Best Collaboration of 2020 for "Be Kind" with Marshmello. Tune in on Nov. 15 on E!.

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