On CMT: Host  

Lance Smith
Hosting a show like Top 20 Countdown requires knowledge of country music, a lot of energy, a professional delivery and just the right amount of personal zaniness. Host Lance Smith has all the above in bundles (just check out his outtakes sometime). When you see him on television and hear his voice, you may not be able to detect where the popular television host grew up. Although he spent time in California honing his acting skills, his roots are in rural middle Tennessee.

Born in Huntsville, Ala., Smith and his family quickly moved to Erin, Tenn., a small farming community with a present population of about 1,500. He moved a number of times before settling in Franklin, Tenn., just south of Nashville and estimates he moved 22 times before the 10th grade which may account for his great bursts of energy on camera.

Smith moved so much that he didn't have the opportunity to participate in school plays, but he "watched and loved theater." It wasn't until he got out of school that he took formal acting classes, had publicity photos made and began auditioning for music videos. If you think you recognized him in the Wilkinsons' video, "Fly," you'd be right. He was also in Julie Reeves' "It's About Time" and played the love interest in "A Rose Is a Rose" by Meredith Edwards.

Smith made the move to Los Angeles in 1999. He landed jobs as extras in sitcoms and did a lot of auditioning, but he missed home. It was in the spring of 2000 that an agent called with what turned out to be his first big break. Popular country music trio the Dixie Chicks, were heading out on the road for their Fly tour, and they needed an emcee for their halftime show. Smith got the gig and wound up doing 92 live shows, gaining a lot of experience and exposure.

Back at home in Tennessee after the tour ended, he was making plans to return to L.A. when he heard CMT was looking for on-air personalities. A great fan of CMT from his childhood, Smith had always hoped for a hosting job but had never had an opportunity to try his hand at it until the Fly tour. In fact, his desire to host his own show had sent him to Missouri for an audition to be a vee-jay for MTV. After driving to St. Louis and waiting all night, his hopes were dashed when he realized he couldn't audition without a Social Security card, and he was turned away. Fortunately, that experience didn't dim his enthusiasm, and when the right opportunity presented itself, he was ready.

Postponing the trip to California, he auditioned for CMT several times and finally, at the young age of 22, the producers of a new show called Most Wanted Live called him back, and in his words, "boom."

The young actor-turned-host was thrown into five days a week of live television with a live studio audience and country music celebrity guests with little interviewing experience, but his innate ability to talk with people, be spontaneous and his background in country music made him a natural.

If he had ever wondered what it would be like to host a live show, he got the chance to prove his mettle early on, when during an interview, Dolly Parton shook that part of her anatomy for which she is most famous, and he never blinked. He realized he was able to maintain his professionalism no matter what was happening and that, while he's a big fan of the artists, he wasn't star struck -- an important trait for a host.

The show proved to be the right opportunity to realize his dream of hosting and led to his current position as the host of CMT's Top 20 Countdown.