By Maddie Baker
The Star Wars opening may have been scratched, but the Country Music Awards were still out of this world. The 49th annual CMA’s, hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood for the eighth consecutive year, aired Nov. 4 to the delight of country music fans everywhere. The night opened with Hank Williams Jr.’s duet with Eric Church, followed by John Mellencamp and Keith Urban, and only continued to get better from there.
Paisley and Underwood did their signature summary of the year donning 2015 as “cray-cray.” Paisley played guitar as the two of them sang about the whip, man buns, McDonald’s all day breakfast, Caitlin Jenner’s transformation, and Donald Trump running for president. The duo briefly mentioned all the iconic couples that broke up throughout the year, like Miss Piggy and Kermit, and Paisley mentioned, without spelling it out, the divorce of Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert. The two hosts previewed the night’s upcoming performances by legendary duets, and the audience applauded its approval when William Shatner walked on to a smoke-filled stage in a storm trooper costume. Paisley and Underwood ended their monologue when Paisley pulled down his pants in a caricature of Miley Cyrus’ naked host selfie.
Steve Martin and Edie Brickell presented the first award of the night, Single of the Year. The award went to “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town, making it their second time winning the single of the year award.
Paisley and Underwood retook the stage to commemorate country music legend Little Jimmy Dickens with a short video clip. Then the Zac Brown Band performed “Beautiful Drug” from their latest album Jekyll + Hyde. Afterwards, Entertainer of the Year nominee Kenny Chesney performed his three-week number one song, “Save it for a Rainy Day.” Sam Hunt performed after Chesney with “Take Your Time,” which was nominated for Single of the Year.
“Girl Crush,” written by Liz Rose, Lori McKenna, and Hillary Lindsey, won Song of the Year. Betty Cantro, more prominently known as Miss America, and Darius Rucker were there to present the award to the grateful trio. A performance of “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town followed the award.
Cam and Brett Eldredge presented the New Artist of the Year award, which Brett Eldredge received last year. The new artist nominees included Kelsea Ballerini, Sam Hunt, Maddie & Tae, Thomas Rhett, and Chris Stapleton. Stapleton, who is known for “Traveller” and “Tennessee Whiskey,” won the award.
Next up, Underwood gave a powerhouse performance of her hit single, “Smoke Break.” After which, Stapleton and Justin Timberlake performed the first groundbreaking duet of the evening with a beautiful take on Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” and an uplifting version of “Drink You Away.” Florida Georgia Line followed with the TV debut of their song “Confession.”
Heather O’Reilly and Megan Rapinoe from the US Olympic women’s soccer team announced the winner of the Vocal Duo of the Year alongside Cole Swindell. The award went to the dynamic duo Florida Georgia Line for the third time.
Eric Church released his brand new album on the same day as the CMA awards, and he performed his new song “Mr. Misunderstood” on the CMA award stage. The second, but no less groundbreaking duo production of the night, Rhett and Fall Out Boy, sang Rhett’s hit “Crash and Burn” and Fall Out Boy’s ever popular “Uma Thurman.”
The Album of the Year award was up next. Lee Ann Womack and Kiefer Sutherland gladly presented the award to Chris Stapleton for his album Traveller.
Ballerini then sang her first number one song “Love Me Like You Mean It” and gave a shout out to the CMA radio stations of the year.
Lee Corso and Corb Corstree introduced host Paisley singing, “Country Nation.” Shelton played his song “Gonna,” and immediately after, Maddie & Tae sang their first number one hit, “Girl in a Country Song.” They shared the awards for CMA Broadcast Personalities of the Year.
Luke Bryan sang his current single, “Strip It Down.” The presentation of Bryan’s fourteenth number one single may have seemed conservative, but it had the audience cheering. Pentatonix arrived on stage moments later to present the award for Vocal Group of the Year. Little Big Town ended up taking home the prize.
Lambert performed “Bathroom Sink” with her pink guitar and hair before Jason Aldean took the stage and sang “Gonna Know We Were Here” with some intense pyrotechnics that topped off his performance. After a few words from the night’s hosts, Kacey Musgraves performed “Dime Store Cowgirl” in a whimsical and very pink fashion. Dierks Bentley got on stage with musician Lindsey Stirling for his song “Riser.”
Supermodel Hannah Davis and Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum presented the Female Vocalist of the Year award. The phenomenal nominees were Kelsea Ballerini, Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, Carrie Underwood, and Lee Ann Womack. Lambert won the award for the sixth time.
Typically, the next groundbreaking trio made of three country legends only performs at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, but they took the CMA stage regardless. Reba and Brooks & Dunn sang “Why Haven’t I Heard From You” and “Play Something Country” in an upbeat country throwback.
The star of Wicked City, Erica Christianson, and the host of CMA’s Country Christmas, Jennifer Nettles, granted the Male Vocalist of the Year award. The nominees for this category included Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Blake Shelton, and Chris Stapleton. Stapleton earned his third award of the evening.
The final award of the evening, and arguably the biggest award, was the Entertainer of the Year award, presented by Reba McEntire, a former entertainer of the year winner. The esteemed musicians that were nominated were Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, and Miranda Lambert. Bryan was granted the honor of taking home the coveted award to wrap up one of country music’s biggest nights.
