1. Brad and Carrie’s hilarious comments
From man buns and McDonald’s all day breakfast, to Trump slipping in the polls and “Bruce Jenner’s a babe now,” Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood’s opening monologue definitely met the fans expectations. Brad and Carrie are country fans’ favorite hosts and they sure know how to make people laugh while stirring up some controversy. They even cracked a joke about Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert’s divorce, which I think we were all prepared for. They started off by talking about how so many couples have broken up this year and that two of them were in this room tonight… everyone expected them to be talking about Blake and Miranda, but the cameras then shot to Kermit and Miss Piggy from The Muppets. Immediately afterward, Brad Paisley said “on a completely unrelated topic, howdy Blake,” and the camera shot to Blake Shelton laughing. They definitely know how to make a joke out of anything!
2. Duets that you never thought would happen
Hank Williams Jr. and Eric Church opened the show and were directly followed by John Mellencamp and Keith Urban singing “Ain’t That America.”
Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake performed together singing Tennessee Whiskey by Stapleton and Drink You Away by Timberlake.
The one that was probably the most unexpected was Thomas Rhett and Fall Out Boy, who sang Crash and Burn (Rhett) and Uma Thurman (Fall Out Boy).
My personal favorite though was definitely the duet with Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn. They sang Why Haven't I Heard From You (McEntire) and Play Something Country (Brooks & Dunn). Every country fan knows how upsetting it was when Brooks & Dunn announced their retirement in 2009, so it's always awesome to see them performing again!
3. "Girl Crush" slaying the awards
Little Big Town proved everyone wrong who hates "Girl Crush" last night by winning three awards: Single of the Year, Song of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year. They also performed the song. During their acceptance speech for Single of the Year, Little Big Town thanked country radio stations for having the guts to play Girl Crush because the fans want to hear it. Surprisingly, the song is very controversial and people have mixed feelings about it.
4. Florida Georgia Line’s acceptance speech
Florida Georgia Line's speech after winning Vocal Duo of the Year (for the third year in a row) was perfect in my opinion. They made it a point to thank their band, crew and road family because they don't get enough recognition and they said it was most important to thank the Lord. They also thanked their wives, parents, and families and ending the speech by saying "God Bless and thank - you CMA's."
https://www.flickr.com/photos/disneyabc/22173772443/in/photolist-zMu7LP-ArGvfS-A6kBqh-AH7Gjj-zMqo2r-A8EBW8Photo Credit
5. Female Vocalist of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year
Male Vocalist of the Year went to Chris Stapleton, who also took the award for New Artist of the Year. He was up against big name artists: Blake Shelton, Eric Church, Luke Bryan, and Dierks Bentley, so to win was definitely a huge honor.
Female Vocalist of the Year went to Miranda Lambert, who is more than deserving of the award this year.
Entertainer of the Year went to Luke Bryan and he was also against big name artists (although he is also one himself): Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Eric Church and the legendary Garth Brooks.
6. Brad Paisley’s performance of Country Nation
Host Brad Paisley performed his song Country Nation and there were numerous college mascots all around the stage dancing along to the song!
