The CMA Awards is the time of year where everyone in country music gets together and celebrate. It is that one night a year that is dedicated to country music. Each year the show seems to get better and better. This year was no expectation.
The show kicked off with a number from Luke Bryan that featured many of country music's up and coming artist. Luke was joined on stage by Cole Swindell, Jon Pardi, Luke Combs, Chris Janson, Lindsay Ell, and Ashley McBryde to perform his hit single “What Makes You Country". It was a powerful moment not because each one of these artists has a different country sound. The best performance of the night came whenever Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line performed “Meant to Be".
There were plenty of performances that delivered and lived up to there hype. Keith Urban performed “Never Comin' Down" and the performance was awesome. Keith had everything from the platform stage to the insane lighting. He had everything from laser lights to fog lights as he performed his hit singles. Keith even had the song title on the platform screen underneath him in LED lights. His performance was not the only one that delivered on the special effects. Dierks Bentley and Brother Osborne used fire in the best way possible with their “Burning Man" performance. There was fire all around them as they performed on stage.
My favorite performance of the night was when Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line killed it on stage. Their performance did not disappoint and it lived up to my anticipation. Carrie Underwood looked stunning as always when she performed “Love Wins". Carrie was wearing a gorgeous blue dress with a colorful pattern on the inside of the sleeves. As she performed the emotionally touching song, she was sounded by LED lighting and fog lights. The amazing and powerful performance was amped up when her background singers joined her on stage and held their hands in heart shapes. Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert's performance was pure and powerful. It simple and powerful. Brett Young's performance of "Mercy" felt so intimate because he was on a small stage in the middle of the audience.
With all the performances that were amazing, there were some that did not live up to the hype. Unfortunately, Dan and Shay's performances of “Tequila" fell flat last night. They were not the only ones, Brad Paisley and Midlands performances hit the more as well.
The most iconic performance of the night came when Chris Stapleton and Maren Morris teamed up with Mavis Staples. When the trio sang Mavis's hit song "I'll Take You There", it was a powerful moment in all of music this year. This performance was not as anticipated as other, but it is not to be overlooked as one of the highlights of tonight's show. The power of not only Chris, Maren, and Mavis but the gospel choir that was behind them as their backup vocals. It made the performance even more powerful.
Besides the amazing performances, there were awards that were handed out last night. Some of the awards were not a surprise at all. The winner of Single of the Year went to Chris Stapleton for "Broken Halos", a powerful and moving song, Female Vocalist of the Year went to Carrie Underwood, New Artist of the Year went to Luke Combs. These winners were not a surprise because they were the winner most people expected to win these categories. Then there were categories that were a complete shock. I was completely surprised when Old Dominion won Vocal Group of the Year. I was anticipating and expecting Lady Antebellum to win this category, so it was cool to see Old Dominion win. The same when Brother Osborne won Vocal Duo of the Year. I thought that category belonged to Florida Georgia Line.
The biggest surprise of the night came when Kacey Musgraves won for Album of the Year, for her album "Golden Hour". It was really cool to see her win since she was up against all men in this category. It felt like a big win for women last night. Her album is filled with moving and empowering songs, so it was awesome to see her get the recognition for it.
Then what can we say about Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, they were amazing as always. They started the night by doing a parody of "Star Is Born" from Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga's new movie. In their version, they mentioned and poked fun at Keith Urban, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, Luke Bryan, and more. Brad and Carrie also revealed the gender her second child with the #CarrieBlewIt and they poked fun at her husband about who the father is. They even brought internet star "Little Hank" aka Mason Ramsey on stage to sing about being an older brother. Brad poked fun of Carrie's falling accident last year by giving her a bubble dress. The highlight of the opening act of the show was when Brad flossed with actual dental floss and Luke Bryan got up and did the floss dance.
This year's CMA Awards had the best of the best. It definitely lived up to the anticipation and was worth the time watching it. The show seems to get better every year. I can't wait to see what next year's show has to offer to the country music world.
