In case you’ve been living under a rock, the 53rd presentation of the County Music Association (CMA) Awards aired Wednesday night on ABC. And days later, the ‘biggest night in country music’ is living up to its reputation, and is still making headlines across America.
The night start off with a bang; Reba, Dolly and Carrie. What more could you ask for? Female country music icons including Tanya Tucker, Sara Evans, Gretchen Wilson and more joined the trio on stage for a powerful all-female intro in the awards ceremony.
Although it was deemed a night celebrating women, the guys weren’t shorted when it came to the awards portion. Blake Shelton was an early winner in the night, taking home the CMA for Single of the Year for “God’s Country,” the men of Old Dominion edged out longtime groups like Little Big Town and Lady Antebellum for Vocal Group of the Year, and no surprise here – Dan + Shay took home the CMA for Vocal Duo of the year.
But, the women held their own when it came down to handing out the shiny new pieces of hardware. Maren Morris took home the CMA for Album of the Year, Ashley McBryde for New Artist of the Year, and Kacey Musgraves for Female Vocalist of the Year & Music Video of the Year. (Which, we could write an article about how Kacey is pulling a Taylor Swift, and is more ‘pop’ than ‘country’ now – but we’ll save that for another time)
One deserving country music artist who had a great night? Luks Combs. He has been hot on the charts, delivering hit after hit; and he came out with a new album in early November. Not only did he put on a perfect performance of “Beer Never Broke My Heart” during the show, but he also won CMA’s for Song of the Year for “Beautiful Crazy” and edged out dominate male artists like Dierks Bentley, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton and Keith Urban for Male Vocalist of the Year.
One deserving country music artist who was short changed on the big night? Carrie Underwood. She has not only hosted the CMA’s for 10 years; but she recently released her sixth studio album Cry Pretty, finished a world tour with many sold-out shows, became a new mom to her second son, is in the process of writing a book, and manages her clothing brand Calia – but who’s keeping track? Underwood went home empty handed after being nominated in multiple categories. The most notable, heartbreaking loss was going up against 4 male artist in the Entertainer of the Year category, where she lost to Garth Brooks, who received his seventh CMA for EOTY. And let us tell you, fans were NOT happy.
But, don’t get it twisted – at the end of the day, Garth Brooks is freakin’ Garth Brooks. But when you weigh what Carrie has done in the past year to what Garth has done, Carrie gets our vote any day.
Now, let’s talk about the best part of the night: the performances. The collaborations this year were incredible, ranging from Pink and Chris Stapleton, to Kacey Musgraves and Willie Nelson, and Lady Antebellum and Halsey, to name a few. But the best performances of the night arguably came from Eric Church and Kelsea Ballerini, who both gave audiences acoustic versions of their hit songs. In all honesty though, you could watch any performance from any artist during the 3-hour show and be blown away by every single one.
Needless to say, it was a great night for women in country music, but there were some awards that missed the mark. Oh well, there’s always next year! Right?
