Hey everybody, Brooke here with Stars and Guitars and we’re recapping the best and worst moments of the 56th Annual ACM Awards. Now for the most part the show didn’t have too many glaringly bad missteps, but some choices left me scratching my head a bit. Unfortunately, Miranda Lambert lands on our list for two of her three performances of the night. Her duet with Elle King to open the show on their single ‘Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)’ left me wondering where the days of guitar-smashing, ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ Miranda went. King spent the majority of that performance trying to get Miranda to have more fun on stage and the whole thing left me pretty underwhelmed. Lambert then harmonized with Chris Stapleton on ‘Maggie’s Song’, but you wouldn’t know it was a Stapleton song given how much time the camera spent focused on Miranda. Oh and by the way, where was Chris’ wife Morgane, who always harmonizes with him on every performance? The show gave no explanation of why Lambert was filling in. And while we’re asking hypothetical questions, how come Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan took off only one week from judging American Idol because he had Covid-19, but couldn’t skip a second week to do what he’s most known for, which is to perform and you know, entertain the ACM Awards audience?
The majority of the night’s presenters were very natural and didn’t have a schtick that made us collectively groan. That is until comedian-turned-singer Leslie Jordan came out in an awfully loud jacket and gave the most self-indulgent leadup to naming Dan + Shay the Duo of the Year. Jordan took up so much time that the winners felt the need to rattle off their thank you’s so fast that you could barely understand them. And speaking of not understanding someone, do Clay Walker and Chris Stapleton understand how to use microphones? Walker started introducing the Album of the Year category without holding the mic, and Stapleton’s acceptance speech was often muffled because he couldn’t stand in front of the mic properly. But probably the night’s biggest disappointment was Lee Brice’s portion of his and Carly Pearce’s winning song ‘I Hope You’re Happy Now’. This was a much-anticipated performance after Brice’s bout with Covid-19 prevented him from performing with her at the CMA Awards in November. The result can be summed up in the lyrics he sang, because he was a wreck and a mess.
Moving on to the bright spots of the ceremony, there were quite a few stellar vocal performances. Carrie Underwood took us all to church, in a literal former church, for a fantastic medley of hymns from her recent album ‘My Savior’, joined by the legendary Gospel singer CeCe Winans. Even Keith Urban didn’t know how to react after she brought the house down on ‘How Great Thou Art,’ and it was clearly the fan favorite performance on social media. Lady A made the most of their performance of ‘Like A Lady’ after they were added late in the game to replace Luke Bryan. Dierks Bentley teamed up with The War and Treaty to give us a bluegrass rendition of the U2 classic ‘Pride (In The Name Of Love)’ that made sure to emphasize their amazing range.
In a performance that was so steamy it could make your television sweat, Ryan Hurd couldn’t take his eyes off wife Maren Morris during their new duet ‘Chasing After You’. Going from sexy to sweet, Alan Jackson finished off his performance of ‘Always Be My Baby’ by nearly tearing up as a photo of him with his daughter on her wedding day could be seen in the background. Meanwhile, Jimmie Allen showed the right balance of shock and professionalism by not skipping a beat as Brad Paisley surprised him for their duet of ‘Freedom Was A Highway’. But let’s face it, Brad is notorious for pulling off those surprises, part of me thinks Jimmie saw it coming.
The night’s best showing of gratitude came from Carly Pearce, as she gleefully jumped up and down when she and Lee Brice won Single of the Year. But the night’s best moment came early in the show when Blanco Brown, in his first public appearance since his life-threatening car accident, presented Group of the Year to Old Dominion. He thanked frontline workers who saved his life and best of all, he hasn’t lost his sense of humor.
Let us know what some of your favorite moments of the night were and I’ll catch you all next time.
