Old Dominion Medley from Ryman Auditorium-BEST

You can tell these guys were excited to just get back on stage. The transitions between songs were impeccable, and the acoustics of the Ryman served their vocals very well. The thread of multiple songs in between lines of set-opener ‘One Man Band’ were chill-inducing. This performance was electric.

Honorable Mention: Lead singer Matthew Ramsey’s acceptance speech for Song of the Year was raw, off-the-cuff, and incredibly emotional. And the whole group coming to the stage in their masks was definitely worthy of applause.

The Google Earth transitions between venues-WORST

Simply put, the expensive technology added a level of cheapness to the show that wouldn’t have been there if the show had just cut straight to performances from the different venues. Luckily, these poor transitions didn’t happen for every single performance.

Morgan Wallen-WORST

At various points throughout his performance of hit single ‘Whiskey Glasses’, it looked like he was going to swallow the microphone. Maybe that’s why his vocals sounded garbled through the whole song.

Miranda Lambert at The Bluebird-BEST

It was fitting that she was wearing blue, performing ‘Bluebird’ at the Bluebird Café. A true songwriter’s song, performed in the home of Nashville’s biggest songwriting scene, next to Natalie Hemby and Luke Dick, the song’s co-writers. It doesn’t get much better.

Carrie Underwood-BEST

There’s a reason why people (including myself) think Underwood is the reigning queen of country. She stole the show with ‘Before He Cheats’ in the opening Entertainer of the Year medley. She did all the country queens of the past proud with her fantastic medley of their hits. And then there’s the moment that capped off the night, which we’ll get to in a bit.

Clint & Lisa Don’t Have the Jokes-WORST

Someone forgot to tell Clint Black and wife Lisa Hartman Black that this night was supposed to be about heart, not comedy. Keith Urban did it right with his simplistic, touching opening monologue. Then they had to go and ruin it by trying to be funny before announcing Song of the Year.

Dan + Shay-BEST

Damn those vocals! Their performance of ‘I Should Probably Go to Bed’ was not one you just had on while folding laundry. Every word was crystal clear, and the harmonies were stellar.

Mickey Guyton Gets Emotional-BEST

The history that Guyton made tonight was not lost on her. Singing ‘What Are You Gonna Tell Her?’, you could hear the quiver in her voice. She is the first black woman to ever perform on the ACM Awards stage, singing about the injustices that women, especially black women, face on a daily basis. She knew that even though there was no audience physically in the venue, she was speaking directly to everyone at home. It was a moment that needed to happen this year, and I’m glad she was the one to deliver it.

In Memoriam?-WORST

Trisha Yearwood sang an entire verse and chorus of ‘I’ll Carry You Home’ before one person was even shown on screen. Then the amount of time spent on each person was too short to accommodate how little time was left in the song. It felt poorly planned and an injustice to all the country greats we lost this year.

Tie For Entertainer of the Year-BEST

This is going to be a polarizing moment for years to come. For the first time in ACM Awards history, there was a tie for this year’s top prize. We here at Stars and Guitars are not shy about our love for Carrie Underwood. So we were ecstatic that she became the first woman to win the ACM Entertainer of the Year three times. Whether this historic moment for Underwood will be overshadowed by the first tie in the category remains to be seen. But Thomas Rhett is just as deserving, and if Underwood had to share the award with anyone in that category, I’m glad it was him.

The post Best and Worst Moments From the 55th ACM Awards appeared first on Stars and Guitars.

The 55th Annual ACM Awards, hosted by Keith Urban, are gearing up tonight with Maren Morris and Thomas Rhett leading the way in nominations. Morris leads with Album of the Year for ‘GIRL’, Female Artist of the Year, Group of the Year for her involvement in the Highwomen, and has already won Music Event of the Year for her appearance in “Fooled Around and Fell in Love.” Rhett also leads with Entertainer of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for ‘Center Point Road’ and already has a win in Video of the Year for ‘Remember You Young’. Along with our country artists, Justin Bieber received his first ACM nominations for his collaboration on Dan + Shay’s hit single, ‘10,000 Hours’. Check back into this page throughout the ceremony, as we will update the winners as they are announced.

With additional reporting by Marie

Entertainer of the Year
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett-WINNER
Carrie Underwood-WINNER

Female Artist of the Year
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Maren Morris-WINNER
Kacey Musgraves
Carrie Underwood

Male Artist of the Year
Dierks Bentley
Luke Combs-WINNER
Thomas Rhett
Chris Stapleton
Keith Urban

Duo of the Year
Brooks & Dunn
Brothers Osborne
Dan + Shay-WINNER
Florida Georgia Line
Maddie and Tae

Group of the Year
Lady Antebellum
Little Big Town
Midland
Old Dominion-WINNER
The Highwomen

New Female Artist of the Year
Ingrid Andress
Gabby Barrett
Lindsay Ell
Caylee Hammack
Tenille Townes-WINNER

New Male Artist of the Year
Jordan Davis
Russell Dickerson
Riley Green-WINNER
Cody Johnson
Morgan Wallen

Album of the Year
Center Point Road – Thomas Rhett
Girl – Maren Morris
Heartache Medication – Jon Pardi
What You See Is What You Get – Luke Combs-WINNER
Wildcard – Miranda Lambert

Single of the Year
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton-WINNER
“One Man Band” – Old Dominion
“Rainbow” – Kacey Musgraves
“Rumor” – Lee Brice
“What If I Never Get Over You” – Lady Antebellum

Song of the Year
“10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay feat. Justin Bieber
“Girl Goin’ Nowhere” – Ashley McBryde
“God’s Country” – Blake Shelton
“One Man Band” – Old Dominion-WINNER
“Some of It” – Eric Church

Video of the Year
“10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay feat. Justin Bieber
“God’s Country – Blake Shelton
“One Man Band” – Old Dominion
“Remember You Young” – Thomas Rhett-WINNER
“Sugarcoat” – Little Big Town

Songwriter of the Year
Ashley Gorley
Michael Hardy
Hillary Lindsey-WINNER
Shane McAnally
Josh Osborne

Music Event of the Year
“10,000 Hours” – Dan + Shay feat. Justin Bieber
“Dive Bar” – Garth Brooks feat. Blake Shelton
“Fooled Around and Fell in Love” – Miranda Lambert feat. Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack, and Elle King-WINNER
“Old Town Road” – Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus
“What Happens in a Small Town” – Brantley Gilbert feat. Lindsay Ell

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Congratulations are in order for Tenille Townes and Riley Green. In separate video calls to each artist Thursday morning, Keith Urban announced that Townes and Green are the recipients of this year’s New Female Artist and New Male Artist ACM Awards, respectively.

As you can see in Townes’ Zoom call with Urban, she was visibly shocked and overcome with emotion as Urban delivered the news. Green was already on a call with members of his management team when Urban “crashed” their discussion. Green kept a professional demeanor as Urban and Scott Borchetta poked fun at him playing some live shows during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This year’s New Artists have experienced astounding success already, and the Academy feels honored to be able to present them with their first ACM Award win,” said ACM CEO Damon Whiteside in a statement to Music Row.

Green beat out presumed front runner Morgan Wallen, as well as Cody Johnson, Russell Dickerson and Jordan Davis. Townes emerged victorious over a stacked category of promising female artists that also included Gabby Barrett, Ingrid Andress, Caylee Hammack and Lindsay Ell.

Tenille Townes released her Stars and Guitars approved debut album ‘The Lemonade Stand’ in June, while Green dropped his ‘Valley Road’ EP in May, which includes acoustic versions of his Canadian number one hit ‘There Was This Girl’ and fan-favorite track ‘I Wish Grandpas Never Died’.

Urban will be hosting the 55^th ACM Awards from Nashville on September 16^th at 8 p.m. on CBS, with Townes and Green among the many artists set to perform. Are you happy with these winners or were you rooting for someone else?

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Mark your calendars! The Academy of Country Music (ACM) has a new date for their 55th annual awards show, September 16.

With tours, festivals and awards shows being postponed to September and October, fall is going to be a busy time for country music fans. As you may recall, the ACM Awards was set to take place April 5th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Although there is no word on whether the big night will take place in the same location, fans will be happy to know that Keith Urban will still be hosting on the big night! And on the original air date of April 5th, CBS will now air ACM Presents: Our Country in its place, which will feature at-home performances from various country music artists and highlights of past ACM moments.

Stay with Stars and Guitars on the latest ACM Awards updates, including performance announcements.

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