46th Annual CMA Awards

The 46^th Annual Country Music Awards rocked Nashville last Thursday with an opening collaboration from Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, and Eric Church, that was dedicated to the east coast victims of hurricane Sandy.

The five time hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood started their opening monologue by singing a play on Maroon 5’s “Moves like Jagger”, belting out “Moves like Haggard.” The rest of the speech continued with whimsical enthusiasm like dancing to “Gangnam Style” and Dolly Parton motorboat jokes. The one blow came from Paisley joking that the Kennedy’s made a great trade in swapping Arnold Schwarzenegger for Taylor Swift. Underwood then informed him of Swift’s recent breakup.

A highlight of the opening speech was calling out Willie Nelson who was being honored for possibly losing all CMA awards on charges of doping, which the open pot smoker responded to as,” guilty.” Before the performances and awards were handed out, Underwood and Paisley also gave a shout out to the victims of hurricane Sandy and informed the audience on how to donate to the Red Cross.

The show was packed with great performances from some of country’s top artists. Tim McGraw gave a performance of his new single “One of Those Nights,” while Miranda Lambert rocked out to her anthem “Fastest Girl in Town” The Zach Brown Band and Dierks Bentley gave mid tempo, beautiful renditions of their songs “Goodbye in Her Eyes,” and “Tip it on Back.” Other performers of the night included The Band Perry, Eric Church, Eli Young Band, Taylor Swift, Little Big Town and Faith Hill. Being that the CMA’s are an award show to honor the best of country music the performances continued with Hunter Hayes, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Brantley Gilbert and Luke Bryan.

In addition to the amazing performances the night was filled with fun and touching moments. Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton had a huge night. Their Song of the Year win for “Over You,” which they co-wrote about Blake’s brother, who passed away, was very emotional. Lambert had her husband take the lead in accepting the statue and delivered a teary thank you speech. The couple then went on to win Female and Male Vocalist of the Year. Shelton also brought home Entertainer of the Year.

The show also highlighted Hall of Fame inductee Connie Smith and late actor Andy Griffith in song and pictures. Willie Nelson was also honored and received the Life Time Achievement Award. His tribute included performances of his songs by Lady Antebellum, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. The tribute continued with Nelson joining the performers and singing “On the Road Again.”