The ACM Awards began with Jason Aldean, Thomas Rhett, Luke Bryan, Maren Morris and Miranda Lambert speaking words of remembrance in light of October’s mass shooting at a country festival late last year.
Reba’s hosting this year; she said she first hosted in 1986, which was before Kelsea Ballerini was born. I can relate; I wasn’t born either.
Kenny Chesney takes the stage. He’s wearing jeans, a cutoff and a cowboy hat; he’s singing “Get Along” which I do believe is about to be a new jam. Kenny is so good live.
My girl Maren is up next, singing Rich, holding a gold microphone. She has these giant lights spelling RICH behind her. I love her curly hair and she even has stars in her hair. Also money is falling from the sky. I wish I were in Vegas so I could confirm or deny whether it’s monopoly money or actual cash. Either way, that was pretty cool.
Chris Young is now singing, “Losing Sleep.” Don’t get me wrong; this performance is fine. However, Chris just kind of sang the song. It’s not new and there was really nothing special. OK, I’m putting down the hater-ade now.
Florida Georgia Line is up; I couldn’t be more excited. “Meant To Be” is a JAM. Bebe Rexa has joined the stage. She’s wearing a shiny silver dress and now WOW there are like fifty more people singing with them. Think church choir background vocal vibes. All the background people are wearing black and white. This is honestly a party on the stage and the sound is supreme.
Oh wow! Looks like an award is in our future. CAM is announcing “song of the year.” Nominations are: Body Like A Back Road (Sam Hunt); Female (Keith Urban); Tin Man (Miranda Lambert); Whiskey and You (by Chris Stapleton- but I don’t know this song). Miranda wins the award and I would’ve picked this too; I once heard on the radio that Tin Man is based off of a Kenny Chesney’s “The Tin Man” from 1994. Miranda thanked everyone for “sharing my broken heart with me.” YOU ARE MOST WELCOME, MIRANDA. LOVE YOU GURL.
Brett Young is singing “In Case You Didn’t Know.” He’s on a center stage wearing a plaid shirt and black jeans.
Alan Jackson is next up. He’s wearing a classic Alan Jackson outfit-cowboy hat, collared shirt, and blue jeans. He is singing his 1992 hit “Chattahoochee” with Jon Pardi.
Sugarland has joined the stage (HI! YAY!). They are presenting Album of the Year. Nominated: The Breaker (Little Big Town. GOOD ALBUM.), California Sunrise (Jon Pardi), From A Room: Volume 1 (Chris Stapleton), Happy Endings (Old Dominion), Life Changes (Thomas Rhett!!!!!). The winner is Chris Stapleton, but he’s unable to be at the awards because his wife literally today gave birth to twin boys!
Lady Antebellum is singing Heart Break. I love them. Next up is Dierks Bently singing “Woman Amen.” Dierks brings a good energy to the stage!
Blake Shelton is singing “I Lived It.” He’s sitting down and playing guitar. Can I say that was a HEARTFELT performance? Even from my couch in my living room this performance moved me. Thank you Blake…
Kane Brown plus Lauren Alaina are next, singing “What Ifs” which is such a good song. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kane Brown perform even on TV. Lauren is looking absolutely beautiful in a pretty gold dress. She is also absolutely crushing the vocals. Like WOW. Kane and Lauren had such a strong stage chemistry that I literally did a google check to see if they were together (turns out they are not FYI). Regardless, that performance was fire.
Keith Urban is singing “Got It Right This Time” in a bright red collared shirt. Julia Michaels, wearing a red dress, is joining Keith for the second half of the song. The performance was simple and lively. I’m a fan.
Old Dominion wins Vocal Group of the Year. I always want Little Big Town to win. But you know what? Old Dominion is a deserving band and I’m happy for them! I actually met one of my close friends at an Old Dominion concert, so bonus points to Old Dominion for that. (Let me add a shout out to the Rave and Sara B… and Paula!)
My girl Kelsea B is singing “I Hate Love Songs.” She literally floated onto the stage from a glowing pink heart. Leave it to Kelsea to do a mid song outfit change. Outfit one was a fancy pink sparkly prom dress (if you will) and outfit two is a tanktop with sparkle pants and fancy tennis. She sounded absolutely lovely.
Jason Aldean is singing “You Make It Easy.” Jason sounds nice live… but all I can think about is how I would like to wear his jacket. It’s silver with lots of zippers and honestly maybe even a little sparkle. He is rocking it but I’m pretty sure I could too.
My girl Miranda is singing “Keeper Of The Flame.” Miranda always keeps it 100. She is wearing a simple outfit and her hair is down. Her voice is always on point and tonight is no exception. She seems so comfortable on the stage.
Little Big Town is performing “Rocketman!” I adore this band; also, their outfits are “absolutely 100%” ridiculous. No judgment though; as always they sound UHH-MAZING. It’s just that… Kimberly has held back her hair and I do believe that if Karen waved her arms fast enough while wearing this feather jacket she actually might fly. (I promise I love y’all! I really do. JUST AWW WOW.)
Blake Shelton is announcing an “ACM Flashback Moment,” which is a duet of “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” with Toby Keith. I have to keep it real; this is good.
Midland is singing “Drinking Problem” on the small center stage. I just realized that Midland reminds me very much of the Three Amigos. (Yes, I’m referring to the 1986 Steve Martin movie. THEY PLAYED IT AT MY GYM OK?!)
THE TIME IS NOW for Carrie Underwood’s performance of “Cry Pretty.” First of all she is absolutely gorgeous (as always) including a sparkly dress and sparkly tear-like eye makeup. Carrie Underwood is so extremely talented. She sounds perfect and always has a flawless stage presence. By the way, I cannot see any traces of wrist or face injuries. Carrie. Underwood. Owns. The. Stage. I am left speechless and I feel like everybody is giving her SO. MUCH. RESPECT.
Vocal Event of the Year nominations are: Craving You (Thomas Rhett feat. Maren Morris); Dear Hate (Maren Morris feat. Vince Gill); Funny (Glen Campbell feat. Willie Nelson); The Fighter (Keith Urban feat. Carrie Underwood); and What Ifs (Kane Brown feat. Lauren Alaina). The Fighter wins! Keith Urban and Carrie returned to the stage to give thanks for the award.
Dan + Shay are performing Tequila. They have this group of fans jamming with them, and the performance is as simple as it is perfect!
Darius Rucker is singing “For The First Time.” He is such a relaxed performer and always looks like he’s having fun on stage.
Miranda Lambert is our Female Vocalist of the Year. I do love Miranda. She’s wearing a really beautiful black dress with bell sleeves. “I cannot believe this. I really can’t. Thank you so much,” Miranda also said. She also said that she will never take for granted the appreciation her fans have for her music and what she’s doing. I believe those words.
Thomas Rhett is singing his song, “Marry Me.” He’s wearing a leather jacket and he’s making me tear up a little.
Luke Bryan is singing, “Most People Are Good.” Without being a negative let me just say that my favorite Luke Bryan songs are “All My Friends Say,” “Rain Is A Good Thing,” “Home Alone Tonight” and “Crash My Party.” J
Better Man (Little Big Town), Body Like A Back Road (Sam Hunt), Broken Halos (Chris Stapleton) Drinkin Problem (Midland), and I’ll Name The Dogs (Blake Shelton) are all up for Single Record of the Year. Sam Hunt is the winner! I do love Sam Hunt and I hope to see him live… speaking of seeing him live, he wasn’t at the show (WHAT?!) so I’ll have to keep waiting.
Lauren Alania is singing “Doin’ Fine.” She’s wearing a pretty black dress and though I don’t know this song, I like it! Sounds like a classic country song that I would like to know.
Male Vocalist of the Year nominations are Jason Aldean, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, and Chris Young . Our winner is Chris Stapleton (again!). What a big day for Chris Stapleton and his family!
Kelly Clarkson and Reba are singing “Does He Love You” which is cool since the song is a classic and the two of them seem to be good friends.
Jason Aldean, Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton and Keith Urban are nominated for Entertainer of the Year. I’m surprised to say that Jason is our winner! (I do love him and am genuinely happy for him.)
Jason acknowledged that it was a hard year and expressed appreciation for everyone who reached out to support him and others who lost loved ones back in October.
Chris Jansen is ending the show with a VERY upbeat performance. He actually took a break from singing to play the harmonica! He’s singing the “Redneck Life” and I can confidently say this show is wrapping up on [energy] level 35.
That’s a wrap!
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