Well, obviously I'm a little late with my thoughts on the 47th Annual CMA Awards. But, having just celebrated my birthday, and with the holidays coming up, this girl has been busy!!
So, on the 6th I sat in front of my TV like 16.6 million other people and watched the CMA's. First of all... Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line... one word; YES! Absolutely fantastic performance! Just what the show needed to kick it off with a bang!!
Then of course, there was Brad Paisley & Carrie Underwood's ever-infamous opening monologue. Between their playful digs at Luke's 'mini-seizures', feuding in Country music, and their fabulous rendition of 'Obamacare by Mornin'", there were tears in my eyes from laughing so hard! Then again, we can always count on Brad and Carrie to make the CMA's an enjoyable watch for us fans.
Now, let's get to the winners.
A huge congratulations to Taylor Swift for her incredible night full of wins! Video of the Year and Musical Event of the Year with Tim Mcgraw & Keith Urban - And of course her Pinnacle Award! Gotta be honest, I was never really much of a fan of Taylor's. But over the last year, year and a half, she's really done a lot to reel me in!
Congratulations to Lee Brice, and the songwriters of 'I drive your truck' - Jessi Alexander, Connie Harrington, and Jimmy Yeary on their win for Song of the Year! Definitely a touching song that still brings tears to my eyes when I hear it!
Was there ever ANY doubt that FLAGAline was going to take home Single of the Year?? Pssssssh, NO! Every station on the planet was playing 'Cruise' every 10 minutes! Congrats to Brian and Tyler on this, as well as their win for Duo of the Year!! Certainly well deserved, guys!! Can't wait to see how you top all of this in 2014!!
Congratulations to Blake Shelton on his wins for Album of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year! I absolutely love 'Based on a true story' and have it on repeat on my iPhone. If you've ever seen Blake in concert, in an interview, on The Voice, or just read his tweets, you're aware that he's quite a character and loves the world of Country music just as much as we love him!
New Artist of the Year - Ooooookay... I pride myself on NEVER writing anything truly negative about an artist/songwriter. But I have to be completely honest when I say that I don't agree with the choice for New Artist of the Year! I truly think that the award belonged to Lee Brice! Being that this is his SECOND year in a row to be nominated!! I'm not a fan of Kasey Musgraves. Not to take away from her win, or her talent!! But, clearly the Academy sees something in her that I just can't see. Sorry Lee!! But I have no doubts that you're gonna blow everybody away this year on the 'That's my kinda night' tour with Luke Bryan and Cole Swindell!!
A HUGE congrats to Little Big Town on their Vocal Group of the Year award!! Definitely well deserved, and well earned! So proud for you guys!! Can't wait to see what's next!!
Love, love, love, love, love Miranda Lambert!!! A big congratulations to her on her Female Vocalist of the Year award!!! This woman is well on her way to being the next Queen of Country Music! Being an East Texas girl myself, I gotta say how proud I am to call her 'one of us'!
Entertainer of the Year..... Is anyone really surprised that George Strait went home with the trophy? He is, after all, THE KING of Country music! Not to mention, he's on the final leg of his 'The Cowboy Rides Away' Tour!! I'll be honest, I believe the award would have made more sense going to Luke or Taylor. However, it would've been downright disrespectful not to let King George head into 'semi-retirement' without a parting gift!! Having said that, I'd like to point out that I am, and have always been a HUGE George Strait fan! I'm not at all trying to take away from his talent or his win! It's certainly well deserved!! However, I'm entitled to my opinion just like everyone else.
SOME of the performances of the night were a combination of fantastic, incredible, amazing, with a side of holy shit that was good!!! Like I said, Luke & FLAGAline starting out the show with a bang, and some hip-shaking was definitely a 'winner-winner'! Taylor's performance of 'Red' with the ever-amazing Alison Krauss and Vince Gill was perfection!! Blake's 'Mine would be you' was as captivating and true-to-form as ever! Miranda and Keith's new single 'When we were us' was a perfect mash-up of his country rocker style with her true country girl 'swag'!! Carrie Underwood definitely dazzled us with her medley of hits! The 'Night Train' ride that Jason Aldean took us on was just heavenly! Jennifer Nettles, Darius Rucker, and Rascal Flatts paying homage to Kennt Rogers was truly fantastic! And of course Alan Jackson and George Strait paying tribute to the late-great Possum, Mr. George Jones with 'He stopped loving her today' couldn't have been any better! I know it brought tears to my eyes!!
Again, I really do hate to be negative. But I was not a fan of the Zac Brown Band performance, or Eric Church's. With all the talk of Country Music not being 'Country' anymore, I was NOT happy with the direction they chose to take. I am a huge Eric Church fan, and I love his music. But this, was not 'it' for me. I just didn't enjoy it. I've never been much of a Zac Brown fan anyway. But if I was, this performance would've sent me running in a different direction!! Wasn't really impressed with Kasey Musgraves performance either. I appreciate that she's a talented songwriter. But I don't believe that she's a great vocalist. Sorry.
Congratulations to ALL of the nominees, performers, and WINNERS! Can't wait to see what the 48th Annual CMA's will bring us next year!!
