49th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards

The Band Perry opened the show with their song Chainsaw and dumped "sawdust" confetti over the whole of the audience which as you can imagine the stars were overjoyed about.  Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton hosted the awards together for the second year in a row.  Their opening monologue came off as somehow ill-prepared.  Shelton attacked Britney Spears and the tangent they ran through about Broadway and country stars not only didn't make sense (given that Reba and Dolly have already done Broadway shows) but also came off as very rude to Carrie Underwood who is already snubbed at the big country music awards shows. The remainder of the monologue dug into social issues and name dropped any star they could think of (Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, etc.) and was the extreme opposite of the class that Ellen exhibited as Oscar host, but then no one said this was supposed to be a classy affair I suppose.  

There were many, many performances, so many in fact that an hour of the show passed before a single award was presented.  Many of the performances were great and some of the night's highlights included a performance of "Golden" and "Rhiannon" by Lady Antebellum and Stevie Nicks and of course the legendary, the King himself George Strait performing "I Got a Car", and a tribute to Merle Haggard by Miranda Lambert and George Strait.

Complete List of Winners

Tim McGraw and Miranda Lambert were the top nominated artists with seven nominations each, followed by Keith Urban with six nominations.  Lambert took home awards for Single Record of the Year for "Mama's Broken Heart", Female Vocalist, Musical Event for "We Were Us" with Keith Urban and McGraw won Video of the Year for "Highway Don't Care". Urban shared the wins with both McGraw for "Highway Don't Care" and with Lambert for "We Were Us".  Merle Haggard was honored with the Crystal Milestone award for lifetime achievement, and on his 77th birthday no less.  The best was saved for last as the big award of the night, Entertainer of the Year, went to George Strait who was by far the most deserving of the nominees!

Next year, for their 50th anniversary, the awards will be held in Dallas Texas at Cowboy stadium.

Fashion

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Carrie Underwood looked stunning in this gown by Oscar de la Renta gown. Underwood graced the carpet looking flawless as ever, and showing off her new hair color.  She has our vote for best dressed and best hair!

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Miranda Lambert sparkled in a traditional Diamond gown from Randi Rahm. Her dress was elegant and flowed spectacularly as she walked the red carpet into the event.

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Danielle Bradbery looked gorgeous in this dress with a sheer skirt.  The Voice winner completed the look with Sarah Richey jewelry.

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Taylor Swift took a break from her usual old-Hollywood glam look to show off a different side in this crop top and high slit skirt. Whether the look was a hit or a miss is up for discussion, some will hate it and some will love it.