CMA Awards 2014

Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley returned to host the show for the seventh  year in a row.  After seven years they know what they're doing and over the years they've grown to be one of the main attractions of the show.  This year's show was no exception as the duo tackled the latest trends including Ebola, Renee Zellweger, and Taylor Swift going pop.  Carrie and Brad also revealed, or rather Brad "blew it"and revealed, that Carrie is having a boy!

The night's top winners were Miranda Lambert who took home Female Vocalist, Album of the Year for Platinum, Single of the Year for "Automatic" and Musical Event of the Year with Keith Urban for "We Were Us", Blake Shelton who took home Male Vocalist and Luke Bryan who took home Entertainer of the Year, his first win in the category.  Also during the show, Vince Gill was honored with the Irving Waugh Award of Excellence, a very deserving honor for a great musician and person. A full list of the night's winners can be found here.

The best and biggest performances of the night included Carrie Underwood debuting her latest single "Something in the Water" in a spectacular and inspiring performance (as the music video for the single premiered on twitter immediately following her performance), and The Band Perry honoring Glen Campbell with "Gentle On My Mind". Other performance highlights included Meghan Trainor and Miranda Lambert singing Trainor's hit "All About That Bass", Little Big Town performing "Day Drinking"and being joined by Ariana Grande to perform "Bang Bang", Kacey Musgraves and Loretta Lynn singing "You're Looking At Country", Keith Urban performing his latest single "Somewhere in My Car", and Eric Church and George Strait singing "Cowboys Like Us".

Red Carpet Fashion

Carrie Underwood, the night's co-host, looked stunning in a high-low hem Lorena Sarbu dress.

Danielle Bradbery looked gorgeous in a low-plunging black gown and a fishtail braid.











Lucy Hale owned the red carpet in a silky red gown with an open back by Romona Keveza.











Lennon and Maisy Stella looked darling on the red carpet both in black.











A full gallery of CMA Awards Red Carpet pictures can be found here.

Red Carpet pictures from Gerry Images. 

Keith Urban and Vince Gill's All For The Hall

Starting in 2009, Keith Urban has brought together some of the biggest names in Country Music to pay homage to Country greats who have come before them and support the Country Music Hall of Fame.  The Country Music Hall of Fame has been a prominent part of the downtown Nashville landscape, and Country Music in general, since the announcement of its creation in 1961.  The Hall of Fame ensures that the circle of Country Music remains unbroken and new generations can grow and learn in the experiences of those who came before them.

This year, Keith Urban and Vince Gill brought together the very best that country music has to offer.  Reba, this years Hall of Fame inductee Ronnie Milsap, Lee Ann Womack, Deana Carter, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood, and many others came together to raise money to support the programs of the Hall of Fame.  Each artist sang two songs and the only stipulations were that the songs had to either be a song that the artist themselves wrote, or a classic song.  Full set list can be found here.

Every single artist was phenomenal and brought together the best songs and voices in Country Music. Some of the night's highlights included Reba bringing the house down with "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" and "Survivor", Keith Urban singing "Somewhere in My Car", Carrie Underwood paying tribute to Dolly Parton by singing "I Will Always Love You", and the finale in which almost every artist came out to help Darius Rucker sing "Wagon Wheel".

It is well worth a trip to Nashville to see the amazing performers and all of the money goes to the amazing institution that is the Country Music Hall of Fame! Next year it is sure to be even bigger and better, so if you get a chance to go you won't regret taking it!

If you don't live in Nashville and can't come to town for the event, there are still lots of other ways that you can support and be a part of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Watch Carrie Underwood sing "I Will Always Love You" here.
Watch the "Wagon Wheel" finale here.

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

Photo courtesy Getty Images

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!

Photo courtesy Getty Images

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.

Photo courtesy Getty Images

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

Photo courtesy Getty Images

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.