CMT Awards 2014

The CMT Awards brought together the best artists in country music, and some surprising guests, to honor the best music videos of the year! There were myriad performances and eight big awards were handed out.

The show opened with a performance by ZZ Top, Florida Georgia Line, and Luke Bryan who were joined by Jason Derulo to segue from "La Grange" to "This is How We Roll" to "Talk Dirty."  Highlights of the night's performances included: Kacey Musgraves and Lee Ann Womack paying homage to Alan Jackson with "Livin' On Love" before Carrie Underwood presented him with the first ever CMT Impact Award, Keith Urban singing "Cop Car" in a recreation of the Bluebird Cafe, Little Big Town's performance of "Day Drinkin'" in which the band was doused in paint, and Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood bringing the house down at the end of the show with "Somethin' Bad". Watch the night's performances here.

Underwood and Lambert sing "Somethin' Bad" | Getty Images

The night's big winner was Carrie Underwood who took home Video of the Year for the third year in a row for her "See You Again" video.  Florida Georgia line took home Duo of the Year and Collaborative video of the year for "Round Here"and "This is How We Roll" respectively. Miranda Lambert won Female Video of the Year for "Automatic" and Blake Shelton won Male Video of the Year for "Doin' What She Likes".  See a full list of winners here.

Fashion

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Carrie Underwood looked stunning in an floral keyhole Roberto Cavalli gown.  Her duet with Miranda Lambert was "Somethin' Bad", but her red carpet look was something very good! 

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The night's host, Kristen Bell, sparkled in a beaded Zuhair Murad gown and Brian Atwood heels. 

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Mirana Lambert showed off her gorgeous figure in a Celia Kritharioti sequined mini dress with a plunging neckline.  

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Nicole Kidman, Oscar winning actress and wife of country crooner Keith Urban, graced the carpet in a Giambattista Valli embroidered silk dress.

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.