The 2013 Country Music Television (CMT) Music Awards aired on Wednesday and was a mishmash of a little bit of everything, of course never failing to infuse that country music twang in every appearance and performance.
And while country is and always will be the focus of the evening, audiences watching could not help but notice the genre-crossing collaborations that pushed every boundary in music.
One of the most memorable moments of the evening was when Florida George Line performed their megahit single "Cruise" only to be helped by the last person anyone could have imagined, rapper Nelly.
USA TODAY said the performance was a "pyro-filled production, placing [the artists] firmly in a long, proud line of cross-cultural collaborations that traces all the way back to Jimmie Rodgers recording with Louis Armstrong in 1930."
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Carrie Underwood, an Oklahoma native, had the most tear-jerking performance of the evening as she sang her single "See You Again" alongside a white-robed choir, with images of the destruction from the massive tornado that destroyed parts of Oklahoma City, its surrounding suburbs, and Moore County being shown in the backgrounds.
When Underwood spoke to "Entertainment Tonight", she said she chose to perform the song in that way because she felt something really special needed to be done so that America does not forget the struggle that is still very present in Moore.
"We really wanted to do something really special with the song," she said. "The song itself, I think, is really beautiful. I've heard the most incredible stories about how it's affected different people and what it means to them.
"Right now I feel like it's very timely," she said. "There seem to be a lot of things happening where I'm from especially... I really wanted to do kind of a tribute to them."
Some of the other artists that took home awards were: Blake Sheldon for Male Video of the Year, Lady Antebellum for Group Video of the Year, and Miranda Lambert for Female Video of the Year.
