There were a lot of surprises at last night's (Nov. 5) 48th annual CMA Awards on ABC. And the real surprises had nothing to do with who won and who lost, although Miranda Lambert's three wins - including single of the year, and husband Blake Shelton's fifth consecutive Male Vocalist of the Year award proved that their label as country's power couple is right on the money.
As the on-the-ground production of the awards show began weeks ago, an early-on surprise was the announcement that two pop music stars would play key roles in the show, billed as Country Music's Biggest Night. However, as the actual show played out at Nashville's Bridgestone Area, the duet of true country girl Miranda Lambert with Meghan Trainor and a joint performance of Little Big Town and Ariana Grande were, in reality, minor surprises.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was the duet of George Strait and Eric Church on Strait's monster hit "Cowboys Like Us." Strait is, after all, the classic image of a straight-laced, rugged, charismatic, hit-making troubadour and Church is, after all, the undeniable image of country music's resident bad boy, who is more rock than twang, and who seems to go out of his way to color outside of the musical lines. As surprising as the Strait-Church duet pairing was, it also created one of the more memorable experiences on the show.
Another huge, tongue-wagging surprise of the night came when co-host Brad Paisley demonstrated incredible restraint with his co-host Carrie Underwood. How much restraint? Well, Paisley waited an amazing, probably agonizing, eight and a half minutes - that's right, a full eight and a half loooong minutes - before he delivered his first joke about Underwood's pregnancy. Numerous other gags followed that were built around the "Something in the Water" singer's condition, although, it should be noted that none of Paisley's one-liners mentioned anything about something being in the water.
A genuinely poignant and fitting moment came when The Band Perry paid a tribute to the ailing Glen Campbell by performing one of his biggest hits out of a long line of big hits, "Gentle On My Mind."
Additional surprises came with the form of twin magical moments created when the Doobie Brothers and Michael McDonald - along with Jennifer Nettles, Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott and Hunter Hayes - filled the arena with the gentle rock of the band's "Listen to the Music" and the show-closing "Takin' It to the Streets."
And, finally, two other semi-surprises unfolded when Little Big Town deservedly won Vocal Group of the Year for their second win in a row, and guitarist extraordinaire Mac McAnally made CMA history by winning his seventh consecutive Musician of the Year award.
Here are the 2014 CMA Award winners:
Entertainer of the Year
Luke Bryan
Female Vocalist of the Year
Miranda Lambert
Male Vocalist of the Year
Blake Shelton
Vocal Group of the Year
Vocal Duo of the Year
Florida Georgia Line
New Artist of the Year
Album of the Year
"Platinum,'' Miranda Lambert
Single of the Year
"Automatic,'' Miranda Lambert.
Song of the Year
"Follow Your Arrow," written by Kacey Musgraves, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. Performed by Kacey Musgraves
Musical Event of the Year
"We Were Us," Keith Urban featuring Miranda Lambert
Musician of the Year
Mac McAnally, guitar
