Keith Urban Wins Entertainer Of The Year At The ACM Awards

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The 54^th Annual ACM Awards went down last night in Las Vegas with Keith Urban taking home the coveted Entertainer of the Year award, his first time winning the trophy, despite nine nominations. It’s pretty evident that Keith was shocked and excited by the win, planting one huge kiss on wife Nicole Kidman, who seemed just as shocked as he did (about the win, not the kiss).

As for most awards, that honor went to Dan + Shay, who took home three trophies, including Duo of the Year, as well as Single and Song of the Year for “Tequila.” Continuing the winning ways that started with the GRAMMYs, Kacey Musgraves took home two big honors, Album of the Year for “Golden Hour” and Female Artist of the Year. Other big winners include: Thomas Rhett, named Male Artist of the Year and Old Dominion, who won Group of the Year. Click here for a complete winners list.

As for the show, Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line kicked things off with their collaboration “Can’t Hide Red,” with the guys in FGL showing off their best American flag inspired outfits. Then it was host Reba McEntire’s turn to take over the show. It was her 16^th time hosting and she quickly proved why they keep asking her back, opening with jokes about not being tired for 53 years, noting women in the music business don’t have time for being tired, and adding, “let’s get this show started before I need a nap.”

Reba even took a crack at the ACMs itself, joking about how cold it’s gotten in Vegas this year, noting, “It was so cold it froze us women out for Entertainer of the Year,” adding, “But that didn’t bother Kacey Musgraves, because she’s been too busy carrying all her GRAMMYs around.” Reba also busted out her Cardi B impression, joking about collaborating with her, and saying, “I do have a song we can do together. There’s no ‘U’ in Oklahoma, and that’s oKURRRR with me.”

• In addition to all the big awards, Jason Aldean was honored with the Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award, and performed a medley of hits including “Lights Come On,” and “Dirt Road Anthem,” and was joined by Kelly Clarkson for “Don't You Wanna Stay.” George Strait presented Jason with the award, with Jason noting, “That’s the reason I wear the cowboy hat right here.” He also thanked his team, as well as wife Brittany, telling her, “you changed my life forever,” and added, “This is one of the proudest nights of my life. I appreciate it." 

Of course the night was filled with tons of performances, much to the delight of fans. They include:

• Thomas Rhett simply walked out of his seat in the audience to perform his latest single “Look What God Gave Her,” which had all his superstar friends up, dancing and singing along.
• Miranda Lambert, who made her red carpet debut with hubby Brendan McLouglan, performed a medley of her songs, including “Kerosene,” “Gunpowder and Lead,” “Mama’s Broken Heart,” “White Liar,” “Oklahoma” and “Little Red Wagon.” But it was her “Oklahoma” performance that had people talking because many felt it was a diss of her ex-hubby Blake Shelton, who was in the audience with girlfriend Gwen Stefani. Miranda changed the lyrics to the tune to sing, “I got the hell out of Oklahoma” (Blake’s hometown) instead of “I live in Oklahoma.”
• Chris Stapleton and his very pregnant wife Morgane performed a beautiful duet of “A Simple Song."
• New Female of the Year Ashley McBryde performed a very emotional version of “Girl Goin’ Nowhere,” that had the audience up on their feet giving her a standing ovation.
• Maren Morris, in a long blonde wig and a lot of fringe, teamed with Brothers Osborne for Maren’s “GIRL” track “All My Favorite People Do."
• Dan + Shay and Kelly Clarkson put their strong voices to good use on the the uplifting track “Keeping Score.”
• Little Big Town debuted their powerful new single “The Daughters,” with a group of female dancers performing behind them. Karen Fairchild, and even some members of the audience, including Brandi Carlile, could barely hold back tears during the performance, which ended with two young female dancers coming out and facing the band.
• Brooks & Dunn teamed with Luke Combs (and his Red Solo cup) for their classic “Brand New Man.”
• Keith Urban made a huge statement with a performance of the song “Burden,” which he dedicated to people going through hard times. The tune is a cover of a Foy Vance song, and Keith shared on Instagram that the song “absolutely spoke to me.” He said the tune is not his new single, but was just “something I really wanted to do.”
• Carrie Underwood was feeling summer with her first post-baby performance of “Southbound,” starting at the pool at the MGM Grand, before taking the performance into the audience of the arena, even stopping to give her hubby Mike Fisher a peck on the lips.
• Kane Brown performed his latest single “Good As You,” and then introduced Khalid, who joined him for their remix of “Saturday Nights.”
• “This Is Us’” Chrissy Metz made her singing debut with “I’m Standing With You,” from the "Breakthrough" soundtrack, and was joined by powerhouse voices of Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina, Mickey Guyton, and Maddie & Tae, who were all dressed in blue.
• George Strait was working hard at the ACMs, first performing the somber “God and Country Music,” and then later returning to duet with Miranda Lambert on his classic “Run.” If that wasn’t enough, he closed the show with new track “Every Little Honky Tonk Bar.” 

• Other performances included: Luke Bryan debuted his new song “Kockin’ Boots,” Luke Combs performed his number one hit “Beautiful Crazy,” Blake Shelton performed his new single “God’s Country,” Old Dominion performed “Make It Sweet,” Eric Church teamed with Ashley McBryde for “The Snake” (with a huge snack on the screens behind them), LANCO treated the audience to a rockin’ version of their latest single “Rival,” Reba performed her new single “Freedom,” and Dierks Bentley and Brandi Carlile performed “Travelin’ Light,” from Dierks’ album “The Mountain.”

Source: Dr. Dave's Ultimate Prep