By TRACY MEZA
Student Writer
The 49th annual Country Music Association Awards took place on Wednesday, Nov. 4 and was a night full of jokes and performances from country music’s greatest superstars and special guests.
First, here’s a brief run down on the CMA awards so you can understand how each country music superstar wins their category. According to the CMA awards website at CMAworld.com, the CMA Awards nominees and winners are determined by more than 6,300 industry professional members of CMA. CMA Award winners are chosen in three rounds of voting. Votes are cast by industry professional members of the Country Music Association. This means award winners are honored by their peers in the music industry.
The night started off with returning hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, singing “…this world has gone bat poop cray cray, watch me nay nay, watch me whip, watch me stanky leg too…” Then they discussed the breakup that really rock their world, two people in the room that they all know and love: Kermit and Miss. Piggy. Brad Paisley tagged the joke saying: “On a completely unrelated topic, howdy, Blake!”
The night continued with a series of performances from the country superstars and a few special guests including Justin Timberlake, Fall Out Boy and John Mellencamp, with the award distributions strategically placed in between the performances.
The winners of the 2015 CMA awards were almost a clean sweep between Little Big Town with their hit single, “Girl Crush,” and country music newcomer Chris Stapleton. The winners for the 2015 CMA awards are as follows:
Entertainer of the year: Luke Bryan
Female Vocalist of the year: Miranda Lambert
Male Vocalist of the year: Chris Stapleton
Vocal Group of the year: Little Big Town
Vocal Duo of the year: Florida Georgia Line
New Artist of the year: Chris Stapleton
Album of the year: Traveler by Chris Stapleton
Single of the year: “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town
Song of the year: “Girl Crush,” written by Liz Rose, Lori McKenna, and Hillary Lindsey
Musical event of the year: Raise ‘Em Up with Keith Urban featuring Eric Church at Hit Red Records/Capitol Records Nashville
Music Video of the year: “Biscuits” by Kacey Musgraves, directed by Marc Klasfeld
Musician of the year: Mac McAnally