The 47th annual Country Music Association Awards were in full swing last night with many great performances from our country music superstars. Hosting this year’s CMA awards again were Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood who kept us laughing most of the night with their jokes about Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, Obama Care, and the many country music feuds.
There were many highlights during the awards ceremony last night, but the two that stood out the most were, Taylor Swift accepting her Pinnacle Award and George Strait receiving the award for the Entertainer of the Year.
Although Taylor knew she would be receiving the award, she did not know that all of the performers that she had opened for, at one time or another, were going to be presenting it to her. They also had a video montage made to document and highlight her achievements. Swift is only the second person to ever receive the Pinnacle Award. The first was Garth Brooks in 2005. She was overwhelmed while accepting the award and said, “You’ve made me feel so special right now, thank you.” She later took to Twitter to say, “I’m never going to forget this. Ever ever ever.”
George Strait was definitely riding away in style last night with one of the biggest awards of the night. Strait won Entertainer of the Year, his third ever, and first since 1990. It was a very touching moment as Strait made his way to the stage with all of his fellow singers rising in a standing ovation. This year, Strait did his last tour before retiring, “The Cowboy Rides Away Tour”.
“When I first started out this year, the first few shows, I about lost it every night, you know, leaving the stage … thinking, ‘This might be the last time I ever play on this stage again,'” Strait said. Even if he never plays again, he will always be remembered as one of the greatest country music singers of all time.
None of the other nominees were disappointed that they did not win the award and felt Strait was the most deserving. “That’s how it needs to be because he’s not just entertainer of the year, he’s entertainer of the last three decades, I guess, or four decades,” Blake Shelton said. “I don’t know who’s keeping score. I mean, it’s George Strait. He’s King George. I couldn’t be happier with how this turned out.”
GEORGE STRAIT!! That is awesome! #ScottyTakeover #CMAawards
— Country Music Assoc. (@CountryMusic) November 7, 2013
The highest honor of CMA Entertainer of the Year goes to… @GeorgeStrait! #KingofCountry #CMAawards
— Country Music Assoc. (@CountryMusic) November 7, 2013
The complete list of winners is listed below:
Musical Event of the Year – “Highway Don’t Care” Tim McGraw with Taylor Swift and Keith Urban
Music Video of the Year – “Highway Don’t Care” Tim McGraw with Taylor Swift and Keith Urban
Single of the Year – “Cruise” by Florida Georgia Line
Vocal Duo of the Year – Florida Georgia Line
Musician of the Year – Mac McAnally
New Artist of the Year – Kacey Musgraves
Album of the Year – Blake Shelton “Based on a True Story”
Vocal Group of the Year – Little Big Town
Female Vocalist of the Year – Miranda Lambert
Male Vocalist of the Year – Blake Shelton
Entertainer of the Year – George Strait
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