Top moments at CMA Awards: Unity, Vegas memorial, Garth lip-syncing
Yes, Garth Brooks won entertainer of the year and Chris Stapleton picked up two honors, including album of the year.
But the moments that truly dominated the 2017 Country Music Association Awards Wednesday night had less to do with winning and more about a community banding together to heal.
Honoring the Vegas victims
The CMA Awards came a month after 58 people were killed at a country music festival in Las Vegas. Nearly 500 were injured.
The show honored those who died with a powerful “In Memoriam” performance by Carrie Underwood, who was so emotional she couldn’t even finish singing the words to “Softly and Tenderly.”
Socking it to the CMA
Underwood and co-host Brad Paisley — who both write material for the awards show — used their opening segment to poke fun at President Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, their fellow country singers and the Country Music Association.
The hosts came down on the latter for sending restrictions to the press, barring reporters from asking singers on the red carpet about politics or guns. The restriction was rescinded following a backlash.
A message of unity
The CMA Awards was marked by messages of unity and harmony as the country music community and others spotlighted the need to stick together during trying times.
Actor-director Tyler Perry said now is the time we have to all “find some common ground.”
“We are a family,” Brooks said after winning entertainer of the year.
Speaking of Garth ...
Minutes after winning the night’s top award, Brooks came clean.
Speaking to reporters, Brooks acknowledged that he lip-synced his performance of “Ask Me How I Know” on Wednesday’s show.
“We made a game-time call on whether to sing to a track or lip-sync,” said Brooks, who added he was sick and in the midst of a 10-day, 12-concert stretch. “And we decided to lip-sync it.”