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Darius shows off his perfect country side

Darius Rucker performs his No. 1 single "Don't Think I Don't Think About It." Another great moment from the show. Darius shows everyone what a great decision he made to record a country album.
Brad Paisley is next to perform his recent single "Waitin' on a Woman." The video for this song is one of my absolute favorites, and I love this song, and Brad's performance was excellent here.

CMA Album

Josh Turner and Lee Ann Womack present the award for CMA Album of the Year.
The award goes to: George Strait for Troubadour.

We're told that prior to the show the CMA Music Video of the Year went to Brad Paisley for "Waitin' on a Woman."

Keith Urban is next to perform his newest single "Sweet Thing." As always, another tip top performance from Keith.

Carrie Underwood gives the top performance of the night

An unknown lady takes the stage next, introducing herself as Leslie Ponder. She is a widow of a brave young soldier who lost his life in 2005, while he was stationed in Afghanistan. She spoke of how a particular song really touched her. She then introduces Carrie Underwood, who sings her current single and No. 1 song "Just a Dream." Oh my goodness, what a performance Carrie gave on this song. The long black dress was gorgeous, and her performance flawless.

Welcoming the new members of the Country Music Hall of Fame

Vince Gill introduces the newest members of the Hall of Fame - Emmylou Harris, Tom T. Hall, The Statler Brothers, and Ernest "Pop" Stoneman.

Once again, this was just not enough time spent to honor our newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame. I wish the CMA would back off on one performance and allow more time in the show to these legendary performers.

CMA Female Vocalist

Next, Vince presents the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year award.
The award goes to Carrie Underwood. Not surprising. When Carrie accepts her award, she mentioned that it was hard to sing "Just a Dream" with her mother crying in the first row.

Sugarland sends out some love

Sugarland is next to perform. Their set starts with darkness and some people with dark umbrellas surrounded by lights around the edges. They perform a new song called "Love." A great performance as usual. I was expecting something to happen with the umbrellas, but nothing ever did.
James Otto is the final New Artist Award nominee to perform his No. 1 song "Just Got Started Loving You." I don't know why they couldn't have him sing before they gave out the award. It makes it seem anti-climatic for someone who is up for an award that's already been presented. Then, to add insult to injury, he doesn't even get to sing his full song. He has to stop part of the way through and announce the winners in the broadcast awards.

Kenny Chesney performs his recent No. 1 "Everybody Wants to Go To Heaven" with The Wailers backing him up. The Wailers sing "Don't Worry," and Kenny sings along. I enjoyed the performance, but I'm not a huge reggae fan, so "Don't Worry" didn't do a whole lot for me.

Trace Adkins performs his recent No. 1 song "You're Gonna Miss This." Listening to Trace sing makes me wonder why he never gets nominated in the CMA Male Artist category.

CMA Male Vocalist

Reese Witherspoon comes out to present the award for CMA Male Vocalist of the Year.
The award goes to: Brad Paisley. I loved when he came to accept his award, he ran off the stage and hugged Keith Urban, then hugged wife Kim, and kissed her tummy, as she's pregnant with their second child.

The Eagles treat us to a performance

The Eagles are back again this year to perform "Just Too Busy Being Fabulous." It was great to see the band again. This is the second year they've been part of the CMA Awards show.

Who is the mystery presenter? Why, it's Shania Twain!

All program long, we keep hearing that a country superstar is going to be back to present the award for CMA Entertainer of the Year. Now, we finally get to see who this person is. It's Shania Twain! So, who is going to win? Kenny Chesney? Brad Paisley? George Strait? Sugarland? or Keith Urban?
The award goes to: Kenny Chesney. This is his third Entertainer win in a row, and fourth overall. This is starting to feel like the Brooks & Dunn award. Will anyone else ever win this award? I love Kenny, and think he puts on an awesome show, year after year, but it would be nice to see others be recognized here as well.

I realize that I must have missed somewhere the CMA Musical Event Award being announced. I'm guessing it was an award given before the show. The award went to Alison Krauss and Robert Plant for "Gone Gone Gone."

That wraps up another CMA Awards show. I think Brad & Carrie did an awesome job hosting, especially since it was their first time. Loved seeing Carrie changing outfits so often. She changed nine times! Very Reba of her. :)