People Nashville, US - Carrie Underwood won big at Sunday’s 2016 CMT Music Awards, taking home two awards, rocking three different looks and showing off her powerhouse vocals while performing her new single “Church Bells.”
The 33-year-old singer, who was nominated for three awards, nabbed trophies for Performance of the Year and Female Video of the Year - both for her song “Smoke Break.” While Underwood lost Video of the Year to Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind,” she still holds the record for most Video of the Year wins with six. Underwood also has 16 trophies - more than any other artist in CMT Awards history. Her performance began slow, with the blonde-haired beauty dressed in a sheer black lace jumpsuit and cape while singing to the music of a solo banjo player on a bare stage. But Underwood quickly brought the crowd to their feet, flipping off her cape as the stage revealed a full band and gospel choir. Her commanding vocals and show-stopping style brought the house down.
“I want to thank you guys for coming out and supporting country music on tour,” Underwood said, while accepting her Performance of the Year award. “We’ve spent the first part of the year on the road and it’s just been so wonderful to see so many people come out. I know I speak for everybody out there - all of us artists who say you guys are the reason that we get to do what we get to do. Thank you so much for coming out and supporting us in concert. God bless you guys.”
Other big winners of the night included Thomas Rhett, who was awarded the prize for Male Video of the Year for his song “Die a Happy Man,” Chris Stapleton, who took home the award for Breakthrough Video of the Year for his song “Fire Away,” and Little Big Town, whose video for “Girl Crush” won them Group/Duo Video of the Year. The country group performed their new single, “C’mon,” alongside Pharrell Williams, who produced eight tracks of their new album Wanderlust, out Friday. The funky song features vocals from Justin Timberlake. Blake Shelton’s online antics earned him CMT’s inaugural Social Superstar title, which was voted for by fans.
“CMT’s Social Superstar - that’s not what I was going for, but what the hell!” the 39-year-old Voice coach said, accepting the belt buckle-shaped hardware.
“I have a few drinks and get on Twitter once in a while. I didn’t know you could get paid for that, but damn!”
Shelton and Stapleton also performed on the show, which began with Keith Urban, Brett Eldredge and Maren Morris coming together to sing Urban’s latest single “Wasted Time.”
In one of the evening’s other most-talked about performances, Cam and pop girl group Fifth Harmony joined forces, mashing up Cam’s “Mayday” and the X Factor group’s popular summer jam “Work From Home.”
Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, Billy Ray Cyrus and rockers Cheap Trick were among the night’s other performers.
The show, hosted by Erin Andrews and JJ Watt, kicked off with a fun video of country stars like Kellie Pickler and Darius Rucker fielding phone calls and parking cars in CMT’s offices.
Ashton Kutcher even made a cameo in the clip, while Watt’s Bad Moms co-stars Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell appeared to beg Watt to appear on the awards show.
WINNERS
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Tim McGraw, Humble and Kind
MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Thomas Rhett, Die a Happy Man
FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Carrie Underwood, Smoke Break
GROUP/DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Little Big Town, Girl Crush
BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Chris Stapleton, Fire Away
CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Carrie Underwood, Smoke Break
(From CMT Instant Jam)
