Adorned with pins numbering “851”, “58” and “1” to pay tribute for the 851 people injured and 58 lives lost during the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting, country music stars gathered in Las Vegas for the annual American Country Music Awards. Stars wore “1” for the life that can be saved in the future. Hosted by Reba McEntire, this year’s show began in a more reserved and serious tone, unlike shows in previous years. Jason Aldean, Marren Morris, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert and Thomas Rhett opened the show with a tribute to the victims of the Route 91 mass shooting, which also took place in Las Vegas. Jason Aldean, who was performing while the Route 91 shooting took place, opened the ACM Awards by stating, “Tonight, we wanted to open the show with something that sums up what it’s like for our country music family to be back in Las Vegas for the first time since October 1.” The theme of the show was all about the celebration of music and the power and influence it has in our lives. Following the remembrance of this tragic event, Kenny Chesney took the stage with a performance of his new song “Get Along.” This song is all about togetherness and friendship, fitting with the theme of remembrance.
One of the best performances of the night was given by Carrie Underwood. Underwood’s long-awaited return to the stage after five months of keeping her face hidden due to a traumatic facial injury following a fall late last year was a showstopper. She performed her new hit song “Cry Pretty.” The crowd gave her a standing ovation following her performance. Underwood also won an award for Vocal Event of the Year for the duet she sung with fellow singer Keith Urban, “The Fighter.” Thomas Rhett was another top performer of the night with his song “Marry Me.” Rhett also received the award for Songwriter of the Year. Although Brothers Osborne was absent from this year’s show, the pair won two awards: one for Vocal Duo of the Year and another for Video of the Year with their song “It Ain’t My Fault.” Chris Stapleton was another absent star who was absent from this year’s show, but with good reason: his wife had just given birth to their twin boys. Stapleton also won two awards that night: one for Album of the Year with his album “From A Room Vol.1” and another for Male Vocalist of the Year. Miranda Lambert performed her song “Keeper of the Flame” and won two awards. One award was for Female Vocalist of the Year. The other award was for Song of the Year with her song “Tin Man.”
Lauren Alaina and Kane Brown performed their hit song “What Ifs.” This song was nominated for the Vocal Event of the Year award, but lost to Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood. Lauren Alaina, however, did win an award for New Female Vocalist of the Year. Sam Hunt was missing from the ACM awards show this year as well, but won an award for Single Record of the Year with his hit song “Body Like a Back Road.” Old Dominion did not perform but won an award for Vocal Group of the Year. Brett Young performed his song “In Case You Didn’t Know” and won the award for New Male Vocalist of the year. Midland was another group to perform with their song “Drinkin’ Problem.” Additionally, the group won the award for New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year.
Every year the final award of the night is Entertainer of the Year. For three consecutive years, this award has been given to Jason Aldean. During his acceptance speech, Aldean got emotional when mentioning the Route 91 tragedy again. He talked about how the victims of Route 91 will always be in his heart. Earlier that night, Jason Aldean performed “You Make It Easy,” a song off his new album “Rearview Town.” After Aldean accepted his award, singer Chris Janson closed the show with his enthusiastic performance of his song “Redneck Life.”
Jessica Ferguson is a fourth-year student majoring in communication studies. ✉ JF830568@wcupa.edu.