Countrywide awards

 

This year, so far, has been an interesting one when it comes to Country music — among other topics, of course: the Covid-19 pandemic, mass shootings, police brutality… But we diverge, to some extent: the biggest charting phenomenon in the US since January is still undoubtedly Morgan Wallen, whose Dangerous double LP took over the top of the Billboard 200 for a whopping 10 weeks, a feat so remarkable it took pop superstar Justin Bieber himself to put an end to. Yet, Morgan was nowhere to be seen yesterday at the Academy of Country Music Awards: the artist was famously filmed using a racial slur and chose to step away from the limelight after that — after being dropped by record label, that is.

Back to the glamour of show business: yesterday’s event was still a star-studded affair, and showed that Country music as a genre is alive and well today, beyond aforementioned controversies. Among the performers present, you could spot ex-couple Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton (seen separately on stage, of course), Miss Carrie Underwood, the always cheerful (and co-host) Keith Urban… The list goes on: in short, the event’s organizers managed to create a show that could truly entertain people in these uncertain times of ours. And many (all?) of us agreed with that decision.

But the kicker was perhaps to be found on the competition’s side of the whole affair. Namely, the fact that this year’s crop of newly minted Country winners was at once interesting, refreshing and fairly diverse. Unfortunately, Entertainer of the year winner Luke Bryan could not entertain, as he had tested positive to Covid prior to the ceremony. That did not prevent other winners to show up: Thomas Rett as a very deserving Male artist of the year recipient, the Carly Pearce & Lee Brice duo who won both for Single of the year and Music event of the year… and, finally and arguably more importantly, Miss Maren Morris who also left the room with 2 awards, including Song of the year for “The Bones”, and graced viewers with a beautiful rendition of “Chasing After You” sung with husband Ryan Hurd…

All in all, a pretty good night if you ask us. A great night if you ask Miss Morris.