ACM Awards: Recap

Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line practise for their ACM Awards performance.

They came back! Beloved Academy of Country Music Awards hosts Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan joined forces as Bluke to oversee one of the best shows so far. I live-tweeted the annual Las Vegas event from my chilly southern Manitoba home, and thoroughly enjoyed the high-profile celebration of trendy and timeless country music artists across the genre.

Bryan and Shelton opened things up with a couple semi-funny jokes and some awkward moments of silence after The Band Perry started the show with a rock-and-roll performance of Chainsaw that left dressed-up audience members with confetti in their hair. "If you don't like live music, then you need to go down the block and see Britney Spears," quipped Shelton on one of his better lines.

Unfortunately, that ultimately put salt in wound of the most controversial performance, when Rascal Flatts lead singer Gary LeVox got busted doing a bad lip-syncing job of Rewind. Viewers were all over the group on Twitter. It later came out that LeVox had simply lost his voice and didn't want to cancel. It was the right call, but even though it was only a day after, the explanation came too late. I think the lesson here is that social media has no patience.

People started complaining on Twitter after the cameras cut to Taylor Swift swaying to Darius Rucker's delivery of Wagon Wheel. Seriously, what's the problem with dancing?

The highlight of the night was most definitely Bluke's impersonation of Daft Punk. The two co-hosts dressed up in the mysterious duo's signature helmets and tuxedos and came on-stage to Get Lucky  before pulling off their helmets and startling viewers. Brilliant, just brilliant.

Besides all the hype and hoopla, though, there actually was really great music. This time it was Brad Paisley crashing parties, as he performed his new feel-good single River Bank from a packed local outdoor pool. Florida Georgia Line wowed viewers at home with a Luke Bryan duet – there were live bikers jumping ramps over fireworks behind them. I saw one Twitter user posted that the drummer must have been praying for no mess-ups, as that could have meant a tread mark on the face. Hunter Hayes seemed to be fighting a cold or something while singing Invisible, but still gave an inspiring performance for an inspiring song.

And of course, George Strait takes home Entertainer of the Year. I think that made everyone happy. There were a few Twitter feuds going on between nominees' fans beforehand, but when Strait won, everyone respected it and calmed down. Congrats on a long, outstanding career!

Make sure to check out more highlights at acmawards.com, and if you watched, let me know below what your favourite part of the show was!

Photo courtesy of acmcountry.com.