Timberlake shines at CMAs, hosts joke about Shelton divorce

Chris Stapleton might not be known to a ton of mainstream country music fans, but that’s about to change after the Country Music Association Awards on November 4.

In addition to taking home the New Artist of the Year award, Stapleton also won two of the biggest titles on the night- Album of The Year (Traveller) and Male Vocalist of the Year. It was a huge night for Chris Stapleton, who took home three awards and gave a special performance along with Justin Timberlake. Stapleton, 37, won new artist of the year over the astonishingly fast-rising Sam Hunt. The camera then flashed to a shot of, not Shelton or Lambert, but of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy seated in the audience, Carrie continued, “We just want you to be happy”. Awards: Luke Bryan, that grinning superstar scamp, was named entertainer of the year.

In March the jealousy ballad sparked controversy when radio stations refused to play it because listeners thought it had homosexual overtones.

Other big winners included Little Big Town, whose “Girl Crush” was named single of the year and also won the song of the year prize for its three female composers.

Despite the fact that her ex-husband Blake Shelton publicly confirmed to the world mere hours earlier that he was dating Gwen Stefani, Lambert held her own with the performance of her latest tune.

“On a completely unrelated topic”, Paisley added. “This was about being fearless and being bold”, before thanking the writers, Liz Rose, Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey.

“… I have this theory that he who tells the best story wins, and I believe that’s what this was”, says McKamy, whose Music Video of the Year victory, as director, is his first CMA Award. The trio of ladies would get a chance to thank voters themselves later in the broadcast with their win for song of the year.

Underwood and Brad Paisley joked about the divorce at the top of the show.

The audience was in awe: Timberlake’s wife, actress Jessica Biel, watched excitedly and bopped her head while Keith Urban recorded the performance with his phone. Of course, that was a sly reference to Shelton’s divorce from Miranda Lambert this past summer.

The CMAs had more uplift in store – at least for those eager to see a few expansion of country’s boundaries – in the similarly improbable success of “Girl Crush”, Little Big Town’s slyly transgressive hit about same-sex attraction.