CMT Awards go bold and collaborative

Lindsay Fisher covered Wednesday night’s CMT Awards and got a first-hand look of the debuted singles, firework-filled performances and snappy one-liners from Bridgestone Arena. The big night was hosted by Kristen Bell with a couple cameos from her husband, Dax Shepard. Tom Arnold made an appearance as a hologram Jason Aldean – who brought new girlfriend Brittany Kerr to the awards show.

Also the party –or the confetti – didn’t stop as ZZ Top opened the show; followed by a performance of “This is How We Roll” with hip hop artist Jason Derulo. Little Big Town debuted its latest single, “Daydrinkin’” dressed in white before they brought the color out. The group had a full percussion team that played drums on top of paint; then, paint dropped from the ceiling. To make matters more messy – or colorful – colored chalk dust exploded from the stage.

Later in the night, a group performance, arranged by Hunter Hayes, made us wonder if CMT has found its next “Crossroads” performers. The performance of “All of Me” showcased the vocal stylings of Jennifer Nettles with John Legend and Hunter Hayes on guitar. The night of performances got a real stomping when Eric Church took the stage for “Damn Rock and Roll” with Lzzy Hale, who appears on his album “The Outsiders” for the same song.

And the winner is…

The winners of CMT Awards ranged from Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie for Performance of the Year to Florida Georgia Line for two wins including: Duo Video of the Year, “Round Here”; Collaborative Video of the Year, “This is How We Roll”. A CMT Awards belt buckle will have a special spot in the Shelton/Lambert household. Miranda Lambert won Female Video of the Year and Blake Shelton won Male Video of the Year. The first-ever Impact Award honored Alan Jackson with a performance of “Livin’ On Love” featuring Kacey Musgraves and Leann Womack. Carrie Underwood took the big honor of the night with Video of the Year for “See You Again”; after a rocked-out performance with Miranda Lambert of the latest single “Somethin’ Bad.”

“My heart is still beating so hard; I had an idea for this video because the song has such a meaning to it,” Carrie Underwood said during her speech.

For more coverage of last night’s CMT Awards, check out our Twitter @hitcountryki for Lindsay’s tweets from the night.