The city of Las Vegas went country last weekend for the 54th Academy of Country Music Awards. The three days were packed full of Party For A Cause events to help raise money for ACM Lifting Lives and of course ending with the ACM Awards. Everyone who’s anyone in country music doesn’t dare to miss the ACMs, so even if you head to Vegas and don’t attend any events, you’re pretty much guaranteed to run into some of your favorite country music artists.
One of our favorite Party for a Cause events is the ACM Lifting Lives TOPGOLF Tee-Off. Prior to the concert, artists form teams and play a few rounds of TopGolf. The event is nice and intimate with a small stage that allows fans to get up close to the artists. This year’s hosts were Scotty McCreery and Jennifer Wayne and featured a line up that included Ingrid Andress, Adam Craig, Morgan Evans, Haley & Michaels, Chris Lane, and Scotty McCreery. Every artist plays a couple of songs with an amazingly talented house band. Adam Craig shared his brand new single “Whatever Your Drinking To,” which was a fitting song for being in Las Vegas. Haley & Michaels played their song “Hail Mary”, which you can find featured in Netflix’s movie “Walk.Ride.Rodeo.” Scotty McCreery closed out the line-up and displayed his talented, steady vocals. Jennifer Wayne also announced that Scotty’s team won for the second year in a row to wrap up the day!
The collaborations were announced leading up to Sunday night’s awards, so anticipation was running high. Reba McEntire hosted the show again, and proved why she should just become the permanent host of the ACM’s. The performances were first-class and did not disappoint. Some stand out moments included Little Big Town‘s performance of their new single “The Daughters” – an emotional song that was accompanied by stunning dancers that assisted in driving home the message. Brooks & Dunn singing with Luke Combs created one massive sing-a-long, whether you were at home or in the MGM Garden Arena. It was pleasing to see artists like Brandi Carlile and Ashley McBryde take the stage and show country music fans the talent they possess. Carrie Underwood had us all wishing it was summer with her entertaining song “Southbound”.
When it came to awards, we were quick to see that Dan + Shay were getting their long overdue and well-deserved recognition. As Reba pointed out it was becoming the “Dan + Shay excellent adventure” and we are happy to be on that adventure with them. Kacey Musgraves took home ‘Female Artist of the Year’ and ‘Album of the Year’, and it was unfortunate she wasn’t a performer at the awards show too. Jason Aldean was recognized for his ‘Artist of the Decade’ award, and only the sixth person to be awarded this prestigious recognition. To end the night Keith Urban won ‘Entertainer of the Year.’ No one is more deserving than Keith who has always been loyal and thankful to the fans who buy his music, merchandise and attend his shows. If you were like us, you erupted in cheers when his name was announced.
This year set a whole new bar for the ACM’s and we’re already wondering how this can be topped. You can sign up on the ACM A-List to find out first about the 2020 ACM Awards and Party for a Cause Events by signing up here https://www.acmcountry.com/email-updates.