Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban were among the big winners at the 2017 Country Music Television Awards on Wednesday (June 7).
American Idol winner Carrie, who was up for three awards on the night, has landed a place in history thanks to this year’s ceremony – she has now collected a total of 17 CMT Awards over the course of her career and is the first artist to have accomplished this feat.
“Thank you God for so many incredible blessings,” the blonde beauty gushed while accepting Female Video of the Year for her tune Church Bells, before giving a shout-out to her hockey player husband Mike Fisher and his team the Nashville Predators.
“Me and my husband… there’s a lot going on in our lives,” she added. “We are so thankful and so blessed. Go Preds!”
Carrie and her duet partner Keith also picked up the Collaborative Video of the Year award for their The Fighter single’s music promo and they brought the house down at the ceremony with a powerful rendition of the track.
“You’ve all heard Keith and Carrie sing their smash hit The Fighter, but I guarantee you’ve never heard it like this,” the night’s host, Nashville star Charles Esten announced while introducing the dazzling number to a roaring crowd.
The ballad was inspired by Urban’s marriage to actress Nicole Kidman, who watched proudly from the audience. The Australian musician also walked away with the Social Superstar award before being given the coveted honour of Video of the Year for his hit song Blue Ain’t Your Color.
There were plenty of other noteworthy moments at the ceremony, including the opening number, which saw Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley come together with his country music colleagues Darius Rucker and Jason Aldean to kick off the night with a heartfelt tribute to late rocker Gregg Allman, who passed away last month.
“This is for the one and only Mr. Gregg Allman,” Aldean said before the three played a passionate cover of the Allman Brother’s Band classic Midnight Rider.
Good friends Jason Derulo and Luke Bryan also sent the audience over the moon with an exciting duet rendition of the R&B star’s hit 2015 single Want to Want Me, which earned them the CMT Performance of the Year trophy for their version of the song performed during an episode of TV show CMT Crossroads.
Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Rachel Bilson, Jada Pinkett Smith and Johnny Galecki were among some of the A-list presenters at the star-studded event, which was held at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee and broadcast live for country fans throughout the world.
The full list of winners at the 2017 Country Music Television Awards is as follows:
Video of the Year – Blue Ain’t Your Color – Keith Urban
Male Video of the Year – Blue Ain’t Your Color – Keith Urban
Duo Video of the Year – H.O.L.Y. – Florida Georgia Line
Group Video of the Year – Better Man – Little Big Town
Breakthrough Video of the Year – Road Less Traveled – Lauren Alaina
Collaborative Video of the Year – The Fighter – Keith Urban feat. Carrie Underwood
CMT Performance of the Year – Want to Want Me – Jason Derulo and Luke Bryan (from CMT Crossroads)
Social Superstar – Keith Urban
