Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood briefly recognized several months worth of tragic world events before returning to what they do best as hosts of the CMA Awards.
Song parodies, political humor and jokes at the expense of country music’s biggest stars made up the bulk of the 2017 CMA Awards monologue, a script that came after Eric Church opened the show with “Amazing Grace” and an all-star cast joined in to sing the Hootie and the Blowfish hit “Hold My Hand.”
“This has been a year marked by tragedy,” Underwood said. “So tonight we’re going to do what families do.” The show was dedicated to victims of tragedies and natural disasters in New York City, Sutherland Springs, Texas, Las Vegas, Houston and more. “We love you and we will never forget you,” Paisley added.
Then came the jokes they weren’t supposed to tell, per the new CMA media guidelines (which were rescinded but meh, that’s just a detail). Instead of “Hold me closer Tiny Dancer,” Paisley wanted to sing “Hold me closer, Bernie Sanders.” There was a “covfefe” mention and a joke or two about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. In fact, a spoof of Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” became “Before He Tweets,” and the crowd loved it.
The highlight of the monologue might have been Tim McGraw and Faith Hill stage-bombing Paisley and Underwood in an attempt to get back at them for 10 years worth of jokes and jabs. The couple returned the Barbie doll favor of 2011 by giving them their own Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood Barbie dolls, but the group of four was not as committed to the joke as Paisley and Underwood were six years ago.
Another joke that got laughs was a parody of Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” that became “Total Eclipse of the Garth” as Garth Brooks watched, laughing. That powerful, tear-jerking moment that was promised early on didn’t come here, however. In fact, one could argue the brief tribute to victims was too brief and lacking in creativity. The stars stuck to the script for year 10.
See Pics from the 2017 CMA Awards Red Carpet
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