Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesCountry music singers and other stars certainly lived up to the hype of the 2019 ACM Awards being the genre's "party of the year."
The night was off to the races since the moment stars arrived on the red carpet at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for the 54th annual show. There were a handful of noteworthy moments on the carpet that must be mentioned.
For starters, Miranda Lambert made her red carpet debut with her new husband Brendan McLoughlin after secretly tying the knot on Jan. 26. Lambert, who performed at the show and was nominated in a few categories, strutted her best stuff in a lime green sleeveless dress. McLoughlin traded in his NYPD blues for a black suit. They smiled and looked at ease together.
Carrie Underwood also walked the carpet with her husband Mike Fisher less than three months after welcoming their second child, a son named Jacob Bryan Fisher, on Jan. 21.
Reba McEntire hosted the show for the 16th time and made a handful of jokes during the opening few minutes. "Do you know it snowed in Las Vegas just a few weeks ago?" she quipped during her monologue. "Yeah. It was so cold it froze us women out of Entertainer of the Year."
She added, "But that didn't bother Kacey Musgraves because she's been too busy carrying all her Grammys around."
Tell 'em, Reba!
There's a ton that happens when the cameras aren't rolling, too.
E! News chatted with some country music stars on the red carpet before the show, including Thomas Rhett, Maren Morris, Jessie James Decker and more.
Morris, who was nominated for Female Artist of the Year, is turning 29 on April 10 and told E! News that her plans include getting drinks in Nashville with some friends. She and her husband Ryan Hurd marked their one-year anniversary on March 24 and celebrated it in San Francisco together where they went shopping and dined on dim sum. Yum!
Just like Morris, Decker has a birthday coming up on April 12. She's ringing in the big day by kicking off her tour in Denver. Her kids didn't accompany the singer and her husband Eric Decker on the carpet. She told us that they're back in Nashville.
Rhett explained to E! News on the carpet that he and his family are recovering from a bad case of jet lag because they just went out of the country, but his energetic performance at the top of the show proved otherwise!
The show was just as exciting inside the MGM Grand Arena as outside on the carpet.
Chrissy Metz was standing in the second row and saw someone that she knew and the two of them immediately took a selfie together.
All-star couple Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani didn't walk the red carpet, but their date night included shaking hands with a bunch of people before the show started, including Brittany Aldean. Plus, Shelton had a huge yardstick cup of beer on his hand. That much made it onto TV, but it was worth another mention. Shelton and Stefani stood up and danced while Jason Aldean performed and The Voice judge gave his girlfriend a sweet kiss on the cheek.
Carrie Underwood and her husband as well as Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban all danced their hearts out during Aldean's set. Brittany and Jason Aldean then stopped and chatted with the Big Little Lies star and her husband afterwards.
At a later point in the show, Kidman and Urban looked at pictures that were taken by a photographer.
The Bachelor's Colton Underwood (no relation to Carrie) and his girlfriend Cassie Randolph were also in attendance at the ACMs and had a blast dancing to the performers. They were even slow dancing during George Strait's set. Maren Morris gave a great mini concert too and her husband cheered her on and looked extremely proud while rocking out to her set.
The 32-time ACM Award winner Lambert sat in the front row with her husband and they talked a lot throughout the evening. She drank from a red Solo cup and the two of them seemed really happy together.
They were sitting near Thomas Rhett and his wife Lauren Atkins because McLoughlin showed something to Atkins on his phone at one point.
Shelton was one of the many performers of the evening and Stefani showed her support for her beau by flipping her ponytail around and dancing. She and Dierks Bentley were talking and dancing together during Shelton's set.
When he wasn't striking up a conversation with McLoughlin, Rhett caught up with Luke Bryan. Miranda Lambert and Maren Morris also seemed like they were the best of friends because they were talking and laughing for an extended period of time.
Carrie Underwood had an energetic and colorful performance during the show and her husband was loving every second of it. As it turns out, so was Keith Urban. He nodded his head along the entire time and seemed really into it. Urban was just as tuned in and focused during George Strait's songs.
Khalid and Kane Brown had a stellar duet during the show and they both looked like they were basking in glory during every moment. When they headed offstage, Khalid grinned from ear to ear and he happily nudged the "Good As You" singer after the set. Lady Antebellum was one of the first groups up and dancing to their set.
This Is Us star Chrissy Metz performed tonight and it was her live TV singing debut! She sang alongside Lauran Alaina, Maddie & Tae and others from the Breakthrough soundtrack. Metz wore a stunning deep blue dress and anyone could have mistaken her song for an episode of her show because it was hard not to well up with tears.
Metz received a standing ovation after her debut.
At the end of the show, the crowd went wild when Keith Urban won Entertainer of the Year. He and Kidman shared a few big smooches before he went onstage and he made sure to stop by and congratulate some of his fellow nominees in the category before accepting the award. Urban told E! News after the show that he was so surprised he won the award and he's going to celebrate the achievement with his family.
In case you missed anything else, check out the entire list of ACM Awards winners here.
Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!