Carrie Underwood Reacts to Her Entertainer of the Year Loss at the CMA Awards in the Most Epic Way

From Prevention

• At last year's CMA Awards, Garth Brooks beat out Carrie Underwood as the 2019 Entertainer of the Year.

• Fans were hopeful that 2020 was her year to snag the coveted award, but she lost to Eric Church.

• When Eric took the stage, Carrie made a teary-eyed wink and viewers are trying to figure out who it was directed at: Eric, fellow nominee Miranda Lambert, or her fans at home.

Another award show, another disappointment for Carrie Underwood fans.

Although she has racked up dozens of awards over the years (including Entertainer of the Year at the ACM Awards held in September), everyone — including Carrie's friend and fellow nominee, Miranda Lambert — was hopeful that she would be named 2020's Entertainer of the Year at the 54th annual CMA Awards. Before this year, Carrie had been nominated for Entertainer of the Year on two different occassions, the most recent being in 2019 when she lost to Garth Brooks.

Since then, many country artists have come out in support of Carrie. Miranda even went so far as to say that she's still "a little bit grudge-y about it," even though she's a huge fan of Garth. Ahead of this year's show, Miranda gushed to Entertainment Tonight about how "incredible" and "humbling" it is to be nominated for Entertainer of the Year alongside Carrie, and even said that if Carrie takes home the award, "I'll be the first one out of my seat."

But when the time came for the award to be handed out, Carrie was let down yet again: Eric Church was named 2020's Entertainer of the Year, making it the first win for the four-time nominee. Everyone in attendance was excited for Eric, but as soon as his name was called, the cameras turned to Carrie to catch her reaction. As she stood up to clap for Eric, the cameras caught a tearful wink.

Watch the moment below:

This moment went unnoticed to many viewers at home, but there were a select few who caught Carrie's subtle gesture. Since it's unclear exactly who Carrie was winking at, some fans offered their best guesses on Twitter.

Some fans thought it was Carrie's way to show Eric that she stands behind his win.

But some are positive that her wink was directed at none other than her "Something Bad" duet partner, Miranda.

The backstory behind this moment may forever remain a mystery, but the country music industry's love for Carrie remains front and center. Even Reba McEntire, who hosted the show along with Darius Rucker, can't stop raving about Carrie's talent: "She sings her butt off, so I’m very, very proud of Carrie coming in and working so hard and representing country music." By the looks of it, her fans would say the same.

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