2020 CMT Music Awards: 5 highlights from a show in the 'great outdoors'

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Country stars made noise in the great outdoors of Tennessee for the 2020 CMT Music Awards, which aired from Nashville Wednesday night.

In a normal year, the show aims to set itself apart from the CMA and ACM Awards – and that’s doubly crucial in 2020, when coronavirus concerns pushed all three shows into the same two-month period.

CMT's approach? Lean heavily on young stars, let the fans choose the winners, and if you can’t put these performers in a traditional venue, don't be afraid to get out there — literally.

The result was a breezy show (just over two hours) that should stand out among its peers, even if it was lacking in surprises.

Underwood times 22

Michael Jordan and the Bulls, Tom Brady with Bill Belichick — some dynasties seem unstoppable. Enter: Carrie Underwood at the CMT Music Awards.

Underwood won the fan-voted video of the year honor for "Drinking Alone," her eighth time earning top accolades at the show and seventh since 2010.

Randee St. Nicholas directed the video, for the single off Underwood's 2018 album "Cry Pretty."

Underwood, who also won female video of the year at the 2020 program, dedicated the honor to her dogged following. She's won 22 total CMT Music Awards, most by any artist in show history.

2020 CMT Music Awards: A list of winners

"This one is really all about you guys again, because we haven't been together," Underwood said. "I feel so loved this evening."

She continued, "Thank you for all of this support and all the fans voting for everybody. We all feel loved tonight. Again, the love. It's all about the love. God bless you, hope to see you all soon."

Underwood joined male video of the year winner Luke Bryan, duo video winner Dan + Shay, group video winner Old Dominion, breakthrough video winner Gabby Barrett and more in hoisting a CMT trophy Wednesday evening.

Location, location, location

CMT crafted a cocktail of one-part country music and one-part Tennessee outdoor exploration (except for Shania Twain's Switzerland sidebar, but more on that later).

The amphitheater at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park in Nashville played a quasi-home base for performances, with Jimmie Allen and Noah Cyrus, Gabby Barrett, Kane Brown and more taking to the expansive stage for performances.

The show cut to a staged dive bar in Los Angeles for Kelsea Ballerini and Halsey's duet "The Other Girl"; transported viewers to Ruskin Cave in Dickson County for a colorful Morgan Wallen showing; highlighted Ashley McBryde's modern murder ballad “Martha Divine” at the Barn at Sycamore Farms in Williamson County and offered a stripped down rendition of Maren Morris' "To Hell and Back" in an Ashland City attic.

More: CMT Music Awards 2020: Who's performing? A complete list of artists and songs

Shania Twain and other unique performances

If you had “Shania Twain performs a 25-year-old song from a Charlie Chaplin museum in Switzerland” on your CMT Music Awards bingo card, tell you what: You win it all.

Leave it to Twain and her 1995 smash “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” to deliver the most creative and memorable performance of the night. As she celebrates the 25th anniversary of her debut album, “The Woman In Me,” Twain revisited the concept of the “Boots” video, where a diner full of good ol’ boys completely ignore her.

As it's hard to re-create that safely in 2020 (even in Switzerland, we suppose), she did the next best thing – playing off mannequins in a single shot through the museum. Her co-stars, we must say, did a fantastic job of not caving to her charms.

A few other artists also got inventive and/or into their video concepts. Dan + Shay brought some the set of their “I Should Probably Go to Bed” clip; Morgan Wallen surrounded himself in glowing bottles during “Chasin’ You”; Luke Combs shotgunned a beer in the midst of “1, 2 Many” and Kelsea Ballerini and Halsey hopped on top of a bar for “The Other Girl.”

Swift's return

The world's top pop star continues to dip her toes back into country music, this time giving a nod to breakthrough artist of the year, a CMT Music Award she won in 2007 (for "Tim McGraw," one of six CMT Music Awards for Swift before she exited the format).

"I was honored to win this award 13 years go because it's a vote done by the fans," she said in presenting the 2020 award to Barrett for her smash single "I Hope."

It's the second country music awards show appearance for Swift in as many months; she performed her country radio single "Betty" from the Grand Ole Opry House during the ACM Awards in September.

Swift joined a slew of celebrity presenters — including Jessica Chastain, Demi Lovato and Idina Menzel — that CMT Music Awards producers remotely tapped for the show. Producers could call on A-list talent who may not have been able to trek to Nashville if the show were delivered live in Bridgestone Arena, as previously planned.

Presenters ranged from Rob Thomas introducing Allen and Cyrus from an award-covered room to Brandi Carlile praising Morris in a Black Lives Matter T-shirt and Katy Perry ribbing Bryan, her "American Idol" co-star.

"When CMT asked me about introducing my favorite 'American Idol' co-star, I said, 'Sure I'll do anything for Lionel Richie.' … and then they had to clear up some confusion," Perry jested.

An inaugural Equal Play Award

Last year, Jennifer Nettles stood on an awards show stage and called for more female representation on country music's airwaves. Her efforts were applauded, and now they've being rewarded.

Nettles received the inaugural CMT Equal Play Award Wednesday night, an award she earned "for her ongoing advocacy for women and diverse voices in the music industry, as she works tirelessly towards gender parity in country music and beyond," the network said earlier this week.

Most prominently, Nettles wore an outfit at the 2019 CMA Awards that featured the messages "Equal Play" and "Play our F*@#!n records."

"To my sisters out there who continue to burn the holy fire: I am so proud to be part of this legacy in country music with you and I am so proud of the stories we tell," the Sugarland co-founder said in her acceptance speech. "We have more to do as soon as we can and I can’t wait to do it all alongside you, holding your hands."

Five years after "Tomatogate" — when a radio consultant famously called female artists "the tomatoes of our salad" — the conversation has only grown louder about the lack of women heard on country radio.

At the start of 2020, CMT pledged that 50% of its music video airplay would be dedicated to female artists. As part of its Equal Play campaign, it commissioned a study that found that female artists accounted for 10% percent of country radio airplay in 2019.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: CMT Music Awards: Key moments include Carrie Underwood, Shania Twain