Music

Fans complain about lack of country music at country music awards show

by Jeremy Mersereau

If you’re a true, dyed-in-the-sheared-wool country music fan (or named some variation of Hailey), the CMT Country Music Awards were almost certainly on your radar last night. After all, what country lover worth their affected twang and acoustic Martin would want to miss an awards show with performances from Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw, and legendary country & gospel lifers The Oak Ridge Boys?

However, some fans who tuned in last night were more disappointed than a….a… *struggles desperately to think of an appropriately folksy analogy* …fox in an empty henhouse to find that the fan-voted awards show started off with a distinct lack of actual country music. The first 15 minutes of the CMT broadcast featured collaborative performances from a number of non-country artists, including Mr. Worldwide (Pitbull), Skateboard P (Pharell), and recently-inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Cheap Trick, and the reaction from fans was less than enthusiastic. Wait, you mean, people don’t really get excited to watch Billy Ray Cyrus and Cheap Trick in 2016?

Fans took to social media to voice their dissatisfaction with the show:

By most accounts, the show was only saved by Blake Shelton’s performance with vocal quartet The Oak Ridge Boys doing their signature song “Elvira”, lending some much-needed country legitimacy to the proceedings:

Thats #OurBoys! Shelton also took home the fan-voted award for, ahem, “CMT Social Superstar Of The Year.” Ah well, still better than a Grammy.

[h/t Fox News]