Country Music Herald

Female Vocalist of the Year, Carrie Underwood, arrives at the CMA Awards looking absolutely stunning with perfect hair and makeup as always. Carrie rarely has an off night with her look, and of course the CMAs were no exception.

Horizon Award nominee Jason Aldean–I know country musicians are generally more casual in their dress, but jeans, really? For an awards show on par with the Grammys? I think this outfit would have been fine for the less formal CMT awards, but tuck in your shirt and wear some dress pants for goodness sake!

Horizon Award nominee Rodney Atkins–Okay, this is even worse than just jeans. Throwing on a sport coat over a dirty t-shirt and while wearing ratty jeans and a ball cap is NOT red carpet worthy. It’s especially not good when your date is glammed up. Did he just run over from his church league softball game? Come on, Rodney. You’ve had 3 number one hits in a year. You can afford some dress clothes.

Michelle Branch, who was nominated for Duo of the Year in the Wreckers, seems to have gotten it right with her dress. Her simple black gown was elegant and worked well. However, I’m not sure what’s going on with her hair. What is that weird lump up on top?

Jessica Harp, the other half of the Wreckers, also went simple and black and looked stunning. I’m really digging her bracelet and the long, flowing hair was a great choice for the look.

I love Dierks Bentley (he was nominated for Album of the Year), but velvet? Really? It might have worked more for me if the jacket looked like it fit better. I can see his red belt buckle where it looks like his coat won’t button. I’m just not into that outfit on him, but I still love you, Dierks!

Emerson Drive, nominated for Group of the Year, looks like if they put their outfits all together, they might be able to come up with one suit. I see a dress shirt, a couple of jackets, and a vest, but there are five guys. Maybe that Canadian money exchange rate didn’t work out for them? I just don’t know what to say about it.

Now, this, country music stars, is how you play dress up. Male Vocalist of the Year nominee Keith Urban and movie star wife Nicole Kidman know how to work the red carpet. Keith cleans up nicely in his gray suit and Nicole is stunning as usual in her long gown. Both get thumbs up from me!

Mulitple nominee Alison Krauss looked lovely in her flowing purple gown. It was light and airy and translated well on the TV screen. She looked comfortable in it, too, which is always a plus.

I really like Miranda Lambert (up for Female Vocalist of the Year), but this dress does nothing for her. To me, it looks like an ugly bridesmaids dress she was forced to wear by a demanding Bridezilla. The cut and flow do nothing for her figure and the color just looks odd on her skin tone.

Little Big Town, Horizon Award and Vocal Group of the Year nominees, were a mixed bag. I am not a big fan of the shiny suit (which a lot of guys inexplicably decided to wear this year) and dresses that aren’t cut to flatter the body, but as a group they looked pretty polished, so I won’t complain too much.

Tracey Lawrence went home with the trophy for Best Musical Event for his collaboration on “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw. He also looked pretty good compared to most of the other guys on the red carpet. His outfit was casual enough to fit into the country music scene, but he made the effort to look good for the awards show. Way to go!

Female Vocalist of the Year nominee Martina McBride went with a white dress for the awards that just seemed a bit off somehow. She’s such a beautiful woman and amazing artist, but the waistline of the dress was just not flattering. Many of the women struggled with that this year, which is unfortunate.

Oh, dear. Brad Paisley was nominated for the most awards at the show and even won a few, but he looked like he just crawled out of bed and was bored out of his mind. No wonder his lovely (and beautifully dressed, I might add) wife didn’t want to be in the picture with him. Come on, Brad. You can do better than that.

We’re finally to my best dressed of the night. Miss Kellie Pickler was nominated for the Horizon Award and she was absolutely flawless. Her dress looked great, her hair and makeup were probably the best they’ve ever been and she was just positively glowing. It’s hard to find fault with this outfit and she is really coming into a great style and is superbly glamorous.

On the other hand, Rascal Flatts was a big old mess. They may have won Vocal Group of the Year, but they aren’t getting any sort of fashion awards this year. First of all, why so shiny? I need sunglasses to look at them. It also looks as if Joe Don rode over with Brad Paisley and neither of them had time to get dressed for the ceremony. Your new album just went platinum, guys. You should really dress like it, not buy your suits in that color.

Sugarland walked away with the Best Duo of the Year honors and also heated up the red carpet. Both looked great, together and separately. I applaud them for their accomplishments in the ceremony and their look on the red carpet.

Taylor Swift is young and has unbelievable talent. She even won the Horizon Award this year. However, her style needs some work. This huge golden gown just swallowed her up. She looks like a bride who has been gold plated. Her hair was also throwing me off. She still has time to find her style. Let’s just hope it’s soon before that dress eats her.

Ronnie Dunn showed up with his adorable daughter instead of Kix Brooks for the red carpet photos. Brooks and Dunn were nominated for Duo of the Year honors. While his daughter looked just right, I think I would have liked to see Ronnie in a tie–or at least with another button or two done up.

Josh Turner, Male Vocalist of the Year nominee, looked like he belonged at an awards ceremony. I really like his suit and the detail on his dress shirt collar. He and his wife Jennifer look like a very stunning couple. Kudos!