Delaney Hibbits

A&E Editor

Every artist finds joy in recording music videos for their popular songs. Since “Best Music Video” is a limited category, there are many awards shows that center on expanding awards for these videos. The country version of this is the CMT awards which occurred on April 2. 

The Country Music Television Awards focus on more than the songs, artists, and performances. They pay attention to detail, direction and popularity. Furthermore, this is one of the few shows that is fan-voted. It also has a consistent change in the winner category since the decisions are not based on the same board of voters.

This year, the hosts were Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown, who has been the co-host for three consecutive years. Both artists were performing and hoping to take home a trophy or two. Some other performances include Lainey Wilson, Keith Urban and Cody Johnson. 

Here are a few of the winners and their categories:

Female Video of the Year:

The winner is Lainey Wilson with “Heart Like A Truck.” Wilson has been on a roll since the release of her latest album which has remained popular since its release. She has been loved by fans since the beginning due to her attitude as well as her music. 

Other artists in the category are Kelsea Ballerini, Carly Pearce and Carrie Underwood, who currently holds the record for most CMT wins at 25.

Male Video of the Year:

The winner of this award is Jelly Roll with “Son of a Sinner.” This song was Jelly Roll’s first number-one on country music radio making the award that much sweeter. Jelly Roll also won Male Breakthrough Video of the Year with the same song. He was a slight underdog in the category considering the other nominees have been in the industry much longer.

Jelly Roll happened to be in the same group as Luke Combs, Bailey Zimmerman and Morgan Wallen. Receiving more votes than some of those big names is a huge deal for any new artist.

Female Breakthrough Video of the Year:

This award was one of the most supported with the winner being Megan Moroney for her song “Tennessee Orange.” Moroney has been loved since she stepped foot in the industry making this award easily accepted in the eyes of viewers. Her video is beautifully directed and matches the vibe of her song perfectly.

Moroney was nominated alongside artists Kylie Morgan, Morgan Wade and Avery Anna. All of these women have had incredible success with their songs, but Moroney’s social media presence may have pushed her to the win.

CMT Performance of the Year:

The winner of this award is Cody Johnson with “Til You Can’t” which continues to be a fan favorite. Johnson has gained fans and risen higher in numbers since the release of this song. His performance of the song consists of passion, energy, and a deep love for his job.

Johnson’s fellow performers who were also nominated are Chris Stapelton, Cole Swindell with Lainey Wilson and Darius Rucker. His classic country sound made his performance memorable in the eyes of voters.

Video of the Year:

Making history as the first husband-wife duo to win this award, Kane and Katelyn Brown take home this prize. The song “Thank God” was originally sung by Kane but was altered to allow Katelyn to join. This song has hit number one and the video is clearly popular among fans.

There were many videos in this category but the theme of this song blended with the love in Kane and Katelyn’s marriage was too perfect to ignore.

Whether the artists won or lost, everyone went home with a smile. Fans were thrilled to see their favorite artists holding trophies considering they had the chance to vote. The next award show for country music is the ACM Awards which airs on May 11.