CMA AWARD SHOW ALWAYS "INTERESTING"

I must admit, I try to watch the CMA Award show each year just to see what they are passing off as "country music" today. I honestly never listen to public radio, only hear an occasional song while passing through a store or friends house. So, the CMA's allow me to catch up...and normally laugh at what they are awarding these days in Nashville.
Last night was not disappointing, although I must admit I was pleasantly surprised with George Strait winning the Entertainer Award, plus the good rendition of "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by Strait and Alan Jackson in honor of George Jones.
The musical performances were hit and miss for me, enjoying the Kasey Musgraves song perhaps best. While I also enjoyed The Zac Brown performance with Dave Grohl, it was far from what I would call country music, but very entertaining. Also must give a nod to Jason Aldeans performance as well, it was tolerable. As for the Eric Church song...well...lets just say I see why he was fired as an opening act for going too long. The poignant moment with Luke Bryan seemed a bit forced and disingenuous to me.
Finally, there were three "uncomfortable" moments which I must address. The Taylor Swift/Alison Krauss/Vince Gill/Sam Bush acoustic version of "Red" was embarrassing. The vocals for Krauss and Gill were not even audible...wonder if this was intentional so you could not compare Swift's vocals with the talented duo. Speaking of duos, the matching of Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert was not good. While each has talent, they do not mesh at all. Then there was the train wreck with Hunter Hayes and Jason Mraz. I was surprised to see Mraz, his talents are exceptional but not country. Same could be said of Hayes...but leave out the "talent" part. He was so far off key it hurt. Even Mraz could not wait for it to be over.
Once again, I watch these shows...see who is awarded for what...shake my head...and say "These people could not hold a candle to the talents of Chris Knight". Then I close my eyes and see the image of Charlie Rich burning the award announcement of John Denver many years ago as Entertainer of the Year...and say "Charlie, wish you were here to burn a few more".