<h2>The 2016 CMT Awards signal a revival of the musical variety, and we&#8217;re ready to be saved!</h2>
<p>Last night we were graced with a live broadcast of the <a href="http://www.cmt.com/cmt-music-awards/" target="_blank">2016 CMT Music Awards</a> show happening in the heart of FanFest/CMA Week at Nashville’s <a title="Bridgestone Arena" href="https://ticketmaster.evyy.net/c/1224809/264167/4272?subId1=WPScmnbBridgestone&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ticketmaster.com%2Fbridgestone-arena-tickets-nashville%2Fvenue%2F221417&partnerpropertyid=5213910&MediaPartnerPropertyId=5213910">Bridgestone Arena</a>. The award show featured several cross-genre performances pairing pop stars with today&#8217;s country hit machines, but to be honest, I believe the bloom has fallen off of that rose.</p>
<p>Between the crowd&#8217;s lack of reaction to acts like Fifth Harmony and Pharrell Williams, and the negative feedback on <a title="Elle King" href="https://countrymusicontour.com/rocker-elle-king-announces-tour-to-support-country-debut/">Elle King</a>&#8217;s participation in Dierk&#8217;s Bentley&#8217;s &#8220;It&#8217;s Different for Girls&#8221;, it seems like we may have just reached the peak of how much pop bleed-over country fans, and the country music industry as a whole can handle. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/06/09/fans-bewildered-by-lack-country-music-at-cmt-awards.html" target="_blank">Even Fox News took a moment to call out the network on their lack of country backing. </a></p>
<p><center><script src="http://video.foxnews.com/v/embed.js?id=4932800654001&;w=466&;h=263" type="text/javascript"></script><noscript>Watch the latest video at <a href="http://video.foxnews.com">video.foxnews.com</a></noscript></center>[bctt tweet=&#8221;The 2016 #CMTAwards signal a revival of the musical variety, and we&#8217;re ready to be saved!&#8221;]</p>
<p>Major networks are cancelling shows like &#8220;Nashville&#8221; (<a href="http://www.soundslikenashville.com/news/cmt-reportedly-in-talks-to-bring-back-nashville/" target="_blank">despite a smaller passionate fanbase doing everything they can to bring it back</a>), acts like <a title="Taylor Swift" href="https://stubhub.prf.hn/click/camref:1100ljXyr/pubref:WPSTSwift/ar:CMNBAutoLink/destination:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stubhub.com%2Ftaylor-swift-tickets%2F">Taylor Swift</a> and <a href="http://tasteofcountry.com/the-band-perry-interscope-records-pop/" target="_blank">The Band Perry</a> have stopped straddling the fence and jumped all the way off the country music deck, and even Rolling Stone Magazine has stopped featuring country artists on it&#8217;s cover lately. Let&#8217;s face it&#8230; Mainstream music&#8217;s love affair with the south may be coming to an end, and we&#8217;re ok with that.</p>
<figure id="attachment_33077" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-33077" style="width: 226px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://countrymusicontour.com/chris-stapleton-concert-tour-tickets/" rel="attachment wp-att-33077"><img class="wp-image-33077 size-large" src="http://www.countrymusicnewsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/chris-stapleton-226x150.jpg" alt="chris-stapleton" width="226" height="150" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-33077" class="wp-caption-text"><strong><a title="Chris Stapleton" href="https://stubhub.prf.hn/click/camref:1100ljXyr/pubref:WPSStapleton/ar:CMNBAutoLink/destination:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stubhub.com%2Fchris-stapleton-tickets%2F">Chris Stapleton</a> Leads The Congregation To Country Music Salvation</strong></figcaption></figure>
<p>On the other side of that coin, <strong><a title="Chris Stapleton" href="https://stubhub.prf.hn/click/camref:1100ljXyr/pubref:WPSStapleton/ar:CMNBAutoLink/destination:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stubhub.com%2Fchris-stapleton-tickets%2F">Chris Stapleton</a></strong> could cough into a microphone at this point and receive a standing ovation. A traditionalist country musician if ever there was, Chris is sweeping the awards circuit and reminding fans what it&#8217;s like to enjoy lyrical storytelling without a pop backbeat. Other artists have been towing that line for far too long, but the industry insiders seem to have spoken their piece and made Chris the head of the &#8220;bring back real country music&#8221; charge.</p>
<p>Acts like <strong><a title="Carrie Underwood" href="https://countrymusicontour.com/carrie-underwood-tour-dates/">Carrie Underwood</a></strong> and <strong><a title="Blake Shelton" href="https://stubhub.prf.hn/click/camref:1100ljXyr/pubref:WPSBlakeS/ar:CMNBAutoLink/destination:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stubhub.com%2Fblake-shelton-tickets%2F">Blake Shelton</a></strong> are always going to dabble a bit in the current trends, but after last night&#8217;s laser light show filled with groin jokes and shameless pandering, I think we&#8217;re going to start seeing a lot of these pop-country exclusive artists start falling by the wayside as the deal-makers behind the scenes start cleaning up the mess they&#8217;ve made of our music.</p>
<p>[bctt tweet=&#8221;Click here to see the winners of the 2016 #CMTAwards from Country Music News Blog! &#8220;]</p>
<p><strong>All that being said, here are the 7 categories that gave us these 2016 CMT Music Award Winners</strong></p>
<p><strong>Female Video</strong>: <a href="http://www.cmt.com/videos/carrie-underwood/1234732/smoke-break.jhtml#id=" target="_blank">“Smoke Break,”</a> <a href="https://countrymusicontour.com/carrie-underwood-tour-dates/" target="_blank">Carrie Underwood</a></p>
<p><strong>Breakthrough Video</strong>: <a href="http://www.cmt.com/videos/chris-stapleton/1274694/fire-away.jhtml" target="_blank">“Fire Away,”</a> <a href="https://countrymusicontour.com/chris-stapleton-concert-tour-tickets/" target="_blank">Chris Stapleton</a></p>
<p><strong>Group/Duo Video</strong>: <a href="http://www.cmt.com/videos/little-big-town/1188615/girl-crush.jhtml#id=" target="_blank">“Girl Crush,”</a> <a href="https://countrymusicontour.com/little-big-town-concert-tour-tickets/" target="_blank">Little Big Town</a></p>
<p><strong>Male Video</strong>: <a href="http://www.cmt.com/videos/thomas-rhett/1242103/die-a-happy-man.jhtml#id=" target="_blank">“Die a Happy Man,</a>” <a href="https://countrymusicontour.com/thomas-rhett-concert-tour-tickets/" target="_blank">Thomas Rhett</a></p>
<p><strong>CMT Performance of the Year</strong>: “Smoke Break” (from <em>CMT Instant Jam</em>), <a title="Carrie Underwood" href="https://countrymusicontour.com/carrie-underwood-tour-dates/">Carrie Underwood</a></p>
<p><strong>CMT Social Superstar</strong>: <a href="https://countrymusicontour.com/blake-shelton-releases-2016-tour-schedule/" target="_blank">Blake Shelton</a></p>
<p><strong>Video of the Year:</strong> <a href="http://www.cmt.com/videos/tim-mcgraw/1270980/humble-and-kind.jhtml" target="_blank">“Humble and Kind,”</a> <a href="https://countrymusicontour.com/tim-mcgraw-concert-tour-tickets/" target="_blank">Tim McGraw</a></p>
2016 CMT Music Awards Winners and Recap
