Brian Mansfield, USA TODAY 12:10 a.m. EST November 6, 2014
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Last SlideNext SlideLuke Bryan wins Entertainer of the Year during the 48th annual CMA Awards(Photo: Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY)
NASHVILLE The CMA Awards were held Wednesday, and it was a big night for country stars like Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton. But there was a whole lot more to the show than the awards and the performances that aired on TV.
USA TODAY's Brian Mansfield was backstage, capturing everything you didn't see on TV.
Tim Tebow loves country: "I've been a huge fan of country music since I was a kid," the NFL star said after he presented an award.
Brett Eldredge, daredevil: To celebrate his two No. 1 singles, Don't Ya and Beat of the Music, Eldredge went sky-driving and shark-diving. But he hadn't made a death-defying plan for winning the CMA award for new artist of the year. "I've got to do something really crazy," he said backstage. "If anybody has any ideas, bring it on."
Wardrobe malfunction: Song of the year winner Kacey Musgraves had a wardrobe malfunction right before her performance with Loretta Lynn. "Right before I sang, my panties totally came off," she said backstage. "They were the stick-on kind. They were stuck on, and then they weren't. I had to rip them off and throw them somewhere. If you see them, they're mine."
A song for everyone: Musgraves called her song of the year Follow Your Arrow "an anthem for all kinds of people" that couldn't make her more proud. "For a song that I was told could never and would never be a single, it just blows my mind. It gives me a lot of faith that people still love connecting with a message and spreading something when they love it."
Some assembly required: The light-up outfits top vocal group Little Big Town wore during their medley of Day Drinking and Bang Bang with Ariana Grande required "so many people and so many wires in so many places," says the group's Kimberly Schlapman. "It was a fragile and delicate situation. We couldn't bend over or turn to the side or we would short out." Adds Karen Fairchild, "You don't just sew light that does that into a costume. It takes a lot of planning."
Record breaker: With her fifth consecutive CMA award for female vocalist of the year, Lambert broke a record in the category set by Reba McEntire. Backstage, Lambert paid tribute to the singer. "Whenever I'm around her, I try to just shut up and listen, because I know I can learn from every word she says, every move she makes." Lambert has won 11 CMA awards total, more than any other woman.
Big winning streak: As he sat in the audience before winning his fifth male-vocalist award, Blake Shelton leafed through the CMA Awards program and looked at the names of previous winners. "I was looking through there, and I was seeing names I was excited about George Jones, Ronnie Milsap. I can't believe this is more than Ronnie Milsap. It seemed like he was on there 20 times. And Vince Gill, George Strait." Both those singers also have won the award five times. "To be in that category, with those two guys, that's beyond a dream come true," Shelton says. "That's stupid."
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Last SlideNext SlideA little respect: Winning entertainer of the year his first CMA in any category made Luke Bryan feel he had earned the respect of the CMA and its voters. "I have longed and sought after many years to get one of these in my hands," he said backstage. He called the win "a ginormous deal, something that I could not express out on stage when I was winning."
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Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2014/11/05/cma-awards-backstage/18558545/
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