A new award show is premiering tonight live from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville!  Here is our play-by-play of the People’s Choice Country Awards.

• The show kicked off with a rockin’ performance by hosts Little Big Town of their hit “Boondocks”
• Little Big Town then gave a quick preview of who was performing tonight before inviting out Lady A to present the first award of the night.
• The Female Artist of the Year Award Nominees:
  • Carrie Underwood
  • Elle King
  • Kelsea Ballerini
  • Lainey Wilson – WINNER
  • Miranda Lambert
  • Ashley McBryde
  • Carly Pearce
  • Megan Moroney
• Chris Young came out to introduce the next performer, Kane Brown, who performed his 10th #1 hit, “Bury Me in Georgia”
• We come back from commercial with Little Big Town talking about the significance of the famous circle on the Opry stage
• Little Big Town then brought out Hunter Hayes who introduced Carly Pearce who performed her new single “Country Music Made Me Do It”
• Jessie James Decker and Kameron Marlowe were brought out next to introduce the Group/Duo of the Year Award nominees:
  • Lady A
  • Dan + Shay – WINNER
  • Maddie & Tae
  • Little Big Town
  • Parmalee
  • Brothers Osborne
  • The War & Treaty
  • Old Dominion
• The ladies of Little Big Town come back from commercial to tease the Icon Award that Toby Keith will be receiving tonight.  They then introduced Blake Shelton, who performed Toby Keith’s hit “Who’s Your Daddy”
• After the performance, Blake narrated the video package talking about Toby Keith’s accomplishments before presenting him with the Country Icon Award.
• Toby Keith, who has lost a lot of weight due to cancer, cracked a joke that fans never thought they’d see him in skinny jeans
• Toby then performed “Don’t Let the Old Man In” from the famed Opry circle
• We return from commercial with a group of Opry members on stage talking about who and how they were invited to become members.  Artists included Little Big Town, Dustin Lynch, Lauren Alaina, Chris Young, Carly Pearce, and Lady A.  I was waiting for a surprise invitation, but it doesn’t look like there will be one tonight.
• They then brought out the host of Blake Shelton’s Barmageddon Nikki Garcia to introduce Hardy, who was performing on the Opry stage for the first time.  He started in the parking lot in a pickup truck singing his song “Truck Bed” then walked into the Opry House and out on stage for a rockin’ performance in the fog.
• The War and Treaty were then introduced to present the award for Collaboration Song of 2023:
  • “Cowgirls” by Morgan Wallen & Ernest
  • “Save Me” by Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson – WINNER
  • “Thank God” by Kane Brown and Kaitlyn Brown
  • “Red” by Hardy & Morgan Wallen
  • “You, Me, and Whiskey” by Justin Moore & Priscilla Block
  • “Beer with My Friends” by Kenny Chesney & Old Dominion
  • “Wait in the Truck” by Hardy & Lainey Wilson
  • “We Don’t Fight Anymore” by Carly Pearce and Chris Stapleton
• We come back from commercial with Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery to give out the first of a new kind of award related to social media.  The award for Social Country Star of 2023:
  • Blake Shelton – WINNER
  • Carrie Underwood
  • Morgan Wallen
  • Dolly Parton
  • Bailey Zimmerman
  • Kelsea Ballerini
  • Luke Combs
  • Shania Twain
• Kristin Cavallari and Adam Doleac came out to introduce Kelsea Ballerini who performed a new song called “Mountain With a View”
• We come back from commercial to the announcer introducing Brothers Osborne, who introduced Wynonna, who was there to receive the Country Champion Award
• Wynonna then was introduced to perform her hits “I Saw the Light” and “No One Else on Earth”
• We come back from commercial with Little Big Town introducing Gabby Barrett and Dustin Lynch to give out the award for Music Video of 2023:
  • “I Need a Favor” by Jelly Roll
  • “Thank God” by Kane Brown & Kaitlyn Brown
  • “Tennessee Orange” by Megan Moroney
  • “Thought You Should Know” by Morgan Wallen
  • “Wait in the Truck” by Hardy & Lainey Wilson – WINNER
  • “Where We Started” by Thomas Rhett & Katy Perry
  • “In Your Love” by Tyler Childers
  • “You Proof” by Morgan Wallen
• We return from commercial to the announcer introducing Carly Pearce, who then introduced Dan + Shay who performed “Bigger Houses”
• We come back from commercial with the announcer introducing Josh Ross and Mickey Guyton, who were there to give the award for People’s Choice Country Male Artist of 2023:
  • Kane Brown
  • Blake Shelton
  • Hardy
  • Bailey Zimmerman
  • Jelly Roll – WINNER
  • Luke Combs
  • Morgan Wallen
  • Zach Bryan
• Little Big Town came back from commercial to introduce comedian Leanne Morgan, who introduced Jelly Roll, who was performing “Save Me” live from a concert in Cincinnati.
• The show abruptly ended after that, oddly.  We did not see the following awards given out:  People’s Artist of the Year, New Artist, Song, Crossover Song, Album, or Concert Tour.  They may have been awarded before (or after) the live broadcast, but we have not received any press releases about it yet.