The fan-voted 2023 CMT Awards is airing live this evening from Austin, TX on CBS.  Please visit this post often as we update it throughout the night!

• The show started with a cold-open of Kelsea Ballerini giving an impassioned speech about the recent school shooting in Nashville.
• After the show’s official intro, we got started with Blake Shelton standing in a darkened arena with a spotlight on him, proclaiming that he still loves Austin (in a nod to his smash hit debut single “Austin”) before performing his current single “No Body”
• The voice-over announcer listed off the evening’s performers before Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown came out as hosts, welcoming the crowd and pointing out some of the stars in attendance.  They then exchanged gifts, Kelsea getting a beige cowboy hat, and Kane getting a pink cowboy hat.
• The nominees for Video of the Year were announced, as it is live-voted on during the show.  Visit cmt.com now to vote!
• They then kicked it over to the front of the Texas State Capitol where Tyler Hubbard performed his new single “Dancing in the Country”
• Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown came back on to introduce Gary Clark Jr. who performed Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “The House is Rockin'”
• As they have done in past years, they go to commercial break with breakout artists performing snippets of their music.  The first commercial break featured Lily Rose performing “Whatcha Know About That”
• They came back from commercial with Kelsea introducing the “new Texas CMT Awards Trophy” which featured a red button on it.  When she pressed it, you heard Matthew McConaughey’s famous “Alright, Alright, Alright.”  A video clip then aired of McConaughey saying he wanted one, and Kelsea quipping that he’d have to win one first
• Stranger Things’ Noah Schnapp came out to announce the CMT Award for Collaborative Video of the Year:
  • “Worth a Shot” by Elle King & Dierks Bentley
  • “Wait in the Truck” by Hardy & Lainey Wilson – WINNER
  • “Wishful Drinking” by Ingrid Andress & Sam Hunt
  • “Thank God” by Kane Brown and Katelyn Brown
  • “Longneck Way to Go” by Midland & Jon Pardi
  • “She Likes It” by Russell Dickerson & Jake Scott
  • “Where We Started” by Thomas Rhett & Katy Perry
• Jon Pardi came out to introduce Carly Pearce who performed her current hit single “What He Didn’t Do”
• Cody Alan appeared backstage for the Solitaire Grand Harvest Game Lounge along with a cameo from Dustin Lynch
• Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown brought us back from commercial to introduce Parker McCollum, who came out to give out the award for Breakthrough Female Video of the Year:
  • “Narcissist” by Avery Anna
  • “If He Wanted to He Would” by Kylie Morgan
  • “Pickup” by Mackenzie Porter
  • “Tennessee Orange” by Megan Moroney – WINNER
  • “Wilder Days” by Morgan Wade
  • “Found In You” by Tiera Kennedy
• He then gave out the award for Breakthrough Male Video of the Year:
  • “Son of a Sinner” by Jelly Roll – WINNER
  • “Fall in Love” by Bailey Zimmerman
  • “Wild as Her” by Corey Kent
  • “Sounds Like Something I’d Do” by Drake Milligan
  • “Don’t Come Lookin'” by Jackson Dean
  • “Whiskey On You” by Nate Smith
• Kelsea then came back out to promote an upcoming TV special for The Judds Final Tour.  She then introduced Wynonna Judd and Ashley McBryde who came out to perform a cover of Foreigner’s “I Wanna Know What Love Is” which she performed during The Judds Final Tour
• We come back from commercial with the announcer introducing Megan Thee Stallion, who presented Shania Twain as this year’s Equal Play Award Recipient
• The star of the new show True Lies, Steven Howey, came out to introduce Cody Johnson, who performed his current hit single “Human”
• Kane Brown was back out to introduce Keith Urban, who performed his current single “Brown Eyes Baby” on the outdoor Capitol Stage
• Kelsea came back out and noted that the Group/Duo Video of the Year winner was announced earlier, before the broadcast:
  • “You (Performance Video)” by Dan  + Shay
  • “Summer State of Mind” by Lady A
  • “Hell Yeah” by Little Big Town
  • “Take My Name” by Parmalee
  • “That’s How Love is Made” by The War and Treaty
  • “Out in the Middle” by Zac Brown Band – WINNER
    
• Kelsea then introduced Nate Smith, who performed part of his single “Whiskey On You” as they went to commercial
• Cody Alan brought us back from commercial break to introduce Jennifer Landon and Ian Bohen from Yellowstone and Hardy to introduce Lainey Wilson who performed her newly minted #1 hit single “Heart Like a Truck”
• The announcer introduced Jackson Dean who performed part of his hit “Don’t Come Lookin'” as we go to commercial
• Kelsea Ballerini brings us back from commercial to introduce Gwen Stefani and Carly Pearce who performed No Doubt’s “I’m Just a Girl”
• The announcer introduced Shania Twain who brought out the Boykinz to do a brief a capella version of Shania’s “Giddy Up” before Shania gave out the award for Female Video of the Year:
  • “What He Didn’t Do” by Carly Pearce
  • “Ghost Story” by Carrie Underwood
  • “Pick Me Up” by Gabby Barrett
  • “HEARTFIRST” by Kelsea Ballerini
  • “Heart Like a Truck” by Lainey Wilson – WINNER
  • “Humble Quest” by Maren Morris
  • “Actin’ Up” by Miranda Lambert
• The announcer took us to commercial by letting us know that Jelly Roll will be taking the stage soon
• We come back to find Kane Brown wearing a “This Shirt Saves Lives” t-shirt, which promotes the work that St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital does.  He then introduced Jelly Roll, who came out with a choir to perform his new single “I Need a Favor”
• The announcer then introduced Charles Esten and Madison Bailey from the TV Show Outer Banks to give out the CMT Award for CMT Performance of the Year:
  • “Colors” by Black Pumas & Mickey Guyton (from 2022’s CMT Music Awards)
  • “Whenever You Come Around” by Chris Stapleton (from CMT Giants)
  • “Til You Can’t” by Cody Johnson (from 2022’s CMT Music Awards) – WINNER
  • “Never Say Never” by Cole Swindell & Lainey Wilson (from 2022’s CMT Music Awards)
  • “Let Her Cry” by Darius Rucker (from CMT Storytellers)
  • “Lay Me Down” by Emmy Russell & Lukas Nelson (from Coal Miner’s Daughter:  A Celebration of the Life and Music of Loretta Lynn)
  • “Wild Hearts” by Keith Urban (from 2022’s CMT Music Awards)
  • “One Way Ticket” LeAnn Rimes w/ Ashley McBryde & Carly Pearce (from CMT Crossroads)
  • “Love Can Build a Bridge” by The Judds (from 2022’s CMT Music Awards)
  • “The Rose” by Wynonna Judd and Brandi Carlile (from Naomi Judd:  A River of Time Celebration)
• We come back from commercial with the announcer introducing Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce, who was in the crowd to introduce Kelsea Ballerini who performed her single “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too)” with four drag queens dancing around her
• The announcer then introduced Max Thieriot of CBS’s SEAL Team and Fire Country to introduced Kane Brown and Katelyn Brown to perform their duet “Thank God” from the outdoor Capitol Stage
• We go to commercial with Avery Anna performing a clip of her song “Narcissist”
• We come back to Carrie Underwood introducing The Black Crowes and Darius Rucker who performed “She Talks to Angels”
• LeAnn Rimes came out to announce the winner of the 2023 CMT Award for Best Male Video of the Year
  • “Rock and a Hard Place” by Bailey Zimmerman
  • “Human” by Cody Johnson
  • “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” by Cole Swindell
  • “Son of a Sinner” by Jelly Roll – WINNER
  • “Like I Love Country Music” by Kane Brown
  • “The Kind of Love We Make” by Luke Combs
  • “Wasted on You” by Morgan Wallen
• Carly Pearce brought us back from commercial talking about the CMT’s Next Women of Country program before introducing Alanis Morissette with Lainey Wilson, Ingrid Andress, Madeline Edwards and Morgan Wade who performed “You Oughta Know”
• We go to commercial break with Megan Moroney performing a clip of her hit single “Tennessee Orange”
• We come back to Dustin Lynch, who introduced Dixie D’Amelio, who then introduced Carrie Underwood who performed “I Hate My Heart” on the outdoor Capitol Stage
• The final performance of the night from the Dodge Ram Stage as we go to another commercial is “You Can Have Him Jolene” by Chapel Hart
• We come back from commercial with Darius Rucker, who was out to announce the CMT Award for Video of the Year:
• Finalists:
  • “Hate My Heart” by Carrie Underwood
  • “Wait in the Truck” by Hardy & Lainey Wilson
  • “Thank God” by Kane Brown & Katelyn Brown – WINNER
• Runners-Up
  • “Bonfire at Tina’s” by Ashley McBryde, Caylee Hammack, Brandy Clark, Pillbox Patti
  • “No Body” by Blake Shelton
  • “Human” by Cody Johnson
  • “Worth a Shot” by Elle King & Dierks Bentley
  • “Pick Me Up” by Gabby Barrett
  • “Down Home” by Jimmie Allen
  • “Wild Hearts” by Keith Urban
  • “HEARTFIRST” by Kelsea Ballerini
  • “Rich Man” by Little Big Town
  • “Country On” by Luke Bryan
  • “The Kind of Love We Make” by Luke Combs
  • “You Proof” by Morgan Wallen
  •  “AA” by Walker Hayes
• Peter Frampton came out to honor Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
• The show ended with an all-star performance of “Simple Man” and “Sweet Home Alabama” honoring Lynyrd Skynyrd by members of ZZ Top, Bad Company, Guns N Roses, and The Allman Brothers.  The performers were Cody Johnson, Billy Gibbons, Paul Rodgers, Slash, Chuck Leavell, Warren Haynes, Wynonna Judd, and LeAnn Rimes!  That was one hell of a performance to wrap up the show!