Underwood, Paisley Poke Fun Of Ebola, Swift At CMAs

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Maybe Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley should host the Academy Awards.

The duo was white-hot and earned laugh after laugh for back-to-back jokes that ranged from Ebola to Taylor Swift as they hosted Wednesday’s Country Music Association Awards for the seventh time.

Swift’s switch to pop from country was referred to as “Post Pardon Taylor Swift Disorder,” or PPTSD.

“President Barack Obama doesn’t care about PPTSD!” Paisley yelled. Underwood followed with: “I’m pretty sure it’s why the democrats lost the senate.”

Underwood and Paisley sang a version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” calling it “Quarantine.” Paisley also earned roaring laughter when he told the audience at the Bridgestone Arena that the ABC series “Black-ish,” which airs Wednesdays, would not be airing because of the CMAs.

“If you were expecting to see the show ‘Black-ish,’ this ain’t it … I hope you’re enjoying ‘White-ish,'” he said.

Miranda Lambert kicked off the night with two wins, including single of the year for “Automatic.” She also teamed up with Meaghan Trainor for a country-tinged version of “All About That Bass,” rocking big blond hair and a happy vibe as they kicked off the show.

“Thank you so much country radio for playing it. It really has a special place in my heart,” Lambert said after winning her award, wearing a baby blue dress.

Lambert is the most-nominated artist, with nine nominations, including entertainer of the year. She’ll perform a second time during the show.

Before the show began, Underwood glowed on the carpet in a shimmering gold dress, while Trainor went with a blue lace mini and Kacey Musgraves made a style statement as she rocked her teased hair.

Musgraves, who earned two Grammys earlier this year, won song of the year for “Follow Your Arrow,” which she co-wrote with Brandy Clark, who is openly gay and was among the contenders for new artist of the year.

“Oh my goodness! Do you guys realize what this means for country music?” Musgraves said, as Clark and songwriter Shane McAnally stood behind her. “Our genre was built on simple good songs about real life and that’s what this was.”

Dierks Bentley, who was up for song of the year, was an earlier winner when his hit “Drunk On a Plane” won music video of the year, announced Wednesday morning. It’s been a successful year for the country singer, who readied the release of his seventh album earlier this year with the single “Bourbon in Kentucky,” but quickly had to switch up his plans.

“I had to pull it because it was too heavy, too dark,” he said in a recent interview. “It wasn’t working in the radio world.”

He decided to release “I Hold On,” a personal tune that became a hit. “Drunk” followed and marked back-to-back successes for the 38-year-old Bentley.

Now, he’s the leading male nominee with five nominations, including album of the year for “Riser” as well as song and single of the year.

“I wasn’t even totally thinking about that or focusing on that at all, so that was like a really cool icing on the cake,” he said of his nominations, which also include male vocalist of the year.

Lambert will battle last year’s winner, George Strait, as well as Keith Urban, Luke Bryan and husband Blake Shelton, for the entertainer of the year.

Bryan, who has three nominations, will also perform. His album “Crash My Party” was released more than a year ago, but is currently in the Top 40 on Billboard’s 200 albums chart, and has sold more than 2.1 million copies. It will compete for album of the year, along with Eric Church’s “The Outsiders,” Urban’s “Fuse” and efforts from Lambert and Bentley.

And Jimmy Kimmel will have some hosting duties: “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will broadcast via hologram to a live audience at the CMA Theater in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. A performance by Florida Georgia Line will also be sent by hologram to Hollywood.

Presenters at the 2014 CMAs include Garth Brooks, Tim Tebow, Steven Tyler, Connie Britton, Darius Rucker, Trisha Yearwood and Lucy Hale.

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