"For a second, it was hard to tell what silhouetted angel was killing the
beginning of Chris Stapleton’s 'Think I’m in Love With You.' [...] Her voice
fit the bluesy, sultry song well, and Stapleton, a true pro at big-time
duets, knew how to cede the stage."
The award shows in the country genre are by far no longer the highlights of the year. This is not only because they were held in an almost inflationary number for a while, but also because in times of an omnipresent internet, appearances by stars have become practically everyday life.
So in 2021, major American broadcaster CBS did not extent its contract for the exclusive broadcasting rights to the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards due to dwindling audience interest. New ideas and concepts were urgently needed.
What this meant for the time being could be seen last Thursday, May 16, 2024, at the 59th ACM Awards. They were finally broadcast live outside the USA on Amazon Prime, which had secured exclusive broadcasting rights in 2022. Even if that meant a start time of 1 a.m. for Central Europe. But in contrast to the Stagecoach Festival, which was also streamed live on Amazon Prime for the first time at the end of April 2024, the ACM Awards will continue to be available in full length on Amazon Prime.
Today, award shows have turned to presenting new songs almost exclusively for the live performances during the show. Among others, Jelly Roll presented a yet to be released new song ('Liar'), and Lainey Wilson performed the infectious, uptempo 'Hang Tight Honey' live for the first time - presumably her new single from her just recently for August 2024 announced new album "Whirlwind".
Kane Brown did a soulful version of the Ray Charles /
Willie Nelson classic 'Georgia On My Mind' and presenter Reba McEntire concluded the event in her inimitable
style with the new gospel-styled song 'I Can't'.
Apart from Jelly Roll, whose current hit 'Halfway to Hell' (number 5 on the Billboard Country Airplay Chart) probably should not be diverted from its climb to the top, all these songs have been released and can be officially streamed or purchased as a download.
And when current hits do get performed (with the exception of Cody Johnson's 'Dirt Cheap' last week), then they are transformed into versions unheard before. Such as the banger 'Bulletproof' by Nate Smith, which is the follow-up to his mega-hit 'World On Fire' and which currently sits at number 12 on the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart after just 14 weeks. As of the 59th CMA Awards, the song is now also available as a duet version with the world-famous 39-year-old pop-punk singer and songwriter Avril Lavigne.
While superstar pop-rapper Post Malone performed 'I Had Some Help' - the inevitable summer hit of the year - without Morgan Wallen, Chris Stapleton once again made musical headlines with his performance!
For at the beginning of the performance of his self-written, current single - the bluesy-pulsating 'Think I'm In Love' - he was visibly absent from the stage. Instead the singer on stage, as the huge surprise slowly dawned on most everybody, was British pop superstar with Albanian roots: Dua Lipa. Only shortly afterwards Chris Stapleton joined her and they both delivered a well done duet version of this sultry declaration of love.
For billboard.com, the singer explained afterwards, that there were lots of zipped-up hoodies involved to keep her presence a secret until the end: "We were all so in on making sure that this stays a surprise to make the moment even more special. I don’t know how we did it, I’m glad we did it because it’s really special when it happened tonight on stage."
Like his past, legendary duet performances (Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Hudson), the duet with Dua Lipa has not been released. At least not yet. Because fans on social media are already vehemently calling for a release of the duet that they previously didn't know they needed to hear.
But it almost seems like Chris Stapleton's promotional team isn't very committed. Despite the fact, that the single, which admittedly doesn't sound very country, can't exactly boast a home-run on the radio (Billboard Country Airplay) chart, where it only sits at number 49 after 13 weeks.
Which leads to the issue that somehow takes away the excitement and surprise factor from these award shows. It may be due to the fact that bands and duos weren't very popular in the genre in recent years, that Old Dominion and Dan+Shay (alternating with Brothers Osborne) have been awarded again (and that Little Big Town and Brooks & Dunn continue to be nominated despite no longer being current).
But the fact that Chris Stapleton is again given the awards for Male Artist of the Year and Album of the Year, reminds one of Groundhog Day. After all, his last number 1 hit dates back 3 years and the last official music video even 4 years. Should this really apply to an artist given these awards?
Of course there is no comparable voice in the music business! But commercial success should still play a role nevertheless for an award, handed out annually. Otherwise it would need to be reserved for Chris Stapleton and his works for life. It was not without reason that Garth Brooks announced in 2020, after having received 7 awards, that he would no longer be available for the Entertainer of the Year award!
But as it is, Chris Stapleton, the 46-year-old father of five, simply seems to have worldwide enthusiasm from all directions falling into his lap, without much effort. His concert appearances for October 2024 in Great Britain (Manchester, Dublin, Birmingham, Glasgow and London) have long been sold out. Shows that don't take place in small clubs, but rather in venues such as the O2 in London and the AO Arena in Manchester, each with capacities of 20,000.
The same applies to his 8 concerts in Australia and New Zealang at the beginning of 2025, for which there are also no longer tickets available.
But whoever might then suspect that it would at least not be that easy for a country singer and songwriter to arrange a duet with an artist who is currently not only one of the biggest pop stars in the world (according to Time Magazine, even one of the 100 most influental personalities), but has also already been awarded with 3 Grammies for her music and who is currently promoting the recent release of her third album "Radical Optimism", may be surprised again. And then I may admit, that the award of Male Artist of the Year goes not entirely undeserved for Chris Stapleton.
After all, Dua Lipa is quoted by people.com: "I'm such a fan of Chris' and I kind of reached out and was like, 'Hey, wanna do something together?' And this came about."
Postscript: in the meantime the live version from the ACM-Awards has officially been released.
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