CMA Awards 2015: The Best And Worst Moments

Carrie Underwood as Carrie Fisher/Princess Leia? Brad Paisley as Guitar Solo? Darius Rucker's sly wink to the whole stormtrooper controversy? By the time Little Big Town showed up as the cantina band, we were all in.  But...

... the Star Trek captain's appearance in a Star Wars costume, combined with the "Shat-ing" comment that caused Paisley to remind him the broadcast was live, was nothing but bantha fodder.

Like a heaping serving of warm grits, the eight-time hosts' guitar-accompanied intro was the awards-show equivalent of comfort food: familiar and expectedly cheesy. Sample line, sung to the tune of Patsy Cline's "Crazy": "McDonald's breakfast all day now, Bruce Jenner's a babe now and Trump's leading in the polls."

We know John Mellencamp's got this whole gritty thing going on, but wasn't "Pink Houses" sounding pretty rough before American Idol judge Keith Urban joined in?

We would've been disappointed if the Voice coach's split from Miranda Lambert weren't referenced somehow — but really, Brad? No mention of Gwen Stefani whatsoever?

The Nashville actress has got a set of pipes — why not throw her into a duet with one of the big acts (corporate synergy, ABC!) rather than relegate her to a backstage role?

Little Big Town's simple, stirring "Girl Crush" — which minutes earlier had won Song of the Year and Single of the Year — was one of the night's most solid performances.

The international pop star joined the New Artist of the Year/Album of the Year winner for a duet as sweet as strawberry wine — a performance that ended with the audience on its feet.

We've got a confession: Smoke machines, tarp-draped pews and racks of candles made Florida Georgia Line's performance look like a Meatloaf music video. But we're guessing the band didn't care: The guys won Vocal Duo of the year right after they finished singing.

The songs from country newbies Kelsea Ballerini and Maddie & Tae are pretty great — so why did the CMAs make them cut the tunes short to thank a bunch of people we don't care about?

We couldn't have been the only ones who really wanted to see Shelton's face when Miranda Lambert was performing "Bathroom Sink," can we? Alas, no reaction shots were to be had. The telecast's director taking the high road? The artists studiously making sure they were out of the hall to avoid said shots? The world may never know.

Hey whippersnappers? This is how it's DONE.