By Brian Mansfield, Special for USA TODAY

* * * * (out of four) Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, John Fogerty and Charlie Daniels, Travelin' Band. Two female vocalist nominees, Lambert and Underwood, launched the show by trading verses on the 1970 Creedence Clearwater Revival
hit. Folks who prefer the pickin' side of country got an earful, too,
as Paisley and Fogerty swapped solos before introducing Daniels, who
finished the song on fiddle. And Daniels had the last word on the rare
all-star jam that worked: "That's how you start a television show,
son!"

* * *  Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins, Hillbilly BoneShelton's
catchy novelty, which won the musical event award, is the kind of
country corn that evokes winces from people who want a little respect
for the genre. But Shelton and Adkins, who contributed a rumbling bass
part, got the crowd at the MGM Grand shouting "Yee-haw!" at full
volume. And what was with all the pyro behind them? Simple: Hillbillies
like to see stuff blow up.

* * ½ Billy Currington,That's How Country Boys Roll. Currington and his five-piece band played a no-frills country rocker on a small stage in the middle of the arena.

* * * Kenny Chesney, Ain't Back Yet. Chesney,
wearing a black T-shirt, jeans and a cowboy hat, delivered his
hard-pumping new single with an eight-piece band plus four horns —
still an oddity in country. He also sounded great, especially when
dipping into a rarely used lower register.

* * ½ Laura Bell Bundy, Giddy On Up. For her first major TV performance, the former star of Broadway's Legally Blondecame
down from the rafters riding a golden horseshoe. Bundy's halter top and
fringed chaps did more to show off her toned tummy than her thoroughly
choreographed line-dance production did to show off her voice.

* * *  Toby Keith with Dave Koz, Cryin' for Me. Keith enlisted smooth-jazz saxophonist Koz to pay tribute to their friend, the late basketball player/jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale. It offered a tender, personal moment tucked inside the night's extravaganza.

* * ½ Taylor Swift,Change.
Swift's first televised American performance since January's
less-than-well-received Grammy Awards appearance was a huge production
that wisely allowed the young singer to focus on her occasionally
still-shaky vocals. Swift sang the first half from a small circular
apparatus that carried her above the audience through the arena, and
ended it being carried out through the crowd after swaying with a
30-voice choir during her inspirational anthem.

* * *  Lady Antebellum, American Honey.Need You Now won
the trio their awards, but Lady A opted for some down-home sweetness
and sang their latest country single instead. The group displayed the
sheer joy they take in playing together, from Dave Haywood's
acoustic-guitar intro to Hillary Scott's vocals to Charles Kelley acting like an airplane during an instrumental break.

* *  Rascal Flatts, Unstoppable. Rascal
Flatts came out losers in more ways than one, having to follow Lady
Antebellum's performance, then losing the top vocal group award to them
later in the show. The group's high-energy country-pop didn't measure
up to Lady A's honey-smooth ballad, and Gary LeVox struggled to nail just enough notes to drag it down more.

* * *½ Miranda Lambert, The House That Built Me. Moments
after winning her second album of the year ACM, Lambert, known for
usually fiery performances, instead delivered a touching,
emotion-filled number about the experiences that shape a life, while
images of her musical influences (including Nashville's Ryman
Auditorium) graced the video screens behind her. Later in the night,
she'd win top female vocalist.

* * ½ Jack Ingram and Dierks Bentley, Barbie Doll.
This number, which ended with several attractive female members of the
audience onstage, looked and sounded more like a bar band's last-call
song than a national TV appearance by a pair of major-label acts. Not
that that's a bad thing.

* * * ½ Carrie Underwood, Temporary Home.
Underwood looked — and sounded — like her usual, impeccably elegant
self as she sang her latest No. 1 single while accompanied by a quartet
of female musicians playing piano, acoustic guitar, violin and cello.
She went on to win her second straight entertainer of the year award.

* * *  Brad Paisley, Water. Paisley once had a hit called Alcohol,
so consider his latest single equal time for the other side. His guitar
playing made a bigger splash than his singing, especially when he
soloed while walking across the arena floor and ended up falling
backward into what looked like a giant hot tub. He didn't even have
time to change intro dry clothes before winning top male vocalist.

* * Brooks & Dunn, My Maria.
During the show, fans voted to say they wanted to hear the duo sing
their 1996 hit one last time — but the show's technical staff had other
ideas: Ronnie Dunn's mike was off for the song's first line. The crew
made up for it on the final chorus, though, turning the band down so
far the TV audience could hear hardly anything except Dunn. It
was an anticlimactic final ACM performance for the two, who launch
their farewell tour Friday in Sacramento. But the follow-up win for
vocal duo of the year made for a nice consolation prize.

* * * Reba McEntire, I Keep on Lovin' You. McEntire used her new single to pay tribute via photo montage to some of the great country music couples, among them Johnny Cash and June Carter, Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

* *  Keith Urban, I'm In. Urban's new single — a remake of a tune by Radney Foster
(one of Urban's favorite sources) — had the grainy, jerky look of an
online video, thanks to the use of handheld camera. Urban sounded
great, after a rough start, but the low-fi look was jarring and
disorienting.

* * *  Darius Rucker, Forever Road. The former Hootie & the Blowfish frontman used his first ACM performance to debut his new single — and mandolin great Sam Bush was playing in his band.