Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley kicked off the Country Music Association Awards dressed as "Star Wars" characters and later joked onstage — including about Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert's divorce.
"And of course we can't ignore the breakup that rocked our world," Underwood said, as the camera panned to Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog.
"On a completely unrelated topic, howdy Blake?" Paisley replied. The camera panned to Shelton who laughed and clapped his hands, along with the audience.
"Did you hear that duet that Blake did with Ashley Madison?" Paisley asked, earning laughs from the audience at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
"That was with Ashley Monroe," Underwood replied.
Shelton confirmed Wednesday just hours before the awards show that he and his fellow "Voice" mentor Gwen Stefani are dating. He and Lambert announced their divorce in July.
Lambert, who is also at the CMAs, is nominated for entertainer of the year, while Shelton will perform later in the show.
Duets kicked off the awards show: Eric Church and Hank Williams Jr performed "Are You Ready for the Country" and John Mellencamp and Keith Urban strummed their guitars during "Pink Houses."
Little Big Town won the first award of the night for single of the year for their No. 1 hit, "Girl Crush."
"This is about being brave and being bold," Karen Fairchild said onstage with her group. "Country radio, thanks for having the guts for playing it."
The foursome, along with Church, walked into the arena as the most nominated act with five. They lost music video of the year to Maddie & Tae's "Girl in a Country Song" and musical event of the year to Church and Urban, but they still have a chance to win album of the year for their million-selling effort, "Pain Killer," which featured "Girl Crush," one of the year's most popular — and semi-controversial — songs.
The group, which includes Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet, is also nominated for vocal group of the year, which it has won for the last three years.
"Girl Crush," which has sold 1.8 million tracks and topped Billboard's Hot Country songs chart, is about a woman who is obsessed with another woman because she's with the guy she desires. The song was pulled from some country radio stations because of its lyrics. It opens with the line: "I've got a girl crush, hate to admit it but ..."
The ballad is also nominated for song of the year, a songwriter's award.
While Little Big Town may go home with more top awards, they're not up for the biggest honor: entertainer of the year. Church is nominated for the top prize, pitting him against Garth Brooks, Lambert, Kenny Chesney and last year's winner, Luke Bryan.
The night will also include more paired performances, including Thomas Rhett with Fall Out Boy and Justin Timberlake with Chris Stapleton, who is nominated for album, male vocalist and new artist of the year.
"All of them were a surprise," Stapleton, a popular songwriter, said of his nominations. "CMA Awards are a very straight country radio-driven thing. I don't have a lot of that presence and I am sure there are a lot of people going, 'Who in the hell is this guy?' But thankfully, I guess I have a lot of fans in the industry who are like, 'Watch this, we're going to vote for him.'"
Sam Hunt, also nominated for new artist, is the only breakthrough act competing for both song and single of the year with his No. 1 hit "Take Your Time," which he co-wrote.
"It's kind of like being on the radio for the first time," Hunt said of his nominations. "It's like you're in the company of your peeps and the company you're in, they are the pros. They are the best."
Hunt will also hit the stage, as will Kacey Musgraves, Jason Aldean, Little Big Town, Florida Georgia Line, Reba McEntire, Dierks Bentley and Kelsea Ballerini. Presenters at the show, airing live on ABC, include Lee Ann Womack, Darius Rucker, Edie Brickell, Steve Martin and members of the U.S. women's soccer team.
Brooks, who marked a comeback last year with his first album in 13 years, said he's excited to be nominated for entertainer of the year as a country veteran.
"How great is it to get this honor this late in your career? Very sweet, very sweet, 'cause careers are for young people and new artists," he said.
"The truth is I am just going with the most gorgeous woman on the planet," he added as he hugged his wife, singer Trisha Yearwood. "And I will be leaving with the most gorgeous woman on the planet."
