Luke Bryan's Sneaky Steal and Other Things You Didn't See on TV at the 2024 CMA Awards

CMA Show co-host Luke Bryan made his TV audience laugh Wednesday night — but his funniest part of the night may have been the one that didn’t catch on camera.

Jeff Bridges just accepted the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year award because Morgan Wallen was a no-show, and at the last moment of the broadcast, viewers could see the actor handing the hand-blown crystal to Bryan.

What happened next?

Jeff Bridges with the Morgan Wallen Award for Entertainer of the Year at the CMA Awards on November 20, 2024 in Nashville.

Disney/Frank Micelotta

The much-coveted trophy proved too tempting for the country entertainer, a two-time award winner himself, who tucked it into the crook of his arm like a soccer ball and took off toward the stage steps, seemingly trying to make a run for it.

The caper only lasted a moment. After a few steps, Bryan stopped, smiled at his joke, then turned and obligingly handed the trophy to a nearby CMA employee.

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That carefree moment was just one of many sights, sounds and sensations that didn’t make it onto the airwaves — but PEOPLE were at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena to catch them all.

Here are 10 more:

ORDINARY GUYS:

Both Luke Combs and Jelly Roll pride themselves on projecting down-to-earth characters, and both have confirmed – off camera – that it’s not acting. After Combs finished performing “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” as the curtain came down on the stage, he turned and thanked the band members, taking time to shake each one’s hand. After performing “Liar,” Jelly Roll offered a similar gesture to his group of backing singers, taking a moment to high-five each one.

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Keith Urban and Jelly Roll perform on stage during the 58th Annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on November 20, 2024 in Nashville.

Theo Wargo/Getty

COMMERCIAL CONVOS:

As the ads rolled, the Hall of Fame section turned into what amounted to a series of mini-cocktail parties. Jelly Roll and his wife Bunnie Xo could be seen talking to Cody Johnson and his wife Brandi, with Johnson taking off his cowboy hat to hug Bunnie.

Country stars definitely hug, and there were many more hugs during the night: Post Malone earned hugs from Michael Trotter and The War and Treaty’s Shaboozey. During one break in the countdown, a high-heeled Ashley McBryde tiptoed over for a quick hug with longtime friend and show co-host Lainey Wilson, then returned to her seat. Kelsea Ballerini and Dasha also brought it before engaging in an intimate tête-à-tête.

Jelly Roll and Cody Johnson at the 58th Annual Country Music Association Awards at Bridgestone Arena on November 20, 2024 in Nashville.

John Shearer/Getty

TRIBUTE TO THE KING:

A steady stream of artists — including Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney (aka Dan + Shay), Keith Urban, Bailey Zimmerman, Jelly Roll and Old Dominion’s Matthew Ramsey — stopped by to kneel before country king George Strait, who mostly held court while seated. Post Malone had the honor of sitting next to the icon and his wife Norma, and the country’s new crossover king greeted both fellow Texans like starry-eyed fans.

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George Strait, Norma Strait and Post Malone at the 58th Annual Country Music Association Awards at Bridgestone Arena on November 20, 2024 in Nashville.

John Shearer/Getty

TENNESSEE ORANGE:

On camera, co-hosts Bryan, Wilson and Peyton Manning all hoisted red Solo Cups in honor of the late Toby Keith, but off-camera as he waited for his hosting duties, Manning switched to an orange Solo Cup, the color of the retired professional quarterback’s college team. , University of Tennessee. (Perhaps the traditional Solo color is too close to the hues of UT’s arch-rivals, Georgia’s bulldog red and Alabama’s crimson.)

Manning also proved to be a fan of Tom Petty (and Dierks Bentley), standing near the stage, raising his orange mug and singing along to “American Girl” during Bentley’s bluegrass rendition of the Petty classic.

Luke Bryan, Lainey Wilson and Peyton Manning during the CMA Awards on November 20, 2024 in Nashville.

Disney/Frank Micelotta

REFERRED DIRECTIONS:

If the crowd seemed particularly down during Ashley McBryde’s tribute to the late Kris Kristofferson, there was a good reason. The entire arena had just received long and persistent warnings from the offstage announcer: “The next performance is of the utmost respect … Nice and quiet, everyone … Sit down, Please.”

Even then, the TV audience could see a wayward Luke Combs hastily taking his seat during McBryde’s first solemn notes of Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night”.

Ashley McBryde performs on stage during the 58th Annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on November 20, 2024 in Nashville.

Theo Wargo/Getty

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:

The CMA membership, of course, chooses the award winners, but the arena crowd had their say as the nominees were announced, though the TV audio may not have picked up the reactions.

Judging by the volume of applause from the upper decks, fans favored Zach Top for Best New Artist over winner Megan Moroney, Red Clay Strays for Vocal Group of the Year (Old Dominion took home the trophy) and Morgan Wallen for Male Artist of the Year (Chris Stapleton). Wallen overwhelmingly won the audience’s favor, along with the actual trophy, for Entertainer of the Year.

Zach Top and girlfriend Amelia Taylor at the CMA Awards on November 20, 2024 in Nashville.

AFF-USA/Shutterstock

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MASS EXODUS:

Fellow Duo of the Year nominees Michael and Tanya Trotter (aka The War and Treaty), Dan + Shay, Maddie Font of Maddie & Tae and the Osborne brothers were all smiles and clapping for the cameras as Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn took home the Already Alone award won 14 times before.

Their win was perhaps the most shocking of the night, and for whatever reason, Trotters, Smyers, Mooney and Font all left during the next commercial break. (Font’s partner, Taylor Dye Kerr, decided to stay home after giving birth just three weeks ago.) Only TJ and John Osborne, six-time award winners, remained until the end of the show.

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Zach Top, Kix Brooks and TJ Osborne at the 58th Annual Country Music Association Awards at Bridgestone Arena on November 20, 2024 in Nashville.

John Shearer/Getty

OFF-CAMERA WINNERS:

During one commercial break, Jordan Davis presented Lainey Wilson and director Patrick Tracy with the trophy for video of the year, and during the second break, Davis presented Charlie Worsham with the award for musician of the year. After a brief thank you, Wilson turned over most of her time to Tracy, who in turn praised the artist for being “a very, very, very hard working woman in this town who makes it work.”

Judging by the applause, Worsham, who also had a distinguished career as an artist, was a particular crowd favorite; the guitarist finally broke through strong fiddler Jenee Fleenor, who had taken home the prize for the past five years. TV audiences could see Worsham and Fleenor later join forces to accompany Wilson on her tribute to George Strait, “Amarillo by Morning.”

Charlie Worsham at the CMA Awards afterparty on November 20, 2024 in Nashville.

Derek White/Getty

CONCLUSION:

All the winners faced a second-by-second countdown that scrolled on a large teleprompter located across the room, each given exactly one minute for their acceptance remarks. What happened if they ran over? The teleprompter ordered “please wrap” in red letters, and the advice was usually accepted. But Old Dominion’s Matthew Ramsey overstepped even that line and received the CMA equivalent of a ruler whack on the knuckles: a show staffer waves a strip of bright red lights in front of the teleprompter. But perhaps Ramsey has earned the right to an extra moment: OD just won a record seven awards for group of the year.

Old Dominion at the CMA Awards on November 20, 2024 in Nashville.

Disney/Scott Kirkland

Lainey Wilson was among the most economical of the winners, offering words of wisdom (“I’ve always been told that if you feel like you have a gift, you should share it”), as well as thanks for “Mom and Dad,” boyfriend Devlin ‘Duck’ Hodges, Jesus and various professional collaborators, and she still had 15 seconds to accept the group singer of the year.

Lainey Wilson at the 58th Annual CMA Awards held at the Bridgestone Arena on November 20, 2024 in Nashville.

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

DEFINITELY NOT CGI:

Fire and other pyrotechnics were used throughout the show, but nothing as dramatic as Jelly Roll and Keith Urban’s incendiary rendition of “Liar.” The clouds of fire that exploded behind the artists could sear the skin on stage as the heat of the explosions could be felt from as far away as row 15 in the audience.

Keith Urban and Jelly Roll perform at the 58th Annual CMA Awards held at Bridgestone Arena on November 20, 2024 in Nashville.

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

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