The show couldn't have gotten off to a better start. Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley kicked things off with a light-hearted tribute to Star Wars as well as hilarious song parodies. "We're going to sing songs, tell jokes and host the Sith out of this show!" exclaimed Paisley.

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It was a consistently entertaining show throughout the evening. The comedic montage also had Little Big Town, Darius Rucker and Bryan hopping in on the bandwagon. There are a few more jokes here and there to warm the crowd up. After the laughs, it was onto the music.

The duet of "Are You Ready for the Country" between Hank Williams Jr. and Eric Church took the crowd by storm. That flawless performance set the turn John Mellencamp and Keith Urban's meditative take on "Pink Houses," which then smoothly transitioned into Urban's "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16." It was Thomas Rhett who continued the collaboration trend by singing his hit, "Crash and Burn" with surprise, surprise! Fall Out Boy. The unexpected guest and pop group's "Uma Thurman" was also featured during their live performance.

Another act that blew the crowd off their seats was that of Reba McEntire's medley and her 1994 hit "Why Haven't I Heard From You." Plus, Brooks & Dunn reliving the glorious past with 2005's "Play Something Country." The performance was off the chart. It gave the crowd a taste of what to expect during their Vegas residence, which starts Dec. 2 at Caesar's Palace.

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But probably highlight performance of the night was the "Tennessee Whiskey" duet between Justin Timberlake and the night's big winner, Chris Stapleton.

Chris Staple-who?

If it's only now that you heard of that name, you can be sure it's one name that will be ringing across the industry for a long time. The Mercury Nashville recording artist surprised everyone after winning three awards--Male Nocalist, New Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. Stapleton,who's worked as songwriter and was a member of the bands The SteelDrivers and The Jompson Brothers never had a top 40 single in his entire career but his Traveller album received a lot of press this year.

Upon winning the Best Male Vocalist award, Stapleton managed to dethrone Blake Shelton from his five-year winning streak. In fact, the newcomer's big night also overshadowed mulit-awarded Luke Bryan's second straight win as Entertainer of the Year--the first time someone had repeated in the category since Kenny Chesney won three times from 2006 to 2008.

Some of the other big winners were: for Luke Bryan for Entertainer of the Year, "Girl Crush" by The Little Big Town snagging Single of the Year and Miranda Lambert winning for Female Vocalist of the Year.

Here's a full list care of the Huffington Post.

Indeed, the CMA 2015 was a night filled with pleasant surprises. 'Til next year!

Tags: CMA 2015 country music awards Christ Stapleton