All the details on the collaborations to catch on ‪#‎CMAfest‬

The Stars! The Hits! The Surprises! Here's Why You Should Watch the CMA Music Fest Special

Arguably the most important stage in country music, the festival's centerpiece shows, held in early June at Nashville's Nissan Stadium, will be trimmed down to a three-hour special to be aired Wednesday at 8 p.m. on ABC. Here's an inside look at our favorite moments: 

TOP BILLING
The annual ABC special always mixes up the performance order, but the actual concerts follow a fairly predictable order, starting with vintage stars and moving on to up-and-comers and A-listers, and finally, to the top acts. This year,Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan held down the four coveted closing spots. All four packed a full-length concert's worth of energy into seven- or eight-song sets, leaning on their most crowd-pleasing hits but also mixing in new material. 

Carrie Underwood

NANCY KRUH

Yes, Underwood delivered "Before He Cheats," but she'd already set fire to the stage with "Choctaw County Affair" – wowing the crowd with newly revealed bluesy harmonica skills. And while Shelton opened with his beloved "Ol' Red" and had folks up and singing to "Boys 'Round Here," he made sure new single "She's Got a Way with Words" had its moment, too. 

Blake Shelton

NANCY KRUH

PASSING THE TORCH
Kelsea Ballerini and Chris Stapleton both earned stadium debuts this year, and concert planners seemed to make up for a lack of female performers on the bill with surprise appearances by Maren Morris (who took over the stage during Rascal Flatts' set to sing "My Church") and Cam (who performed "Burning House" with Lady Antebellum and returned the favor by joining Lady A in "Need You Now"). 

Lady A's appearance was also a surprise; regular stadium performers since 2008, they didn't make the bill this year. Other notable MIAs who've been familiar faces in recent years: the Band Perry, Darius Rucker and the Zac Brown Band. 



















DOUBLING UP
Of course, Cassadee Pope showed up to sing chart-topper "Think of You" with Chris Young; the two perform it regularly on tour. But concert-goers also were treated to several star pairings that will rarely be heard outside the recordings. Shelton brought on the Oak Ridge Boys to recreate his album cut "Doing It to Country Songs," and the five-some then segued into "Elvira" (because who can ever get enough of "oom-poppa-mow-mow"?). 

Dierks Bentley and alternative rocker Elle King showed off their chemistry with "Different for Girls." Eric Church and Hank Williams Jr. teamed for "Are You Ready for the Country," a Bocephus staple the two re-imagined for Williams' new album. On Sunday night, Little Big Town slighted new single "One of Those Days" on their new Pharrell Williams-produced album in favor of another cut, "Miracle." Though they'd selected the inspirational song days in advance, Karen Fairchild movingly dedicated it to the victims of the Orlando massacre; Williams was there to help perform it. 

Little Big Town and Pharrell Williams

NANCY KRUH

SURPRISE COLLABORATIONS
And then there were the duets that will probably never be heard again – live or digitally. Fans got adorableness-times-two when Brett Eldredge joined buddy Thomas Rhett on "Vacation" during Rhett's set, and Rhett reappeared during Eldredge's set for "You Can't Stop Me." (The two will serve as hosts of the ABC special.) Steven Tyler – who goes country on his upcoming album – provided a show-stopper when he introduced Martina McBride for a dazzling duet of Aerosmith's "Cryin'." 

Thomas Rhett and Brett Eldredge

NANCY KRUH

And during the Sunday night finale, Luke Bryan brought out Keith Urban (who'd just finished his set) and challenged him to a guitar smackdown. (Gee, guess who won. Hint: At the end, Bryan fell to his knees to humble himself before country's six-string diety.) The two performers shredded their way through a spectacular jam and then collaborated for a cover of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Fishin' in the Dark." 

Luke Bryan and Keith Urban

NANCY KRUH

A NEW STAGE
The debut of a two-tiered stage brought a new immediacy to the stadium performances as the stars could easily mingle with fans pressed against the lower stage. Eldredge, Bryan, Tyler, Urban, Florida Georgia Line, and Sam Hunt seemed to particularly revel in the new setup, reaching into the sea of outstretched hands and mugging for cell phone pics. Hunt was especially unharnessed, spending almost his entire set skipping and galloping across the two stages. 

THE WOW FACTOR
So you want to know the best of the best? Sheesh, put us on the spot! All right, besides those already mentioned, here are the performances we most hope get on TV: anything from Miranda Lambert's ferocious set, which included "Fastest Girl in Town," "Gunpowder and Lead" and "Little Red Wagon"; Florida Georgia Line showing off their newly solemn side with "H.O.L.Y."; Bentley's crowd-rousing "Freedom"; Cole Swindell's touching "Middle of a Memory"; Urban's "John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16" (featuring a Mellencamp snippet of "Jack and Diane"); Underwood's soaring "Something in the Water"; and Bryan's sexy "Strip It Down." 

Miranda Lambert

NANCY KRUH

WHAT YOU PROBABLY WON'T SEE ON TV
Some moments weren't made for a TV special, but they no doubt have been indelibly imprinted on the 60,000 concert-goers who witnessed them over the four nights. Chris Stapleton took the introduction of his bandmates from the cursory to the sublime when he soulfully improvised an entire song that featured their resumes. During his band's set, Charlie Daniels poignantly brought to the stage Randy Travis, still recovering from a 2013 stroke, and he was greeted with a standing ovation. And Luke Bryan doffed his cap and led the stadium in a sobering moment of silence in honor of the victims of the Orlando shooting.

 CREDIT: NANCY KRUH