2014 CMA Awards: Little Big Town, Ariana Grande team for ‘Day Drinking’ / ‘Bang Bang’

Are the 2014 CMA Awards on ABC trying to attract a little bit more of a crowd than usual? We are wondering, based at least on the performance that took place on tonight’s country-music show.

The key words there are “country music,” and halfway through Little Big Town’s performance of “Day Drinking,” we suddenly had Ariana Grande coming out and performing “Bang Bang,” which is technically a Jessie J song with her and Nicki Minaj as collaborators.

We can see many CMA fans being torn on this performance. Little Big Town, who already won a trophy for Group of the Year, sounded excellent throughout their part. Then, they were left to harmonize with the pop star during her part of the song for the most part.

In a way, the purist argument here could and understandably be that the CMA Awards should keep most of their performances country-related, while there are others who may think that it never hurts to get some other ratings on the show.

Ultimately, we feel like what we would’ve wanted to see on here more than anything else was someone like Ariana, who proves once again in here that she can really sing like nobody’s business, take on a song that is much more within the country vein and show some more of her own range as a performer. Plus, we feel like this could get her even more exposure, and show that country music is so mainstream that even pop artists are wanting to take on some of its classics.

What did you think about this particular performance from the show? Share some of your thoughts at the moment with a comment.