The 18 best moments in CMT Awards history

Back in 2010, Kenan Thompson stole the show when he brought his "Saturday Night Live" portrayal of Reba McEntire to the CMT Music Awards stage. He was later joined by the real Reba, who milked the moment for all it was worth. Check out the video here.

What could have been a cringey attempt at humor instead turned into a self-effacing (and yes, still cringey) moment at the CMT Awards in 2009, when Taylor Swift announced that she was now "T-Swizzle", and unveiled "Thug Story," a collaboration with T-Pain. Watch the music video right here.

When the curtain raised for the 2010 CMT Music Awards, it had been a while since Kid Rock was anywhere near the public consciousness. That said, he hosted the show with energy and verve, and brought the house down with a performance of his hit "Cowboy."

Jake Owen's performance of his hit song "Real Life" at 2015's CMT Awards was a party on stage, full of inflatables, pizza, doughnuts, and inflatable pizzas and doughnuts. Watch the performance right here.

This one was a bit controversial. Last year's CMT Awards were divisive, and this is one of the reasons why. Dierks Bentley's tribute to Merle Haggard in 2016 was little more than a brief toast, and many fans thought that the legendary country star deserved a bit more.

In 2014, Little Big Town brought down the house with their performance of their hit "Day Drinking." Though they came onstage dressed in all white, soon they were covered in color as dyes and paints splashed all over them from gigantic drums. You can watch the performance right here.

This was a fun bit. After presenting the award for Male Video of the Year to Luke Bryan, presenter Tom Arnold had a bit of fun with the audience -- ripping Bryan's boxers off through his pants(!) and throwing them at a group of fans. Watch a recap of the moment here.

Before he ripped Luke Bryan's boxers off, however, Tom Arnold teamed up with Stone Cold Steve Austin to "go redneck" in a short skit. Watch it here.

This was another miss for last year's CMT Awards. Billy Ray Cyrus, in a somewhat pale-faced attempt at staying relevant, performed onstage with Cheap Trick, performing a medley of "Don't Be Cruel" and "Surrender." You can watch the video here.

As much as you might not like Billy Ray Cyrus performing with Cheap Trick, it wasn't as nonsensical as what the CMT awards pulled the previous year, when Lady Antebellum performed with superstar EDM artist Zedd. These were two great tastes that uh, did not taste great together. Watch the performance here.

Here, let me cleanse your palate with a musical team-up that actually worked. Back in 2009, Sugarland and the B-52s took the stage together to play an incredibly high-energy countrified version of "Love Shack." You can watch a clip here.

Here's another track that actually kind of worked really well countrified -- Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'." The group performed the song live during 2012's CMT Awards along with Rascal Flatts. You can watch a video here.

Before she went full Bangerz on us, Miley Cyrus joined her dad Billy Ray onstage at the 2008 CMT Awards for a rousing and heartfelt duet of "Ready, Set, Don't Go." You can watch a video of the performance here.

Nobody was expecting a skit this star-studded from the 2015 CMT Awards, but here we are. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rick Springfield, Justin Bieber and others made cameos in this hilarious short film -- you can watch the video here.

Despite it being the middle of election season, both president Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney took the time to film a humorous intro for the 2012 CMT Music Awards. You can watch the clip here.

To make his performance of his latest single at the time, "Somethin' I'm Good At," memorable, Brett Eldredge brought a marching band drum line to accompany him on stage. It was as much — if not more — an instrumental performance as a vocal one. Watch the performance here.

"The Fighter" is a duet off of Keith Urban's 2016 album "Ripcord" featuring Carrie Underwood. The original version is upbeat and jolting. At the 2017 CMT Awards, the two country superstars dialed back the star power and let the lyrics speak for themselves. Standing opposed each other on stage, the audience felt like they were eavesdropping on an intimate conversation. Watch here.