Carrie Underwood rocks shiny mini dress to open Country Music Awards... as Joe Walsh joins Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley for Chuck Berry tribute

The 2017 Academy of Country Music Awards opened Sunday night in Las Vegas with a medley of hits by the five nominees for Entertainer Of The Year.
Jason Aldean kicked things off with Lights Come On followed by Luke Bryan, who was also on hosting duties, and then Florida Georgia Line took the stage with H.O.L.Y. that had already been announced before the telecast as Single Record Of The Year.
Carrie Underwood, the only female nominee in the Entertainer category, followed, taking the stage in silver and gold long-sleeved mini dress, then the medley concluded with guitar-playing Keith Urban.

Country star Bryan and Dierks Bentley hosted the awards show live from the T-Mobile Arena for the second year in a row.
In a surprise appearance, the two were joined on stage by Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh to perform Johnny B. Goode as a tribute to the late rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry.
In their opening, the pair joked about doing Vegas activities leading up to the awards show, even showing photos of them dressed as stripper-cowboys.

Illusionist David Copperfield and TV personality Nancy O'Dell presented the first award of the night - for Song Of The Year.

When O'Dell opened the envelope, it read 'Emma Stone La La Land', in a dig at the Oscars Best Picture flub.

It was left for Copperfield to work a little magic to reveal the real winner Thomas Rhett, 27, for Die A Happy Man.

He dedicated his win to his pregnant wife Lauren and said she was the inspiration for the song.

Maren Morris,  named as New Female Vocalist of the Year, wore a sparkly full-length with a high front slit to perform her hit I Could Use A Love Song.

She accompanied herself on a white guitar and accessorized with a black choker. 

Afterwards she was presented with her trophy and thanked fans and country music radio for the honor. 

Brothers Osborne won Vocal Duo Of The Year and appeared genuinely overcome, thanking their parents for supporting them since they were babies.

Miranda Lambert, who had three nominations, took the stage solo for a rendition of Tin Man.

She wore a long-sleeved dress with long fringed sleeves and accompanied herself on the guitar.Among the stars in the audience for the show were Nicole Kidman, there to support husband Keith Urban, and Faith Hill, who was set to perform her new single with husband Tim McGraw.

Kidman got to cheer on Urban as he treated fans to his new song Blue Ain't Your Color. 

He then segued seamlessly into The Fighter, his duet with Carrie Underwood.

'People are stopping me to say thank you': Emmerdale's John Middleton says he's 'immensely proud' of response he has received for dementia storyline... ahead of his final scenes

He's set to leave Emmerdale after playing vicar Ashley Thomas for two decades.
And actor John Middleton has revealed that people have been stopping him in the street to say thank you for his moving portrayal of dementia on the ITV soap.
The 63-year-old said he was 'immensely proud' of the response that he has received for the heartbreaking storyline.

He's set to leave Emmerdale after playing vicar Ashley Thomas for two decades.

And actor John Middleton has revealed that people have been stopping him in the street to say thank you for his moving portrayal of dementia on the ITV soap.
The 63-year-old said he was 'immensely proud' of the response that he has received for the heartbreaking storyline.

He told The Mirror: 'People are stopping me in the streets saying thank you for doing this, and that is in many ways the best award.
'Particularly when you are talking to people who have got direct contact with this disease, who have lost loved ones to it, or who are caring for people with it, or people who have the disease.
 'They say thank you for portraying it so accurately, so that makes me immensely proud.'
John's final scenes are set to be aired on ITV this week, with Monday night's episode showing Ashley's wife Laurel - played by Charlotte Bellamy - taking him home to die after doctors told her there was nothing else they could do for her husband.
Last week, viewers were left in tears after Ashley was rushed to hospital after he collapsed and began coughing up blood at his care home.
Loyal viewers have watched the character battle degenerative vascular dementia, commonly caused by problems in the blood supply to the brain, following his shock diagnosis in 2015.

Ashley’s illness took another devastating turn at the end of last month, after he once again forgot heartbroken wife Laurel’s name.
 Laurel, who has been wrestling with her conscience after placing Ashley in care, then handed her wedding ring to her husband in a hope that he would remember who she was.
She was left upset when he passed it to his new friend Maggie and later attempted to retrieve the ring – only to get a slap in the face.

Returning to Beckindale following another difficult visit, she unloaded her emotional baggage on close friend Marlon Dingle, telling him: ‘It was terrible, when I got there he didn’t even want to talk to me but then it seemed to get better and I know I sound like a terrible person but there’s this woman, Maggie.
‘And I know he doesn’t remember anything and it’s not his fault and he doesn’t know what he’s doing but he kept holding her hand and he didn’t really want me there.
‘I didn’t know what to do, I just felt so jealous. I ran, I didn’t even say goodbye and all the staff saw.’

John, who joined the soap as resident vicar Ashley in 1996, confirmed his departure from the soap in December.

'I’m incredibly sad about leaving,' he told The Sun. 'I’m somewhat institutionalised but at the same time I’m very excited. 

Reflecting on Ashley's degenerative illness, he added: 'It’s an everyday that most people don’t see because it’s hidden.

'We want to portray something people can identify with and think to themselves, "We’re not alone."'  

Making a splash! Lea Michele dresses up as a mermaid in poolside snap during weekend wine tour of Napa Valley

She's been keeping busy promoting her second album Places.
But when Lea Michele got a weekend off from her hectic schedule, there was only one place she wanted to go - Napa Valley in California.
Over the weekend, the former Glee star uploaded a series of photos from her trip, staring with one of her in a bikini top dressed as a mermaid in the pool.

The 30-year-old star tagged Channing Tatum and his wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum in the pic and captioned it '@jennaldewan think we could still get a shot at Splash part 3?'
Lea appears to be referring to Channing's role in the gender-swapped remake of the 1984 movie Splash, currently in production.
In other photos she shared, she sampled wines in different locations on a vineyard.'Fitting in very well here,' she captioned a selfie that showed her staring into the camera with a wine glass at her lips.
Her long brunette hair was tucked under a wide-brimmed hat for the trip.
She wore a long purple and white bohemian-style dress as she explored Merlot options in another pic.

'Sunday funday! Perfect weekend getaway in NAPA!,' she wrote in another pic.
Lea did not reveal who she was with on the trip.

Recently, the single star told Ellen that her exes may have reason to worry about the songs on her second album.

'I'm in a very positive place in my life - but of course, love has its ups and downs,' she began, 'And there's a few of those break up songs on the album.'
In the last two years, Lea has dated model Matthew Paetz and actor Robert Buckley.
She said: 'This album, for me, was kind of coming back to my roots. I'm in a different place in my life, I'm also not on a show where I'm singing all the time as well, so I can really just focus on this album. I'm going to be touring, it's really exciting.'

Hands on mommy! Megan Fox runs errands with baby Journey and son Noah, four, in leggings and paint splatter t-shirt

Megan Fox took two of her three sons on the grocery run Sunday.
The actress and mom had her hands full as she strode across the store parking lot juggling her cell phone and baby Journey with one hand and with her other hand, holding tightly onto four-year-old Noah.
The dark-haired beauty, 30, was without make-up and hid her eyes behind large sunglasses as she ran her errands.


The Transformers star, who also has a three-year-old son Bodhi, was dressed down in gray leggings and a blue paint splatter t-shirt.
She wore a red, white and blue plaid shirt tied by its sleeves around her waist.

Megan completed her ensemble with her favorite slides. 

Journey, who was born last August, was dressed in a colorful patterned onesie.

Noah had on dusky pink sweatpants and a white t-shirt with the word 'music' emblazoned on the front in large black letters.

He also wore trainers and his dark brown curls flew abut his face in the breeze. 

The father of Megan's children' is former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Brian Austin Greene whom she wed in 2010. 

SPOILER ALERT: Emmerdale's Lachlan White set to go on killing spree in dramatic storyline that will see at least two characters axed in 'bloodbath

He was cleared of attempted murder despite shooting his grandfather in the stomach earlier this year.
And now Emmerdale's Lachlan White is set to finish the job once and for all in a dramatic storyline that will see at least two characters axed from the ITV soap.

The troubled teenager - played Thomas Atkinson - will kill his grandfather Lawrence as well as murderer Emma Barton in a rampage in the run-up to Christmas, according to sources.

A soap insider suggested that they won't be the only two characters to fall victim in the killing spree, telling The Mirror: 'There’s going to be a lot of change afoot. It will be a proper bloodbath.'
The source added that while actress Gillian Kearney, who plays Emma, wanted to leave, her co-star John Bowe, who plays Lawrence, was 'upset' at the decision to write him out of the soap.
Lachlan was jailed after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice in January, but was found not guilty of attempted murder.

James later died in hospital, after being visited by his crazed wife who tried to finish the job of killing him as he lay on life support. 

Emmerdale boss Iain MacLeod had hinted that Emma would be punished for the murder during a press event earlier this year.

He said: 'The soap gods are currently adjudicating on whether Emma will get her comeuppance soon and they haven’t made their ruling yet. 

'Fundamentally, no bad deed goes entirely unpunished but in terms of what form that punishment takes is very much still to be decided.'  

'He turned out to be a complete dog': Lisa Wilkinson SLAMS Married At First Sight's Anthony Manton and calls him a 'jerk' and a 'liar' on Today show

Today show host Lisa Wilkinson is clearly not a fan of Married At First Sight's Anthony Manton.
The 57-year-old slammed the reality TV 'villain' on the breakfast TV program on Monday morning, calling him a 'dog'.
The TV host made the controversial comments while speaking to fellow contestant Sharon Marsh and her partner Nick Furphy.

'OK I need some detail here. But all eyes were... well there were a couple of couples, but Anthony and Nadia he turned out, I’m sorry, to be a complete dog,' she said.
Her comments come after Lisa took to Twitter last month to voice her opinions about the conterversial race caller.
'Run Nadia, RUUUUN!' tweeted the 57-year-old television personality, followed by '50 Shades Of Anthony.'

Anthony, 33, a racing broadcaster based in Sydney, made the assumption that his TV wife would relocate for him without any question.
Nadia, 36, a flight attendant from Brisbane, found herself questioning why her groom could not fathom the concept of compromise.
'Why me, why do I have to make the sacrifice?' she demanded, after noting she held concerns about 'turning her life inside out for somebody.'  Nadia had previously packed up and moved to Brisbane for a relationship, only for it to fall apart.
She said that the disaster left her hesitant to do it all again.
Anthony came back with a response indicating he was clueless as to what her issue could be.
'The prospect of moving my life's not that daunting to me,' he said.
'I've done it, I've lived in other countries... [if it goes wrong] you pick up your stuff and you move somewhere else!'
Nadia was unable to laugh it off, and responded: '[That is] so much bulls***.'

'When it comes to building a relationship, I don't want it to be one sided,' Nadia continued.
'I feel like that could very easily happen to you and me.'
Nadia's concerns weren't only about the prospect of moving interstate. Later she told producers: 'I feel like he wouldn't change a thing for me.'
During the date, however, she continued to express her distaste towards the expected move, questioning Anthony's devotion.
'I just pack my bags and get on the next plane into Anthony's arms - is that how this works?' she challenged, as he stammered to find an answer.
It appeared Nadia had finally found her inner strength, confirming to producers: 'I'm not moving for anything less than love.'

Other fans of Married At First Sight were quick to take to Twitter voicing their opinions.

'Omg there is only so much of Anthony I can handle...which isn't anything at all,' wrote one viewer. 

While another considered the racing broadcaster to be a 'tosser'.

'Anthony: "Nadia has doubts.." unlike the rest of Australia who have never doubted the fact you're a tosser,' wrote another.  

The comments continue on from previous weeks, where negative views of Anthony were published online.

'Nadia should break up with Anthony. He doesn't like women talking back and he has all the signs of an abusive husband,' Tweeted one viewer. 

While another wrote: 'Anthony from #MarriedAtFirstSight is amongst the worst people I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing. 

Lara Stone packs on the PDA with new actor beau Andrew Gray as they indulge in a number of smooches during al fresco pub date

She has been spotted on a number of dates since her divorce from David Walliams in September 2015.
But Lara Stone appeared completely infatuated on Monday, as she packed on the PDA with new man Andrew Gray at a pub in North London.
The model, 33, could not keep her hands off her 30-year-old actor beau as they enjoyed a drink in the sunshine - indulging in a number of kisses as they did so.

The blonde beauty and her handsome company only had eyes for each other as they spent a relaxing afternoon enjoying a few tipples.
The pair chatted animatedly for the duration of the date, before things began to hot up when Lara pulled the hunk into a tight embrace - sweetly caressing his head before drawing him towards her for a string of kisses.
Later sharing a giggle after taking a number of selfies together, the couple then headed off to their next destination together hand-in-hand.

Clearly comfortable around her new love, Lara kept things casual for the outing in a simple baggy black T-shirt and matching pair of figure-hugging jeans.
Jazzing up the look somewhat, she then layered a camoflauge jacket lined with fleece on top, and accessorised with glamorous oversized sunglasses.
Sweeping her blonde locks into a messy ponytail, the stunner drew attention to her naturally striking facial features - which she emphasised by leaving her face make-up free.
Meanwhile the British star matched her low-key appearance in burgundy cords and a body-warmer as he wandered the streets of North London with the blonde.
Lara and Andrew appeared to be closer than ever during the outing, having already embarked on a romance last year.
The pair were first linked in February 2016, when they attended the BRIT Awards together and reportedly indulged in a spot of PDA at their table during Adele's performance.

However the couple appeared to have reconnected earlier this month, when they were seen enjoying another trip to the pub in London.
Lara had previously been married to comedian David Walliams, who she shares three-year-old son Alfie with - but they divorced in September 2015.
The model had met the 45-year-old in September 2009 and became engaged four months later – with a lavish wedding taking place in London’s glitzy Claridge’s hotel four months after that.

After welcoming Alfie in May 2013, the pair announced they were splitting two years later, after five years of marriage.
Reports of their divorce proceedings in September 2015 saw a decree nisi granted after David filed for divorce citing ‘unreasonable behaviour’ from Lara.
Meanwhile the ITV judge also appears to have moved on - after he was seen on a date with Norwegian model Sylvia Flote, 34, in London's Mayfair.
David candidly discussed his love life earlier this month, and confessed that 'life would be simpler' if he wasn't attracted to women, because people always think he's gay.
The comedian admitted to Attitude magazine earlier this month that he 'doesn't know why' anyone would rule out a same-sex relationship.
When asked by the publication if he is attracted to the men he jokingly flirts with on Britain's Got Talent, he said: 'It's a bit of both.'
The star added that he does not understand why anyone would confine possible future relationships to one gender.
The comedian said: 'I don't know why anyone would rule [a relationship with a man] out. Why would anyone say that's never going to happen?'
He explained: 'I do love women and I'm attracted to women but sometimes I think it would be simpler if I wasn't - because people think I'm gay and I'm camp.'