“Hi Nashville,” said Taylor Swift after casually strolling up to the CMA Awards stage as if she’d never left.
Swift, a surprise presenter, handed over the night’s highest honor, Entertainer of the Year, to Garth Brooks in a homecoming with relatively little fanfare considering the superstar magnitude involved.
“It’s been almost 13 years since I came to Nashville with a dream,” said Swift before promptly getting down to business and listing the nominees.
@Letsbecrazy_94 Sorry I wasn’t close but at least I’m in the presence of Taylor Swift coming back home to the #CMAawards50 pic.twitter.com/HHRJzRCSaX
— Joey Tran (@joeydtran) November 3, 2016
Brooks and Swift exchanged reverential bows, and the she handed the thing off. She wasn’t even in the audience for any scene-stealing dance moments. Though, perhaps taking any attention away from Beyoncé would be ill-advised.
Swift has one 11 CMA Awards out of 25 nominations. The last time she was up for an award was in 2014 prior to her official pop crossover.
Swift recently hinted that she’s reconnecting with her country roots by penning “Better Man” for Little Big Town, which they performed at the awards show.
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