Wow, just wow! Carrie Underwood's ACM performance of "Cry Pretty" was the night's most anticipated performance, and the hype paid off.

"Cry Pretty" is Underwood's new song, the first from an upcoming album. The performance was her first televised appearance since an injury left her with a broken wrist and dozens of stitches in her head and face. Since the November incident she's kept a low profile, but let the mystery remain newsworthy with several photos at her Instagram page. The 35-year-old's April 15 performance was the first time a camera spotted her. She didn't walk the red carpet and was not captured in the audience during the show.

At the start, Underwood looked anxious — unsure, even. She's an awards show veteran and two-time ACM Entertainer of the Year, but she wasn't exuding confidence. An audience of her peers seemed to understand it, as well. Keith Urban stood with wife Nicole Kidman before the performance really started to get hot. Lauren Alaina and Maren Morris were two more who watched closely.

Pictures From Carrie's "Cry Pretty" ACMs Performance

The final half of the song wasn't just vintage Carrie Underwood. It was much more. Here was a woman leaving every bit of herself on the stage and holding nothing back as she aimed for long high notes and slayed them. At one point during "Cry Pretty" she even seemed to impress herself! Without a doubt this was the highlight performance of the 2018 ACM Awards and the audience reacted in kind. A loud, long standing ovation left Underwood overwhelmed, looking small on the stage once again but this time with relief.

It became clear the comeback moment was important for her when she quickly was called back to the stage to accept an award with Urban for their duet "The Fighter." She looked like she'd spent the previous 60 seconds crying and even admitted she was still shaken up by what had just happened.

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