Chris Stapleton won the first trophy of the 55th annual Country Music Association Awards on Wednesday, taking song of the year for “Starting Over” to begin what could be a big night for one of the show’s top nominees.

Host Luke Bryan was joined by his “American Idol” co-host Lionel Richie and Katy Perry midway through his opening monologue at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, to present the award.

“I have hosted other awards shows,” Bryan told his “Idol” co-hosts, pretending to be surprised after they sneaked up on him. “I can handle this myself.”

Perry answered, “Yeah, we’ve seen them, that’s why we’re here.”