Country Music Awards

[alotaboutlivin]

After watching the CMA tonight my husband and I came to one conclusion MURDER ON MUSIC ROW.. That says it all. What has happened to true country music?  I think the closest song to country was Jamey Johnson and Kid Rock's "Between Jennings And Jones".  Tonight we missed Alan and George...... Murder On Music Row.

[Alanfan]

You are so lucky to see Alan again.  I can't wait till he comes back to the Palace of Auburn Hills in the Detroit area.
I also want that Good Time truck.  Hope the Cracker Barrells around here will have it.  I'm getting up there in years now and hope one day I'll get to meet Alan.   He and George seem to be the only ones keeping Country Music alive.  It warms my heart to hear him sing any song.  It's all mellow and beautiful.

[nelle]

alotaboutlivin     That is just what I thought after watching it.   The only country in the whole show was Jamey Johnson and Kid Rock's  song.       Take Care    nelle

[AJSCALIFFAN]

I so agree with you alotboutlivin, it was definitely Murder On Music Row last night.

[Somebody]

It left me wondering "What was that all about?"
I know Taylor Swift is talented and a sweet kid but let's be real..........that was not
a country song that started off the show and I think she is slowly drifting away
from country.  Sorry for complaining. I know everyone
 there has a reason for being there but wow we sure need a new name for that
 kind of music.It's all getting kinda sad. I agree that Jamey Johnson and KId Rock
were solid country. I also liked Tim McGraw (who at one time I thought had
strayed from country) and there were a few others I didn't mind. I know Brad Paisley
is a good hearted country boy and he sure does well as a host. It's just hard to  listen
 to this definately NOT COUNTRY MUSIC and accept it. We know what country sounds like,
 we're Alan Jackson fans and just where was he in this ?? Not even nominated.
That right there should of been my clue to be prepared.

[Canadiangirl]

Alotaboutliven you are so right that was Murder
on Music Row last night. I couldn't even watch
it all.
Somebody I know Alan wasn't nomintaed but neither
was Vince Gill and Chris D.Their song was not country.
I went to the CMT site and they showed  who the fans
picked and it was not Taylor Swift.Who picks the winners?
Elaine

[Kanaloa]

For the first time in years I did not watch the CMA's except for channel flipping.  Saw Taylor Swift's opening act and it is nice to be young and graceful, but that definitely was not anything near country.   Taylor is a very talented young lady but it was certainly "Murder on Music Row" and has been for a few years now.   I watched the red carpet and first few minutes to see if Alan and Denise did appear and gave up.    Sugarland is definitely not country.   It is so sad.  Alan, we love you and know you will never change.   

[suem]

The show keeps getting less and less country by the year.........once Kenny started winning Entertainer of the Year awards.........country has drifted from its roots.  I understand change but the youth movement was evident last night.  I know Taylor has sold lots of albums to preteen and teens.   But I'm not sure I agree with her being EY.
I'll be honest the show was soooooooooo boring without Alan.

[bcmoon1]

I can't believe Alan wasn't nominated! Taylor Swift is not Country. She's a good kid but her music is bubble gum teen!Who does the nominating?Definite MURDER ON MUSIC ROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[HariAJFan]

I watched the awards & I agree tht Taylor's 1st performance was over the top but I thought her 2nd performance- an acoustic one with the fans all around her- was very nice. Just like to give credit where credit is due. I do like some of her songs & think she is an amazing songwriter for her age. And I'm not a teenager- I'm retired.
Hasn't Country Music always been about youth? It seems so around here from what the radio plays.

Of course Alan should have been nominated & should have been there performing- we all know that.

[HariAJFan]

Just got this in an e-mail from GAC:

Taylor Swift’s CMA Victory: What It Means
By Tom Roland | Comments (270)
Taylor Swift performs “Forever & Always” at “The 43rd Annual CMA Awards,” on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photographer: John Russell / CMA. Provided by Country Music Association.

Judging from the early online comments from GACTV.com readers, Taylor Swift’s four wins at the 43rd annual Country Music Association Awards will be accompanied by controversy. She won Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist, Album and Music Video, setting records as the first teen victor in each category and ending streaks of three-year reigns for Kenny Chesney and Carrie Underwood.

Taylor is not a traditional artist in any sense of the word — not in sound, not in age and not in the demographic she appeals to. So when her band and record company president, Scott Borchetta, gave her a group hug at the end of the evening, it was a physical manifestation of the embrace she got at the ballot box from the country business.

It’s a tough time in the record business. Thanks to the proliferation of downloading — legal or otherwise — the industry has reverted from one built on albums sales to one that relies more heavily on less profitable singles sales. The CMA itself has discovered in a research study that only half its audience has regular access to the Internet, where those downloads occur. And yet the number of physical stores that sell music has shrunk dramatically. Those retailers that still sell CDs keep fewer titles in stock, making less music available to the half of the audience that continues to buy in person.

Last night, fans left a mix of positive and negative comments on GACTV.com, with detractors saying Taylor had pitch problems during her performances. It’s not a new issue, and it hasn’t been a turn off to the millions of people who’ve bought her albums at a time when million-selling acts are a rarity. The CMA is realistically an organization that represents a business, and in the current marketplace, the organization gave props to the one person providing the biggest ray of hope.

She has delivered to Music Row a new audience: teen females with money to spend on entertainment who are more prone to use the Internet than older country fans. In a way, she’s mimicked the early-‘90s performance of Garth Brooks, who likewise delivered a new audience when he grafted arena-rock theatrics onto a country style just when pop radio was alienating much of its core audience. Like Taylor, Garth won four CMA awards in 1991 on the heels of his sophomore album. Also like Taylor, three of those awards were for Entertainer, Album and Video.

Garth became a gateway for country’s greatest surge in sales. The country business sees Taylor as a new gateway for album and concert-ticket buyers and is recognizing a juggernaut that jingles.