Thursday, September 11, 2008

For the Love of all things Nashville....

Yesterday the nominations were announced for the 2008 Country Music Association Awards that will be given out in November.

Much noise is being made around town regarding the top prize category-Entertainer of the Year. One, is that for the first time in anyone's recent memory, there is a FEMALE in the category, Jennifer Nettles, as part of the duo Sugarland. Last woman to enter this category I am guessing may have been Reba in the late 80s or so-but I have not googled that so no one jump on me-I am willing to be corrected!

Second, the link below is to an article about Rascal Flatts, known for their giant record sales and massive concert tours (I once heard that they have over 13 buses and several trailers for their massive stage show), being omitted from the category this year.

http://musiccitytv.com/2008/09/10/do-what-rascal-flatts-gets-no-cma-entertainer-nom/#comments

To be honest, I'm not upset about this at all-I liked them much better when they first came on the scene ten years ago, I think they are a little full of themselves so I'm actually a little happy to see them get knocked down a peg and give someone else a chance to be nominated. I have seen Sugarland live, and they are VERY entertaining. They covered Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar on Me the last time I saw them live, and it was awesome. Glad they are being recognized.

Also on the list: Brad Paisley, who I've seen many times as my friend Wendy LUVS him. He's also great live, and his tours consistently are among the top grossing in country.

The other nominees are George Straight (luv him too, but entertainer of the year? He stands there behind the mic with his guitar and doesn't move. Not the most exciting.....he is not deserving of this category. Give him awards for the music but not entertainment value); Kenny Chesney (never seen him live, of course he probably has THE most popular tour, and has held down this category for about 4-5 years now, so I'd like for someone else to win this year); and finally, Keith Urban. I have to say, my vote goes to Keith in this category this year. I also saw him live about over a year ago (Nov 07), and in a year where I saw Justin Timberlake twice, I think that Keith Urban was the best concert I went to that year. It just proved that you don't have to have a major "stage show" to be completely entertaining and crowd pleasing. We were in the very top nosebleed of the Sommet Center and everyone was standing up and rocking out the whole time. He was flawless. He deserves to be recognized for being a true talent and a great performer. Kenny may be more strobe lights and fireworks, but all Keith needed was a guitar and a microphone to entertain me for 2 hours.

Complete list of major nominees here:
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880910019

And Kudos to Wendy for catching that they have changed the "Horizon Award" to "Best New Artist" and two of the nominees (Jason Aldean and Rodney Atkins) were nominated for the same award two years in a row...so clearly they are hardly new.

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