'Idol' Drifts Into Country For Salvation

Jimmy Carter in his homebase Nashville.

Say Hallelujah ! Hollywood has learned that "flyover country" listens to Country music. Now this awakening is a double-edged sword.

The Good: Country music gets more exposure. Exposure usually means an increase in sales. With a country seat on the judge's desk for" Idol," The ABC Country-based show "Nashville," for starters, the blind pilots of culture in N.Y. and L.A. have turned to the tried and true. Remember the Urban Cowboy soundtrack? That made a lot of people rich.

The Bad: They get it wrong. Is "Nashville" going to be "Miami Vice" or "Dallas?" Will it be a commercial for Music City or "Desperate Housewives" with a twang? Network execs with their "notes" rarely get it right. Let's hope this "Nashville" show gets it right. We will know in October.

Reality shows and their Country vibe. ABC had little to no impact with "Duets" ... "The Voice" and Blake Shelton was a ground-breaker. A Country boy can survive. Blake's real-thing style was Jethro Bodine after graduating the Pott's School. Blake shook things up. Without him, "The Voice" is a dud. I doubt they know that, but it's true.

Brad Paisley sitting next to Randy Jackson. Never saw that train coming down the track -- and I am sure that Brad didn't, either. Interesting how life's event can take us down the uncharted pathway.

Brad with or without his hat will be a good judge. When he gets to his comfort level, this could really be good. You can never plan for an "Idol" opportunity to come along. But when it does you have to take the jump. It remains the biggest show on TV. Beaten last year by "Sunday Night Football," but I don't see any of our people getting on that show ... Whoops, we have some one on that show: Faith Hill!

Country influence is everywhere. It is the mainstream music of America. Everyone gets it outside the BLUE cities and even some of those understand -- just check out the Chesney stadium shows.

I hope Brad gets the job and if he doesn't, Keith Urban. It will be great for Country music. The "Nashville" show on ABC makes me very nervous. If it was on HBO, I would say edgy and maybe real cool. Network TV is usually very cliché. A 13-episode story arc that the big cities want to see? Not sure how they pull that off ... I hope it's good as I don't want to think of the consequences if it stinks. The show has the city's NAME on it...

If you ever get a chance, go to one of these camp-out Country music festivals. It will give you a whole different idea of who is listening. Country has gone from the adults to the Woodstock teens and 20-somethings. This weekend the WE Fest, Big Valley Jamboree and The Watershed. Over 100,000 hardcore partygoers powered by booze and Country music.

At the WE Fest, Carrie and Keith headline in 2013, but this year on Saturday Eric Church opens for Alabama. If that isn't an eye-opening evening for what Country music is in 2012.

And in the End as the Olympics move into the Track and Field ... Blake Shelton is crazy as a bedbug. His infamous turtle tweet was a Twitter earthquake. He loves to stir it up ... and he sure did with that. Google Blake soon and see what comes up. Wild man!