Is It Any Wonder?

Hollywood got a smackdown this week when the Oscar ratings sunk to their lowest ever. The worse part might have been the sounds of a lot of people saying good!

The E! Red carpet ratings were down as much as 40% in the 18-49 demo. Ever think there is a growing disconnect with the American entertainment audience? And that includes the unpredictable sounds of Country music today.

Alan Jackson stuck his toe in the water this week when he may have said Chris Stapleton is the closest thing to real Country music today. Or something pretty close to that. I got it. Did you get it? The Music Row geniuses at the label level and some management want to have a broader audience than the pick-up truck folks. The wine bar and the BMW is the Country music this bunch desires. The audience has changed because the music was changed.

Pop singers are now Country singers and Country singers can't get their songs played. That's a little harsh but not far off. My favorite song on Country radio could easily and may someday be a pop song. That's great but can a genre bend as far as Country is bending right now?

It really seemed like the bro-Country period was showing its edges. The themes have gone from those subjects to love songs. Mushy Country has been oozing all Winter. Pop songs with no discernible traditional Country instruments. Loops and synthesized voices ... the fiddle and steel of the day.

Rap-inspired Country may reflect the influences, but how much is too much? Chris Stapleton is real and may have a #1 shortly. RodeoHouston had 75,000 plus rock to Garth. Mike Huckabee raised the white flag than fight the Music Row left. The Mayor with the closest ties to Music Row has left in disgrace.

These are very strange times in the home of Country music. That is an understatement. Very soon the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame will be announced. I'm sure no one politically incorrect will be going in.

Richard Pryor was in a movie once called, Which Way is Up? Ever feel that way with radio companies in financial peril? The Geek Squad working for the FBI (Google that one)..

Country music should be whatever is real. If that means tweaking voices and singing about whatever ... then good ... But something right now just feels off.

So many talented performers trying to figure out who gets the Golden Ticket to Hollywood. Some of the audience has had just about enough of the stars of Hollywood. And Nashville is getting pretty Hollywood these days...

Will American Idol reverse all this anti-Hollywood juju or just be a blip on the radar screen? We will know soon enough. Can the Voice and Idol coexist? Is the small screen universe big enough for Blake and Luke?

Stay tuned next week for the answers.