Identity Confusion ... The CMA Award Voting...

It's just an award show ... Right? The CMA award nominations came out this week and if getting people to talk about them was a motivation, then mission accomplished.

Right off the bat, ABC has way too much control over all things CMA. If anyone has pushed the Bro Country, young Country demo issue, it's the TV network. They have been pushing the pop star interaction and poo-pooed ideas involved with saluting of stars who have died or are not currently getting nominations. Each year the Hall of Fame nominees get a five-second hello ...

Sure, the powers-that-be will deny those accusations, but the proof is on the air. Tthat war was lost years ago; it's crying over spilled milk. The award nominations should be read at a neutral sight like the Oscars. The awards should not be used as a promotion for one network's morning show.

To nominate Kane Brown or not to nominate, that was the question. Not nominated ... Check the stats for sales, streaming, radio airplay ... He is the hottest new artist. He's the only one I see that is getting young girls to scream like they are at a One Direction show.

One publication headlined Kane Brown was robbed. Another actually headlined Kane Brown deserved to be snubbed. Really?

On the snub side, it so reminds me of the snubbing that goes on with the Country Music Hall of Fame voting. It took forever to get Kenny Rogers, The Oaks and Charlie Daniels in there. Ronnie Milsap, too. Still can't get John Denver, who is 1,000 times more "Country" than Kane Brown and FGL combined. The old Country folks hated the idea of Olivia Newton John singing their music. The snub list is long. Shameful, but long.

Kane Brown ... Vocal Event? New Artist? Radio airplay for "What If's" and "Heaven" was huge. He's been opening for Brad Paisley! It's ridiculous to argue the fine points of this.

Like the country's political divide between Trump and the Democrats, Country music is divided between the George Strait/Alan Jackson style of Country and The Kane Brown/FGL style. Radio fights this battle daily.

Kane Brown is not Johnny Cash or even Randy Travis. He is making hit records and selling hit records. Amazon just put him in their new ads. He's a growing star and this CMA snub really looks bad from the outside. Any flack that comes ... and it's coming ... should have been avoided.

The New Artist category is a disaster just like the Horizon award was before. Someone with an album out in 2011 is not a new artist. Someone with their first hit three-and-a-half years ago is not a new artist. It also makes these awards look silly.

What's the deal with the Blake Shelton snubs? Last time I looked, he was the format's most visible star. Then there's fellow Okie Garth. He wins the EOY last year and gets no nominations this year. Happens a lot after an artist gets the Entertainer of the Year; they go into award show time out ... Go look at the history.

You can't have everyone nominated ... obviously. Some people are award show darlings. Just go look at the Oscars and Grammys over the years. The most popular actors have rarely won Oscars and The Beatles won very few Grammys.

Jealously? Bigotry? Sexist? Stupid? All the above ... Hold on, the absence of women in the EOY is going to get some squawking too.

It's one big high school class election. Nothing has changed much since high school, has it?

Winners this CMA nomination time? Urban, for sure. His team does a great job getting him PR, award nominations, they do it all well. The Stapleton juggernaut keeps rolling. The core voters for him are his fellow songwriters. His people do a great job.

Heard Chris on Howard Stern but never seen him up close. We have more than a few artists who keep a very low profile. Church and Chesney pick their publicity choice very carefully.

These are high unpredictable times from everything Trump to here in Tunetown. It's time for Labor Day and there's no Jerry Lewis anymore. Times have changed ... Better get on board.