Dealing With The Unexpected

My phone blew up midday last Sunday. The first caller said, “They are talking about Kobe Bryant in the past tense! What is going on?”

We are a society that is hard to shock, but that was a shocker.

The way he died, and the additional fact his young daughter was with him, twisted the knife deeper. Adding news a little later in the day of the seven others who died was overwhelming.

Things happen so fast in our world: the speed of travel to the speed of bad news. Name things that could mute the hype of a Super Bowl, or calm a Grammy scandal.

The Grammys had about five hours to react to the Bryant death and they did a fine job, thanks to steady, veteran hands behind the scenes and the perfect host. The red carpet was expected to be weird/uncomfortable due to the ongoing NARAS CEO dismissal and her accusations of scandal. Her appearances on TV added lighter fluid to the story that couldn’t have come at a more awkward time. With all that story momentum, it too was muted, for the most part, due to the tragedy.

The Whitney Houston death in 2012 on Grammy weekend was huge. The show had 48 hours to prepare for that one. This was five hours. Did you feel for Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani having to follow Alicia Keys’ appropriately somber comments?

The show needed to go on, but it sure seemed forced. Blake and Gwen did a classy few minutes, but it was still hard to enjoy the moment.

Country was not scheduled to shine on Grammy night. It hasn’t in a few years. The show is an infomercial for Pop, Rock and Rap most of the time. (Country gets its six hours of prime time with the CMAs and ACMs, so it’s only fair.)

No one has said much about the Country Grammy winners. Dan + Shay are on a great roll. The Tanya Tucker wins seemed like destiny. Willie Nelson beat the predicted winner Blake. Hmmm … I will leave that alone. No, I can’t.

Is the Grammy nomination process and election kosher? That does need to be answered. Are the local Country awards and decisions made on many issues without conflict of interests? The subject has been brought to the floor … dare anyone pursue it?

The Beatles didn’t win a lot of Grammys. John Wayne didn’t win a lot of Oscars. Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were as big as you could get, but not major award winners. Popularity doesn’t always equal award excellence, or so they say.

Demi Lovato is singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl, a big comeback “get” for her. No Country stars are singing at the Oscars either.

The 2020 tour season is getting underway. Millions will see the Music Row stars in person this year. Is there a disconnect with Hollywood? Feels like it. Or are the Pop leanings of Country not sitting well with the overall music industry voters?

Loretta Lynn recently told Martina McBride’s podcast “Vocal Point” that Country music was dead. Here’s my favorite Loretta Lynn quote from that podcast: “Some of these new Country singers aren’t really Country. I think some of them should be singing Pop and leave Country alone!”

And with that, on to the Super Bowl, the Iowa Caucus, the State of the Union and Oscars … all in the next 10 days. Things move fast these days!