Ike, The CMAs and other Ill Winds

Jimmy Carter in his homebase Nashville

Award shows are either over the top as the VMAs last week, or taken too seriously like the CMAs coming in November.

Times have changed and contrasting the two shows couldn't be more eye-opening.

The VMA ratings were big. Maybe people probably wanted to see Britney fall down. Instead, they saw a new Britney. That cleaned-up model gave you a little hope that even people who seem to be on their last pill can be redeemed. Britney looked great. We shall see if she's as emotionally on track when the pressure of a new CD release comes up soon.

From the crude and loud to the stuffy and serious CMAs ... Polar opposite to the fun CMT Awards in the spring and the Vegas party thrown by the AC's, this Grammy-like infomercial doesn't seem to evolve -- even with ABC pulling the puppet strings.

The show seems more and more controlled by the consolidate labels trying to find a way to showcase their new flavors. It's not what this show is supposed to be about. It's a show in generational transition.

Starting with the nomination announcements, the CMA nominations were a bit of a train wreck. The old media with ABC's GMA was the national showcase. Unveiled in a small little set in the Eastern Time Zone only, the ABC gang had nothing on their website before, during or after the nominations. Unless you were watching ABC and living in the East, you were hosed. The restrictive corporate arrangements kept the entire CMA nomination list under wraps until nearly noon. GMA did a few, then CMT did a few. AP did shoot out something about 50 minutes after GMA.

Lord knows Nashville wouldn't want to do things like the Oscars, Grammys, Tonys SAG ... you name them. Do it in a neutral site and don't look like a stooge for any one network.

Simulcast on the Internet ... have a party ... let CMT/GAC do them together. Something! Make this at least look like a big deal instead of how it was done. It looked like a bigger deal in the '80s!

The story came out piecemeal on the Internet in the middle of radio morning drive. It should NOT be a challenge to find out this information. It was too many deals with people who are not 100% on board the train. No Internet is simply stupid.

The ratings for ABC's showcasing of Fan Fair didn't exactly burn down the TV sets. Country's big party looked good as a TV show BUT it choked against the competition.

The event was nearly three months in the past. The TV names that can get an audience were few. It was purposely placed by ABC up against the male-driven (co-owned ESPN ) Monday Night Football. It simply ended up with bad demos and not a lot of total audience by network standards. ABC wants to wear its country hat, but the fit for the NY gang just doesn't seem to be there. No culture for country. They want to be middle America, but just can't do the deal.

What to do? If Russell Brand is the new standard for award show host, we can all go jump in Ike's path. What a vulgar stooge! Crap does seem to rise to the top.

Back to the CMAs ... Kenny deserves everything he gets. He would win no matter what if the voting block was fan or industry-driven. But a few of the nominations are a bit weird.

Are we back to the days of block voting again? How else does Rascal Flatts get screwed over? The Rascal Flatts disappearance in the Entertainer of the Year category got more than a few raised eyebrows. These guys have the fans, the sellouts, the sales, the airplay ... they give tons of money to the local children's hospital. What else do you have to do? I love George, but hey!

Nothing about that deal made sense. Block voting does make sense.

A note on Sugarland: Sugarland did work harder than almost anyone in the last year. Maybe Kenny worked just as hard, but no one did more. They were everywhere and did everything. It's hard to say they don't belong in the category. STILL, with everything going that Rascal Flatts has going, how does that happen?

The New Artist category remains odd. An act signed seven years ago and a guy on his second album are new artists? The Wreckers still in Duo ... and they broke up! Just nominate four people if you don't have five.

You really probably shouldn't analyze all this. Not worth it. The show is not about awards; it's about performances to sell fourth-quarter CDs. The award part gets less and less time every year. The Hall of Fame is nonexistent. Guess we should deal with the animal as it is. A three-hour infomercial.

I guess I'm looking for an Oscar show with the respect for the past and acknowledgement of the present. That show's not perfect either. But ... it's okay ... way too much analyzing.

Hooray for Tim McGraw doing a 9/11 military concert in San Antonio.

Check out Brad Paisley's front webpage to hear a preview of his new CD, Play.

Broadcasting is such an entity in the middle of a huge change. What worked -- and the format it worked in -- for so long has radically changed. Young people have few habits of listening and viewing that their parents had.

The XM/Sirius merger looks crazy if you check out the stock. I love my XM and I sure fear for what is going to happen.

The BIG THREE/FOUR NETWORKS are in total flux. Skewing old ... with local TV really in a state of flux. Fewer people doing more work. Radio continues to recover and fight a good fight.

Trying to chase the young audience is exhausting and at times futile. Still, you have to try. Music Row sometimes seems stuck in the '80s ... when it jerks forward to 2008, it gets a neck injury.

Stuffy award shows using old media to integrate with is not the future and is barely the present. It's going to all work out. So many fresh faces just trying to be heard, with some old faces trying to remain relevant. It's just shift work, isn't it.

Alan Jackson said go look in the parking lot at your audience. That remains the best advice I've heard all year!