American Country Awards Controversial Before They Begin
Tonight is the maiden voyage for the dumb “American Country Awards,” Fox TV and Rupert Murdock’s own personal pop country infomercial, and before it even gets off the ground it’s littered with controversy.
It’s only fitting that the theme song in all the promos for the awards show is “Work Hard, Play Harder” from the fake Outlaw Gretchen Wilson; a song which was found to be a ripoff of The Black Crowes’ “Jealous Again,” with Gretchen being forced to put the Robinson brothers in the credits as songwriters and pay them royalties. Ripping off ideas seemed to be a theme for the “ACA’s.”
When they first announced the new awards show, they touted it as “The first and only country music awards show where fans determine all the winners by voting for their favorite nominees in music and video categories.” The problem is this is a complete lie, and a ripoff of what the CMT Awards have been doing since 2002. From CMT:
While CMT congratulates this mysterious organization (ha!) on its first awards show, we are amused by their self-proclaimed title as the first and only fan-voted award show. All within the country music community know that CMT has produced country music’s only fan-voted awards show for nearly a decade. . . While we wish this new show every success, we would like to take this opportunity to remind them that the CMT Music Awards have been entirely fan-voted since their inception.
The Executive Producer of the ACA’s Bob Bain had this very cryptic and undoubtedly lawyer-screened response for The Boot:
The American Country Awards gives fans the opportunity to vote for their favorite artists not only in traditional categories but also in previously unrecognized areas of the business such as touring — encompassing the entire spectrum of country music and bestowing honors that no other award show has.
Huh?
And these ACA assholes continue to run promos touting they are the first ever to allow fan voting.
What an absolute embarrassment this whole thing is. I hope it goes over like a poop in a punch bowl for these media tycoons, and they take a bath in red ink.
I won’t be watching.
RJ Fan From Austin Texas
December 6, 2010 @ 11:14 am
Don’t remember which awards show this was, but anyone remember Charlie Rich announcing one of the winners winner circa 1975 maybe? I’ve heard Charlie had imbibed a bit too much John Barleycorn, but it was still kind of funny.
The Triggerman
December 6, 2010 @ 12:43 pm
It was the 1975 CMA Awards, and John Rich was presenting the Entertainer of the Year. He was smoking a cigar, and inside the envelope was the name John Denver. So he lit the envelope on fire with his cigar. John Denver wasn’t even in attendance.
Trailer
December 6, 2010 @ 1:06 pm
John Rich? Surely you jest. 😉
The Triggerman
December 6, 2010 @ 1:32 pm
Did I say JOHN Rich? Jeez, I got way too many irons in the fire. Charlie, CHARLIE Rich.
Nlindsay
December 6, 2010 @ 11:24 am
A bath in red ink? That’s pretty harsh man.
The Triggerman
December 6, 2010 @ 12:39 pm
Few people know this is also a good way to get rid of skunk smell.
Kay
December 6, 2010 @ 11:41 am
….AND, the music award show of the week is – ACA!
We all know it is a vote on their favorite video, and from what I can tell, America votes for music with their eyes anymore anyway. We’ve been taught to do that by Amer Idol, Trashville Idol etc. and then they have the shows in the VEGAS ?
I know I sound bitter. I still love music and people in music, just not TV’s interpretation of what they think I want to see. So, I don’t watch TV music.
Won’t be watching or listening. Haha, going Christmas shopping.
Waylon4ever
December 6, 2010 @ 11:59 am
This is awesome. Just another thing that the big labels/productions are pulling out for the final lap of shit pop-country.
We should not be upset with this. The music that has been released in the last month, along with the awful CMA’s, and now this!!! They have dug their own grave and now are bury themselves with the dirt.
This will be a great train wreck!
The Triggerman
December 6, 2010 @ 12:44 pm
Man, I’m probably going to be too busy, but wouldn’t it be excellent if it completely bombs. I agree, they have gone to far. The American public may be dumb, but they’re not stupid.
Kyle
December 6, 2010 @ 1:28 pm
dude how bout the saving country music motha fuckin awards dammit haha
David Lee is a goddamn State Line Warrior
December 7, 2010 @ 10:44 am
Actually there’s a point.. Though underground bands ain’t the award accepting kind, there has to be another. Way for them to achieve rocognition besides a few articles and one festival. We need a SCM show. Like the Johnny Cash show . Make it happen..
Aran
December 7, 2010 @ 4:23 pm
Someone hosted a REAL country music awards poll a couple years back around here, can’t remember who it was but it was fun.
The Triggerman
December 7, 2010 @ 4:43 pm
We’re thinking about something like that this year, starting small, but keeping big ideas on the table. That is the point of the nominations for “Best Of” this year that I will be doing. We may do something on SCM Live. We did a video test on Sunday Night that went fairly well. Stay tuned.
Kay
December 7, 2010 @ 4:58 pm
That would be incredible but you’d probably have to become a platinum blond, wear lots of makeup, short shorts and sing with a sort of cutesy baby voice about your momma or your baby or yourself………….ah, am feeling sick to my stomach. Nah, just carry on with real country music!!
Aran
December 7, 2010 @ 5:15 pm
Thank you Kay! I appreciate you checking it out. If you’d like to download a FREE copy of my new EP, “The Niki’s Closet Demo” you can do that here:
http://www.groundswellmediaproductions.com/AranBuzzas.html
Aran
December 7, 2010 @ 4:59 pm
I am tuned, and I fully intend to stay that way!
Kay
December 7, 2010 @ 5:10 pm
Very cool Aran, I just listened to your video of Thirteen Days and even though you apologized for the video quality, it was great and I am quite certain that you AND your guitar were tuned and on pitch. Imagine that, and I saw no evidence of anything but acoustic so you weren’t even auto tuned. Dang, I must get that tongue out of my cheek and get back to business around here.
Brandon
December 15, 2010 @ 3:54 pm
I think it was Donnie “fucking” Cash
KF Raizor
December 6, 2010 @ 5:09 pm
I think it’s appropriate to quote Tim Wilson regarding this new show (even though, technically, Nashville isn’t responsible this time):
“I’m about fed up with Nashville’s ass
And the ‘hand-me-a-trophy- awards.”
The Triggerman
December 6, 2010 @ 5:49 pm
He, funny quote.
Yeah, hard to pin this one on Nashville. I think it has more to do with network television battles and a cash grab on the back of how popular pop country is right now. The artists are willing accomplices because they will take any chance to give their music face time. But I can imagine many people on Music Row see this as a reduction in the award shows status, and could create issues with overexposure. Fox is probably a Lone Ranger on this one.
Chi-billy
December 6, 2010 @ 5:19 pm
This is a new one? I guess that shows how much I pay attention to awards shows. Seems they are having one on monthly anymore.
Ga. Outlaw
December 6, 2010 @ 6:12 pm
I thought I’d give the show a chance. After 10 minutes I’d like to say Trace Adkins, Blake Shelton & Brett Michaels can “Kiss My Country Ass”
Denise
December 6, 2010 @ 7:41 pm
And the winner is . . . . blah blah blah.
ihateminimumwage
December 7, 2010 @ 6:26 pm
So… Did it fail miserably, or what?
The Triggerman
December 8, 2010 @ 5:05 pm
I didn’t see all of it, after promising not to watch any of it. But what I did see was them running way short on time, cutting songs off, cutting speeches off, a dumb not-funny ventriloquist. I don’t know, seemed really disjointed, but it is their first run. The big question is did it make money, and if the answer is yes, there will be another one. If not, then no, and it will be the brunt of jokes. Time will tell I guess.
Waylon4ever
December 8, 2010 @ 8:53 am
the ratings were garbage. And the ratings for the ACM’s and CMA’s weren’t blowing the roof off.
this watering down of the watered down pop country is just what is needed. Networks that put these shows on are looking for ad money, and ad money is increased with high viewer ratings.
If there are to many “pop country” award shows, and those same artists are seen on other music award shows, the amount of people tuning in starts to twindle. There is nothing new to see. The current fans attention span isn’t long enough to keep putting that same artist on every show for 10 years.
Eventually, and I think it will be soon, the ACM or CMA is going to get some heat from the networks that will say “hey, you gotta give us something different. Ratings are sucking.”
Well, what is different than pop country….back to some roots. Your not gonna see Hank III-types on stage next year, but you will see some different faces that are closer to real than to pop. It might be Kid Rock right now, but point is if he is getting on stage, other non-mainstream is sure to find its way too. And truthfully, you might not like Kid, but he has talent. (If your gonna say Kid has no talent, make sure you know what your talking about before you give the lame old excuses for who you think Kid is.)
Ojaioan
December 9, 2010 @ 2:11 am
“Waylon4ever” FUCK KID ROCK AND THE DICKS HE SUCKED IN ON! If Waylon were alive he would tell Kid Rock to check the oil and the tires. The only thing that keeps Kid Rocks name out there is the same high dollar media manipulation that keeps countrys SWIFT KILL on the charts!
Waylon4ever
December 9, 2010 @ 9:34 am
Typical. Nothing objective to support an opinion, so you go with “Fuck you”
haha.
I am not comparing Kid to Waylon and saying what he does is on the same level as Waylon. I just appreciate that he does have talent, and is self made. It isn’t exactly easy to break in as a white rapper.
The mainstream has caught on to Kid. But if the underground proud are jealous, maybe they should look at how the hell a white kid from Detroit, rapping, then heavy metal, then country, now southern rock, keeps growing? He doesn’t sit in the corner and bitch.
Kay
December 8, 2010 @ 10:46 am
Hey,
I get a kick out of “Kid,” I heard him sing a duet with Martina too and it was good. Yes, he does have talent and I would rather watch and listen to him sing with conviction than any of those manufactured auto-tuned blonds, who if they ever did have any talent, have lost it with the “happy meal marketing” as I like to call it. Clone it, package it, preserve it, mass market it to the lemmings and then wait for the next one to come along. Boring and mechanical.