Saving Country Music’s 2014 Anti-CMT Awards LIVE Blog
Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the Saving Country Music Official ANTI-CMT Awards LIVE blog sponsored by nobody.
CMT and Viacom are by far the biggest perpetrators of cultural erosion in the country music community, and their annual fan-voted awards are a laughable attempt to showcase talent and bestow accolades that in the end are meaningless (No Trig, tell us how you really feel). But since a lot of eyeballs will be trained on this 3rd-rate event and things might transpire of interest to the overall country music world, let’s watch along and share our criticisms, observations, and if need be, praise.
As the night goes on I will be posting my observations in timeline form, and as always, you’re encouraged to pipe up in the comments section below. Also below you can find the nominees, and a list of what to expect as far as performers and presenters.
Now, let’s get small!
CMT Music Award Winners:
- Video of the Year – Carrie Underwood, ‘See You Again’
- Male Video of the Year – Blake Shelton, ‘Doin’ What She Likes’
- Female Video of the Year – Miranda Lambert, ‘Automatic’
- Group Video of the Year – The Band Perry, ‘Done’
- Duo Video of the Year – Florida Georgia Line, ”Round Here’
- Breakthrough Video of the Year – Cassadee Pope, ‘Wasting All These Tears’
- Collaborative Video of the Year – Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan, ‘This Is How We Roll’
- CMT Performance of the Year – Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, ‘Oh No/All Night Long’
10:01 – Yeah, so I’m not exactly how I should rate what just happened and what sort of sliding scale to use, but I have to say the opening number after ZZ Top, with Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, and Jason Derulo was the biggest mess/most disappointing thing I have ever seen transpire that could ever in any way be associated with country music. Positively awful and jarring. Also was completely classless to end the thing 20 minutes early so they could promote their “Party Down South” show to the country music masses: pretty much the whole point of tonight’s show. You could palpably feel the awkwardness when the host said “Goodnight!” and it was 20 minutes ’till the end of the hour.
It was cool to see the Alan Jackson tribute and that it was a complete song instead of an abbreviated montage, and that they gave him an award.
CMT has been going in the worng direction for years, but there is clearly a feeling that “Party Down South” has completely lowered the brow of programming there across all of their shows, including the CMT Awards. The toilet humor was non stop, and at times, completely awkward. I still don’t understand Bobby Bones’ joke/not joke about Jake Owne being the hottest woman there. Waiting for an explanation. So yeah, it was the CMT Awards. Let’s recap the winners and go home.
9:50 – Alright folks, I will try to compose some final thoughts and wrap this thing up. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone that stopped by, read, watched, participated, retweeted, commented, etc. etc. We made it through … together.
9:46 – So seriously, CMT just rope a doped America into watching a bunch of “Party Down South” bullshit by ending their show early. What a load of garbage.
9:45 –
9:44 –
9:42 – Wait a second, so they’re going to end this thing 20 minutes early to roll a “Party Down South” infomercial? Are you fucking kidding me?
9:40 – Carrie Underwood wins the CMT Award for Video of the Year for “See You Again”.
9:38 – Nothing says country like Gwar-ish mohawks and wind machines.
9:37 – Welp, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood got the amount of mascara right this time, but this song still blows.
9:35 – Now some guy I don’t know (probably a TV guy) is talking about wanting a mustache ride. What’s up with the homo-errotic joke series this evening?
9:34 – Watching a tort commercial about vaginal mesh (???), and it’s still better than most of the presentations tonight.
9:29 – Back on Little Big Town, I know they have some big proponents out there, but every chance they have to get my attention they lay an egg. The stupid motorbotin’ “Pontoon” song and now “Day Drinking” are just about worthless.
9:25 – The CMT Award winner for Duo Video of the Year goes to Florida Georgia Line for “Round Here”. And water is wet.
9:22 – “Boys ‘Round Here” Blake Shelton? I thought we were done with this garbage.
9:21 – Oh look, Little Big Town used that colored chalk shit just like Florida Georgia Line did in their “Cruise” video. Good luck getting that shit out of you maxillary sinuses. “Day Drinking” was just all about co-opting elements from other successful bits.
9:19 – The bullshit floor tom drum ensemble bit is the scourge of American popular music in 2014. Leave that bullshit to The Blue Man Group, Stomp, and Imagine Dragons.
9:17 – Why is Little Big Town dressed like their wife just told them they have to take engagement pictures?
9:12 – Before you say “It can’t get any worse”, appreciate we still have the banshee yawp of Carrie Underwood & Miranda Lambert’s “Somethin’ Bad.” Get ready to smear your mascara.
9:09 – Miranda Lambert wins the CMT Award for Female Video of the Year for “Automatic”. Not a bad song or video. Well deserved.
9:06 – Okay so we’ve heard the songs “Hey Bartender,” “Drunk On A Plane”, “Bottoms Up”, and Little Big Town are supposed to debut a song called “Day Drinking.” Do we see a pattern here kids?
9:03 –
9:01 – Oh great, and here comes “The Move”
8:59 – One more hour people, we can do this! I believe in you! Maybe we’ll hear a steel guitar! (probably not)
8:53 – Never seen more label-anointed/manufactured country stars in the history of the genre than Dan + Shay. Six months ago they were filling Ventis in a Starbucks in Franklin. And by the way fellas, only Joey + Rory are approved to use mathematics symbols in their name, so step off.
8:50 – Brantley Gilbert sounds worse than Tyler Farr. What the hell’s going on here? Were they huffing gasoline in the parking lot, or did they give each other strep? Terrible.
8:49 – “Are there any drinkers out there?” says Brantley Gilbert whose also used his sobriety for marketing. I respect his sobriety, but you can’t have it both ways Brantley.
8:48 – Did Steve Austin really just call a song “brick ass”? ???
8:44 – Man last year, the side stage had some cool acts. They were backed by The Mavericks, Ashley Monroe and a bunch of other cool people were featured there. This year it’s just lame rapping bro hams throwing down clichés and poorly-executed and awkward urban gesticulations.
8:41 – Cole Swindell is more white than the wind driven snow. Stop rapping you non-threatening suburban-bred white people!
8:40 – The CMT Award for Collaborative Video of the Year goes to Florida Georgia Line featuring Luke Bryan for “This Is How We Roll”.
8:38 – Sara Evans and Vince Neal from Mötley Crüe make a good pairing, why?
8:36 – All across the country, parents have one hand ready to cover their kids eyes when these “sexy flight attendants” start straight up stripping.
8:35 – Thought Dierks last album was pretty good, but I think “Drunk On A Plane” is one of the worst tracks, though I guess a lot of folks love it.
8:33 – This host is an ass whip.
8:28 – Sorry folks, apparently it is “Lzzy” not “Lizzie” Hale from Halestrom who played with Eric Church earlier. In the heat of battle here.
8:25 – Jennifer Nettles is the worst oversinger in country music. What is the point of this song and performance? Why are the CMT Awards promoting John Legend and his song “All Of Me”? You want to include collaborations with artists from other genres, I get it, you’re trying to draw eyeballs. But at least do a country song.
8:23 – Didn’t recognize LeAnn Rimes without her shoving her thong in a tabloid’s camera.
8:22 – Never thought I would hear a Latin conga drum dance beat on a country award show. Actually, yes I did.
8:20 – The winner for the shamelessly self-promoting “CMT Performance of the Year” award goes to Luke Bryan & Lionel Richie for “Oh No / All Night Long”.
8:18 – Tom Arnold does a dumb bit where he pretends to be a Jason Aldean hologram. I’d pay money to see Rosanne Barr comes out of the wings and throw a big sloppy sandwich at his ass.
8:10 – Appreciate Eric Church giving big ups to Brandy Clark, Dwight Yoakam, and Halestrom on his tour, and for giving Lzzy from Halestrom a big opportunity here. Remember when he also gave a big opportunity on an awards show to Valerie June? https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/valerie-june-stuns-the-acm-awards-in-duet-with-eric-church
But man, “That’s Damn Rock & Roll” is a terrible song. Lzzy did her job though.
8:08 – That is Lzzy Hale from Halestrom performing with Eric Church. They are on tour together, along with Brandy Clark.
8:07 – Huh. VERY interesting song choice by Eric Church, singing “That’s Damn Rock & Roll”, which starts with an anti-establishment rant.
8:06 – “I got it! His song is called “Beachin'” so will have everyone tossing beach balls!” (high fives ensue).
8:03 – Oh, and here comes Jake Owen wearing capri pants. Like shooting fish in a barrel people.
8:02 – Who was that dude in the pastel hot shorts? You should NEVER have to see the pasty inner thigh of another male.
8:00 – Still think Keith Urban’s new haircut looks like a chupacabra, but it’s good to see a sedated, nuanced performance amidst all this madness. Was good to see ZZ Top again too.
7:57 – Alan Jackson should have just dropped the mic and flashed the double bird, but unlike many of these pop country pop tarts, he actually has class.
7:55 – “Screw this dog and pony show, let’s go get a steak,” says Alan Jackson as he casually throws his CMT “Impact Award” in a dumpster and drives away.
7:53 – Country music should take out a restraining order on Tyler Farr’s creepy, girl-stalking ass, forbidding him from coming within 100 years of the genre.
7:52 – Wow, Tyler Farr sounds like absolute shit. Did he swallow a razor blade? No sarcasm intended, somebody get a nurse.
7:50 – Blake Shelton wins the CMT Award for Best Male Video, completely killing any and all buzz from the Alan Jackson tribute.
7:48 – I don’t watch enough television to know who the hell half of these hosts/presenters are.
7:45 – Alan Jackson is presented with the first CMT “Impact Award” by Carrie Underwood. “That song never sounded better,” he says Alan about the Kacey Musgraves and Lee Ann Womack’s performance.
7:43 – Lee Ann Womack, Kacey Musgraves, singing Alan Jackson, backed by Kacey Musgraves’ much underrated band. And not some hurried 30-second song montage. This is great!
7:41 – Really good to see the Alan Jackson tribute during the first hour. Usually they bury these things next to last.
7:40 – Yes! Relief. The Alan Jackson tribute!
7:32 – The CMT Award for Breakthrough Video of the Year goes to Cassadee Pope for “Wasting All These Tears”. She promptly puts on an act like she gives a shit.
7:30 – Puberty jokes aside, Hunter Hayes truly is one of the refreshing male alternatives to bro-country, but his songs just do nothing for me.
7:29 – Bobby Bones posted this earlier:
7:26 – Bobby Bones just said that Jake Owen was the hottest woman there tonight.
7:25 – Trust me folks, we’re gonna get a snoot full of “Party Down South” promotion this evening.
7:24 – That first segment was so scattered, I didn’t even have time to compose a funny/thoughtful/coherent thought.
7:20 – Yeah so the “Nationwide Stage” will be where artists get 30 seconds to deliver their most recognizable hook before getting cut off by a hard cut to the Cialis commercial. Ask your doctor.
7:17 – The Band Perry wins the Group Video of the Year—a meaningless award that will nobody will remember 30 minutes from now and won’t even make it into the fine print of their Wikipedia page.
7:16 – Kristen Bell making moose knuckle jokes speaks to the “Party Down South”-ification of CMT that has happened over the last year, saying “Screw the family friendly nature of country music.”
7:14 – I’ll give the opening this: They have made one reference after another to the male dominance in country music, speaking to just how far that phenomenon has made it in the country music zeitgeist.
7:12 – Did Luke Bryan just make a veiled homo-erotic joke about himself coming out of the elevator? What the hell is going on?
7:11 – Ten minutes in, and clearly NOTHING is going to last longer than 30 seconds to cater to the American short attention span. I feel like my head’s in a blender.
7:10 – Don’t know who any of the people in this opening “host” skit, rendering every joke completely flat. Oh wait, is that Chris Arnold? Dude’s lost some weight.
7:08 – Sorry folks, should have warned this was going to be an expletive-laden live blog. Didn’t know it would be that way until I tuned into that garbage.
7:07 – Jason Derulo, you want me to talk dirty to you? How about this: Stay the fuck out of country music. Please and thank you.
7:06 – Five minutes into the COUNTRY Music Television Awards, and we’ve heard every single genre on the planet but country and klezmer.
7:04 – What the fuck is going on?
7:01 – Holy shite! It’s the little band from Texas, ZZ Top! This might be the most country stuff gets all night. Not country, but if you don’t like Billy Gibbons, you can kiss my ass!
7:00 – Here we go!
6:55 – The only two things I’m looking forward to tonight: 1) Alan Jackson tribute with Kacey Musgraves & Lee Ann Womack. 2) The commercial breaks.
What To Expect (Intel from around the web):
- There will be an Alan Jackson tribute performed by Kacey Musgraves and Lee Ann Womack.
- Actress Kristen Bell will host, and the “case” from CMT’s “Party Down South”, as well as DJ Bobby Bones are expected to make appearances.
- Lady Antebellum will be performing “Bartender” (apparently, with lost of lasers).
- Jake Owen will perform “Beachin'”.
- Lady Antebellum will debut their song “Day Drinking”.
- Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert will perform their duet “Somethin’ Bad”.
- Dierks Bentley will perform “Drunk On A Plane”.
- Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, and pop star Jason Derulo will be performing together, likely “This Is How We Roll”.
- Jennifer Nettles (Sugarland) will be performing the song “All of Me” with Hunter Hayes and John Legend.
- Lzzy Hale from Halestrom will be performing with Eric Church.
- Brantley Gilbert will perform “Bottom’s Up”.
- Blake Shelton, will also perform.
- Dan + Shay and other smaller performers will be performing on a side stage.
- Presenters include Steve Austin, Beth Behrs, Brooklyn Decker, James Van Der Beek, Kate Walsh, Cassadee Pope, Rascal Flatts, LeAnn Rimes, Blake Shelton, Bobby Bones, Carrie Underwood, the cast of “Party Down South”, Cody Alan, the Eli Young Band, Jason Aldean, Justin Moore, Keith Urban, Kip Moore, Lionel Richie, Sara Evans, The Band Perry, Vince Neil, Tom Arnold, Lindsey Stirling, Eric Decker and Jessie James Decker.
2014 CMT Video Award Nominees (for those who care):
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
- Blake Shelton featuring Pistol Annies and Friends – “Boys ‘Round Here”
- Carrie Underwood – “See You Again”
- Florida Georgia Line featuring Luke Bryan – “This Is How We Roll”
- Luke Bryan – “That’s My Kind of Night”
- Miranda Lambert – “Automatic”
- Tim McGraw with Taylor Swift and Keith Urban – “Highway Don’t Care”
MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
- Blake Shelton “Doin’ What She Likes”
- Eric Church “Give Me Back My Hometown”
- Hunter Hayes “I Want Crazy”
- Jason Aldean “Night Train”
- Luke Bryan “Crash My Party”
- Randy Houser “Runnin’ Outta Moonlight”
FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
- Carrie Underwood “See You Again”
- Cassadee Pope “Wasting All These Tears”
- Kacey Musgraves “Follow Your Arrow”
- Miranda Lambert “Automatic”
- Sheryl Crow “Easy”
- Taylor Swift “Red”
GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR
- Eli Young Band “Drunk Last Night”
- Lady Antebellum “Compass”
- Little Big Town “Your Side of the Bed”
- Rascal Flatts “Rewind”
- The Band Perry “DONE.”
- Zac Brown Band “Sweet Annie”
DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR
- Dan + Shay “19 You + Me”
- Florida Georgia Line “Round Here”
- Florida Georgia Line “Stay”
- Thompson Square “Everything I Shouldn’t Be Thinking About”
BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR
- Brett Eldredge “Beat of the Music”
- Cassadee Pope “Wasting All These Tears”
- Cole Swindell “Chillin’ It”
- David Nail “Whatever She’s Got”
- Thomas Rhett “It Goes Like This”
- Tyler Farr “Redneck Crazy”
COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
- Blake Shelton featuring Pistol Annies and Friends “Boys ’Round Here”
- Florida Georgia Line featuring Luke Bryan “This Is How We Roll”
- Florida Georgia Line featuring Nelly “Cruise (Remix)”
- Hunter Hayes featuring Jason Mraz “Everybody’s Got Somebody but Me”
- Keith Urban with Miranda Lambert “We Were Us”
- Tim McGraw with Taylor Swift and Keith Urban “Highway Don’t Care”
CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
- Dierks Bentley and OneRepublic “Counting Stars”
- Jake Owen “Days Of Gold”
- Lady Antebellum and Stevie Nicks “Rhiannon”
- Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie “Oh No/All Night Long”
- The Band Perry and Fall Out Boy “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark”
- Willie Nelson and Neil Young “Long May You Run”
Casey
June 4, 2014 @ 5:01 pm
YES!!! So looking forward to this live blog!!! Wait…ZZ Top! hmmmmmm…..Not a bad open IMO.
Casey
June 4, 2014 @ 5:02 pm
And they just ruined it…..
Trigger
June 4, 2014 @ 5:36 pm
Would almost rather see no ZZ Top, than ZZ Top for 30 seconds which lets me off my guard to get ear raped by Florida Georgia Line and some rapper.
Casey
June 4, 2014 @ 5:38 pm
Agreed, that was horrible! I feel bad for ZZ Top…
bama
June 4, 2014 @ 5:06 pm
This is a new low….WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KathyP
June 4, 2014 @ 5:07 pm
Even ZZ Top looked like they were thinking WTF.
bama
June 4, 2014 @ 5:08 pm
They left for the rapping…lol
Jamie
June 4, 2014 @ 5:09 pm
I’m new to this site and absolutely love the shit out of it. I also love this new country stuff as well as old school country music. A moral conundrum.
Trigger
June 4, 2014 @ 5:37 pm
Glad you found us Jamie.
Catfish fiddler
June 5, 2014 @ 3:21 am
If by new country stuff you mean the bro country crap..you’ve missed the point of this website completely
Dylan Hyder
June 4, 2014 @ 5:09 pm
When the fuck are they gonna draw the line on the trash?
Chris
June 4, 2014 @ 5:10 pm
http://twitter.com/CMT/status/474189817383616512
When did Brantley buy Jason Aldean’s old earrings on ebay?
Dr Fitz
June 4, 2014 @ 5:11 pm
I’ve already turned it off. Sorry Alan, I cannot watch this.
RheanonM
June 4, 2014 @ 5:12 pm
You and I had the same exact thoughts at 7:04
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 5:15 pm
I just flipped over to the Stanley Cup Finals on NBC after seeing FGL in an elevator.
KathyP
June 4, 2014 @ 5:18 pm
Reds/Giants game for me.
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 5:24 pm
I’m also watching Yankees/A’s Go A’s
White Cleats
June 4, 2014 @ 8:26 pm
The A’s done went. Sorry Skanks, you cannot stop JD and Cespy. Great game, boys. Brooms out tomorrow!
[Sorry, Trigger, about the highjack. I just couldn’t help myself. Someone finally posted about something I love — the Oakland A’s. I also love country music but since there wasn’t any of that on the CMT awards I’d rather talk about baseball.]
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 8:30 pm
I haven’t been this excited about the A’s in a long time. No Tigers to take us out in the first round of the playoffs hopefully.
Casey
June 4, 2014 @ 5:18 pm
GO RANGERS!!
RheanonM
June 4, 2014 @ 5:19 pm
My 75 year old grandma just asked me why we’re watching MTV. Dead serious.
Clint
June 5, 2014 @ 7:59 am
I was listening to Buck Owens at work and some kid asked me, “what kind of music is that”? He was serious.
Carrie Anne
June 4, 2014 @ 5:22 pm
I am assuming rock in country has been happening for so long that it’s not pissing people off as much as the rap thing. I’m a fan of Lzzy Hale (neutral on Eric Church) and am pretty interested to see what they do.
Anyone have any strong feelings on this performance?
As I have stated on twitter, I’m working…so I’ll be following along on here and social media!
A.B.
June 4, 2014 @ 5:22 pm
Who’s the house band this year?
Trigger
June 4, 2014 @ 5:38 pm
Good question. Last year it was The Mavericks, but I think Raul Malo pissed a bunch of people off by saying how lame it was, and that the bands they backed up only got 30 seconds.
Banjo
June 4, 2014 @ 5:31 pm
Ellen is so out of tune singing up there…but looks like shes been working out
Banjo
June 4, 2014 @ 5:31 pm
Whoops…just found out that was Hunter Hayes
KathyP
June 4, 2014 @ 5:33 pm
Cassadee Pope, genuine emotion. I like it.
White Cleats
June 4, 2014 @ 8:28 pm
I can’t care about this phoney. She’s just another country music carpetbagger.
KingWatasha
June 4, 2014 @ 5:34 pm
Willie’s nominated for an award I see, what are the odds that he is in attendance at this tee nice bop dog and pony show?
KingWatasha
June 4, 2014 @ 5:38 pm
LOL!!! 7:32 my thoughts exactly on her really acting like it was the biggest award ever given in the history of the world!
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 5:40 pm
ITS KACEY TIME
Casey
June 4, 2014 @ 5:44 pm
You have to wonder what Alan Jackson is thinking about what the hell was going on for the first 35 minutes of the show. This is true country music. He’s the best and people in the arena are wondering who in the world the blonde is singing next to Kacey. Sad….
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 5:56 pm
He was probably watching the hockey game on his mobile device not paying attention to it.
Banjo
June 4, 2014 @ 5:47 pm
Alan Fuckin Jackson!!! Thats is all…
Klancy
June 4, 2014 @ 5:52 pm
Nice tribute to Alan Jackson. Ok, time to watch hockey instead.
caitlyn
June 4, 2014 @ 5:53 pm
This is like one big giant horrible event. Thank God for your hilaruous updates! Keep em comin Trigger! #popcountrysucks #wehatepopcountry
Joe
June 4, 2014 @ 5:53 pm
Trig – thoughts on Kacey pairing up with Katy (for tour and Crossroads)? She’s one of the saviors and even she is straying…
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 6:02 pm
No she isn’t, She is friends with Katy and is going on that tour as Katy said to “represent actual country music”. You can do worse than Katy atleast she is a songwriter. Kacey is also at the same time on tour with Willie Nelson and Allison Krauss
Trigger
June 4, 2014 @ 6:17 pm
Tour is alarming, bt it’s only for a few dates. The point of Crossroads is to “cross” genres, so on the surface, I’ve got no problem with it. Will watch before judging it.
Hank
June 4, 2014 @ 5:54 pm
This is awful. Kacey and Lee Ann rocked. Long live Alan Jackson. Time for bed.
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 5:57 pm
That is the most country thing you will see tonight.
Rheanon
June 4, 2014 @ 5:56 pm
Damn Blake Shelton. I *want* to like him but he makes it so difficult.
Albert
June 5, 2014 @ 9:57 pm
That comment is so right on , Rheannon.
Anna
June 4, 2014 @ 5:57 pm
I agree that Hunter Hayes is better than bro-country. He writes his own songs, plays his own instruments, and no auto tune. Plus his songs are about more trucks. But he can’t sing. He just can’t
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 6:09 pm
I flipped back just in time to see Eric Church and i’m waiting for Metallica to come on.
KingWatasha
June 4, 2014 @ 6:11 pm
Calf rope! I’m done after that beach ball embarrassment , I can’t do it anymore, completely sick at my stomach. These guys really think that it is cooler than hell. Trigger are we ever going to hit the bottom or is it a bottomless pit that we will continue to be amazed at?
Nick
June 4, 2014 @ 6:13 pm
You know, Eric Church’s performance was by no mean country, but I actually enjoyed it. At least from a vocal and energy perspective.
Trigger
June 4, 2014 @ 6:14 pm
Did have good energy.
Chris
June 4, 2014 @ 6:15 pm
Not a country performance by Church at all, but I wouldn’t call it a bad performance in itself.
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 6:15 pm
Did I just see an ad for an A&E show based around a COUNTRY RAPPER?
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 6:18 pm
If they are just going to give shows away can I have one.
caitlyn
June 4, 2014 @ 6:21 pm
What. A. Bitch. Did she really just mention Hank Williams, and Johnny Cash, as a joke!? And Willie Nelson just lost to Luke Bryan. You have got to be fucking kidding me!
Rex
June 4, 2014 @ 6:23 pm
Yeah,Willie should have won,but let’s think about it,does he care? That,and he probably wasn’t even in attendance,sadly.
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 6:45 pm
Willie Nelson is on his tour bus somewhere smoking a joint and laughing at this “Country” awards show waiting for Kacey to come join him. Alison Krauss is next door thinking about what she could have done to the fiddle player at the beginning.
Josh
June 4, 2014 @ 6:38 pm
This is absolute torture. Now I know why I never watch these awards shows.
Drake O.
June 4, 2014 @ 6:38 pm
fuck pop country. fuck crossroad collaborations. and fuck cmt
Trigger
June 4, 2014 @ 6:57 pm
Don’t be so wishey washy Drake. Can’t tell if you’re enjoying yourself or not 😉
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 6:49 pm
Did Brantley Gilbert get that tank top from the womens section of the Affliction web site.
Kingwatasha
June 4, 2014 @ 6:52 pm
Well it’s official, Brantley Gilbert is officially the coolest son of a bitch in the entire world.
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 6:57 pm
What told you that the laser light show or that thing he did at the end or that g logo in the background that I’m sure Garth Brook’s lawyers are drawing up a cease and desist order for right now.
Sara
June 4, 2014 @ 6:58 pm
Brantley will be sorely disappointed to learn you confused the interlocking bg symbol with something as clean and simple as the Garth Brooks g.
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 7:15 pm
I have been flipping back and forth between this and the Stanley Cup Final and I caught the g there. But seriously he needs a “logo”.
Trigger
June 4, 2014 @ 6:57 pm
He sure thinks so.
IronBoss
June 4, 2014 @ 7:03 pm
Fake pyro rocks.
IronBoss
June 4, 2014 @ 7:02 pm
Luke Bryan just high fived everybody in the crowd but the one fat chick.
justin chambers
June 4, 2014 @ 7:05 pm
This shit is a pointless waste of time bitching about pop country isn’t doing anyone any good if you would spend more time promoting good music instead of bitching and whining about this fake so called country shit your site might go somewhere
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 7:07 pm
We do promote good music here. Look at the other pages, The one bright spot of this thing was the Kacey Musgraves / Lee Ann Womack tribute to Allan Jackson.
Trigger
June 4, 2014 @ 7:17 pm
Yeah yeah, hear this every time. Trust me, tonight and every award show night is the biggest opportunity to reach the people who are horrified at what is happening to country and convert them to the real stuff. I have a file of emails and comments proving that this happens on a grand scale. I have no desire to preach to a choir. This is all about opening people’s eyes, and there are hundreds of people paying attention right now who will have their musical perspective completely changed.
I appreciate the concern Justin, I really do. But trust me, I’m a professional 😉
Caitlyn
June 4, 2014 @ 7:37 pm
This is honestly the best way to look at it! From what I see, there are soo many people disappointed with mainstream country music. It’s quite disappointing.
Casey
June 4, 2014 @ 7:05 pm
LOL—-I love the cutaway of the girl looking completely bored. Best shot all night. The only thing worth watching tonight was the Alan Jackson tribute. It’s a shame that Kellie Picker is there and not singing.
IronBoss
June 4, 2014 @ 7:05 pm
Remember when the Lady Antebellum chick was hot?
Josh
June 4, 2014 @ 7:12 pm
We discussed this pattern earlier today, Trigger. And spoiler alert, Little Big Town’s “Day Drinking” is dry and boring. It’s a very safe, cookie cutter song.
KathyP
June 4, 2014 @ 7:13 pm
And Pepsi is the sponsor of this show? More fitting if it were Budweiser or Jack Daniels.
Casey
June 4, 2014 @ 7:20 pm
LBT is channeling Imagine Dragons.
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 7:21 pm
We’re Little Big Town, BOOM Confetti.
The0ne
June 4, 2014 @ 7:27 pm
Take boys round here over 95 percent of everything else I’ve heard thus far. Laundry list yes, little bit of rap maybe?
Ballgame
June 4, 2014 @ 7:45 pm
You hated every minute of it but were pissed when it ended early. Oh the cheap irony.
Trigger
June 4, 2014 @ 8:10 pm
I wasn’t pissed it ended early. I’m pissed that they wrangled viewers into watching something other than what they intended. However, I expect nothing less than that from CMT, so whatever.
Joe
June 4, 2014 @ 7:45 pm
Relax, my guide says 7-9:30 so I think it went over.
Trigger
June 4, 2014 @ 8:09 pm
I don’t know. Timing seemed VERY strange. Whether it was intended or not, I think the result caught everyone off guard, and resulted in traffic for their garbage.
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 8:10 pm
Lets be honest the garbage started at the end of the awards with the group rapping thing.
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 7:47 pm
I think I had a nightmare once that started with FGL popping out of nowhere.
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 7:50 pm
What the HELL is this. Talk Dirty To Me on a COUNTRY awards show!
Noah Eaton
June 5, 2014 @ 1:31 pm
One aggressive stride closer to brokenCYDE and Insane Clown Posse career renaissance in country! -__-
Powderfinger
June 4, 2014 @ 7:51 pm
This FGL/Luke Bryan/Rapper guy is the most fucking bizarre thing I have ever seen. Mainstream country music is completely and totally dead. These douchebags even put on their flat-billed caps while the rapper was rapping. Holy shit.
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 7:55 pm
A good ZZ Top set went literally to hell there.
Trigger
June 4, 2014 @ 8:11 pm
Worst thing I’ve seen in the history of country music.
PanhandleSlim
June 4, 2014 @ 7:53 pm
Nashville sucks. CMT sucks. CMA sucks. Thank god for Texas.
Ty
June 4, 2014 @ 7:59 pm
What does CMT stand for? Corporate Music Television?
Golddust
June 4, 2014 @ 8:18 pm
Crappy Mish-mash Television, I think.
BBT
June 4, 2014 @ 8:20 pm
In that first bit, during this is how we roll, the FGL guy put his hands on Billy Gibbons and I swear Billy said “get your hands off me”. I went back a few times, definitely looked like he said something along those lines.
Trigger
June 4, 2014 @ 9:39 pm
We’ll review the tape. There are a couple of things I want to go back and take a closer look at.
Tyler
June 4, 2014 @ 8:28 pm
Carrie underwood sounds like every teenage girl I know trying to sing
Gena R.
June 4, 2014 @ 8:28 pm
I would love to have seen Kacey and Lee Ann’s AJ tribute — hopefully I’ll be able to find a clip online later — but otherwise it doesn’t sound like I missed anything…
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 10:34 pm
Only one i can find
http://www.metatube.com/en/videos/240196/The-CMT-Music-Awards-Kacey-Musgraves-Lee-Ann-Womack-Serenade-Alan-Jackson/
Gena R.
June 5, 2014 @ 9:08 am
Lovely. Thanks!
I always liked that song; can’t believe it’s been 20 years already…
Applejack
June 4, 2014 @ 9:25 pm
What the CMT Music Awards epitomize is the way powerful, toxic corporate influences are poisoning not only country music as a genre, but ultimately the culture of the South and the American heartland which country music supposedly represents.
The show was an absolute cesspool of bad corporate culture. Of course, the music was mostly terrible, and mostly had little to do with “country music.” But what disgusted me most is the way the program was liberally sprinkled with references and product placements to other, even more soul-destroying “reality” programs and various other forms of garbage-oriented entertainment. Viacom is trying their damnedest to shove this lame-ass southern-fried version of Jersey Shore down our throats. We all know the only thing shows like ‘Party Down South’ are good for is earning a little blood money for big advertisers through ultra-sensationalistic programming which makes a mockery of the individual American subcultures allegedly being documented. Oh, and speaking of corporate crap, of course Bobby Bones made an appearance tonight to get in a plug for Clear Channel’s Trojan horse, I mean, streaming radio app. (Also, what the hell Dog the Bounty Hunter has got to do with anything is beyond me.)
Lee Bains III is right. It’s time to take our culture back. These cretins are content to dictate to us what our culture should be, and we can’t let them. I think ‘Party Down South’ is the last straw. Soon I will begin a one-man boycott of Viacom programming. Good riddance.
Marie Gerhard
June 4, 2014 @ 10:03 pm
Bunch of doped up drunk people who live and love music…hot mess great show alot of slurred thank yous …Miranda the best drunk…award
Rich1
June 4, 2014 @ 10:09 pm
The anti CMT awards…
I’ll take youtube, thank you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNV16tz1NK
Michael
June 4, 2014 @ 10:35 pm
Here is the none video I can find of the Kacey /Lee Ann performance
http://www.metatube.com/en/videos/240196/The-CMT-Music-Awards-Kacey-Musgraves-Lee-Ann-Womack-Serenade-Alan-Jackson/
Melissa
June 4, 2014 @ 11:45 pm
Thank you for this! It’s the only part of the whole show I wanted to see, which is sad. Beautiful stuff. The spirit of country music graced us for 3 minutes. Please come back again.
Applejack
June 4, 2014 @ 10:40 pm
A few stray observations:
I thought a lot of the performances, especially the vocal performances, were pretty dang weak. It started with Luke Bryan and FGL being flat as a johnnycake during the incredibly preposterous opening number. Brantley Gilbert sounded like someone punched him in the windpipe right before he went on stage. Does that guy have health problems? Tyler Farr only appeared for thirty seconds, and he just sounded terrible. Not to be a jerk, but a lot of these guys take the guttural vocal approach way too far and just end up sounding constipated.
Applejack
June 4, 2014 @ 11:06 pm
Kacey Musgraves and Lee Ann Womack were like a spring of pure mountain water amongst all the filth. Two human beings strumming guitars and singing an actual song, with a recognizable human theme. The phrase “three chords and the truth,” isn’t just a slogan invented by old-timers who hate confetti cannons. It’s a time-tested approach that works.
I’ve never really been a huge Alan Jackson fan, but seeing the class he displayed during the tribute performance and award acceptance, you can’t help but be endeared to the man. It makes me want to give his music another shot. Sitting there in his cowboy hat with his wife amongst all that hoopla, one can’t help but wonder what he really thought about it.
Also, it was really disheartening to see Miranda Lambert bopping along, mouthing the words to all the worst bro-country songs. Miranda, please don’t tell me that you really think “I’m Just Chillin’ It” is a good song!
Trigger
June 4, 2014 @ 11:10 pm
I don’t ever know I’ve heard two artists sound that bad on an awards show as Brantley Gilbert and Tyler Farr did. And not pitch, just awful-sounding, like they needed to be in bed with a thermometer under their tongue.
Charlie
June 5, 2014 @ 4:36 am
‘The bullshit floor tom drum ensemble bit is the scourge of American popular music in 2014. Leave that bullshit to The Blue Man Group, Stomp, and Imagine Dragons.’
Yes! Here fucking here, dude–here fucking here!!
Sooner
June 5, 2014 @ 4:39 am
I usually avoid the CMT awards show. It is ALWAYS bad, starting with the host. Don’t understand the number of non-country performers; and the jokes (?) were tasteless. I watched about half of it.
BwareDWare94
June 5, 2014 @ 7:11 am
While it’s one of the worst 3 songs on “The Outsiders,” I don’t hate “That’s Damn Rock and Roll.” Especially in a live setting with a phenomenal female vocalist. Joanna Cotton carries the recorded track. Lzzy Hale was even better in the live setting.
And by God is Lzzy hot. Had to love that Underworld-esque Kate Beckinsale tight leather outfit.
Marky mark
June 7, 2014 @ 4:28 am
I don’t get the hatred for the Eric Church song. I guess if you only like country, then you won’t like hearing a good rock song. I like country, I like rock. I liked when the Stones mixed good country songs into their rock albums. So I like that Church mixes rock into his country albums. Or fine, say it’s neither. The Stones were just the Stones, playing rock, blues, country, whatever. On their best albums in the 70s, it all flowed into one great listening experience. Do I think Outsiders is Sticky Finger, hell no, but I like it, I like the flow and I like variety. I don’t think its the mess Trig and most you other readers do. I only could take an hour of this crappy award show, but everything about church’s performance was great and made up for the wasted hour.
BwareDWare94
June 7, 2014 @ 10:19 am
I’m a huge Eric Church fan, but you’re missing the point. This was supposed to be a “country” awards show and about the only moment of country was a goddamn cover song. While other artists are perpetuating to less-intelligent and musically studied individuals that EDM and Hip Hop influenced Pop Rock is country, Eric Church is perpetuating to these same straight-out-of-Mike-Judge’s-Idiocracy individuals that Rock is Country.
That’s not the case, and as Eric Church has a long list of Americana and Folk inspired Country songs, the very least he could do if he cares about the legitimacy of Country is play one of those songs.
Wade
June 5, 2014 @ 7:36 am
The only thing “country” about last nights program was that it broke my heart, left me feeling empty, and made me want to drink my sorrows away.
Erica Lynn
June 5, 2014 @ 8:29 am
Sad that Brantley sounded so bad…he is usually really good live. I don’t think it helps that he usually has dip in his mouth when he sings. Lol
Jeffro
June 5, 2014 @ 9:15 am
Honestly, I thought for sure that Leanne and Casey would knock it out of the park, vocally. I said to the people in the room with me “Now THIS is going to something special.” As much as I wanted to like it, I didn’t care much for that performance. Another monitor issue? Something was off, IMO. Anyway, why couldn’t CMT find male vocalists to sing an Alan Jackson song?
The entire show just sucked ass. If not for Trig’s live blogging and the affirming comments, I doubt if I could find the strength to endure that ear raping and the urge to break things
Matty merritt
June 5, 2014 @ 9:16 am
All the teeny boppers in the front row had no idea what to do with Eric’s performance. He gave a big middle finger to everyone who told him how to act. And god damn Lizzy hale can sing!!!! The most authentic performance of the night by a long shot( even if it was a rock song)
Tad
June 5, 2014 @ 9:36 am
Just spot on! I had the exact same reaction at 7:04 and 7:06!
Melissa
June 5, 2014 @ 12:26 pm
Well ZZ Top and Lzzy Hale sounded great. At least rock n roll isn’t dead.
Noah Eaton
June 5, 2014 @ 1:16 pm
Though “That’s Damn Rock ‘N Roll” had absolutely no place at a country music award show…………it ironically was also the most authentic performance of the entire evening aside from the Alan Jackson tribute.
I’m telling you, I may not like the kinds of shallow lyrics Lzzy Hale and Halestorm write as a group, and their music also is decidedly on the familiar meat-and-potatoes rock side overall………….but damn, Halestorm still stands out in this current mainstream landscape all because of Lzzy Hale’s remarkable vocals alone. And, sometimes, a poignant voice and vivacious stage presence (you can tell Hale was having the time of her life up on stage clapping along, swaying her arms and smiling between belting vocals) goes a long way to elevate an otherwise forgettable song.
TheCheapSeats
June 5, 2014 @ 9:35 pm
“it ironically was also the most authentic performance of the entire evening aside from the Alan Jackson tribute.”
I tweeted that almost exactly. I understand your criticism of Halestrom/Lzzy. It’s warranted, but I really like them. Good pipes, good riffs, melodic. That’s what I like in my rock.
For me, that was the performance of the night. It was, at the very least, the most real. Lzzy almost legitimatized that song for Eric. Vocally, she took it where he never could.
I’ve watched the video of that performance several times on CMT’s website. What strikes me as amusing is a shot of Nicole Kidman leaning over to her friend, saying something with a look on her face that says “Who the hell is this chick?” Unfortunately it cut away too soon.
I’m not a music critic, I’m a music fan. That performance was good.
Shannon Simpson
June 5, 2014 @ 1:38 pm
Wish artists like Jamey Johnson or Holly Williams would perform. What is wrong with CMT.
Pat
June 5, 2014 @ 3:40 pm
Trigger, I get that it benefits the site to do the anti-blogs and draw in new readers, no problem with that at all. The more people that read this site, the better. But everyone else who’s watching it “just to make fun of it” is just giving CMT exactly what they want. The whole point of sensationalist bullshit like this is to draw viewers. It doesn’t matter to them if you guys love it or hate it. If you’re watching it, you’re validating it and raising their numbers. If everyone on here hates CMT so much, why are y’all tuning in to check out their garbage?
Trigger
June 5, 2014 @ 5:14 pm
Pat,
This is a fair question. The first thing I’d say is that I do not watch CMT, ever. I don’t even have cable, and never have in my adult life. Even last night I wasn’t watching CMT directly, I was watching a web stream of the awards. Personally, I would not only suggest for people to boycott CMT, but all Viacom properties, and pretty much any subscriber-based television, if not television in general.
Last night the amount of viewers Saving Country Music generated from CMT was infinitesimal compared to their overall viewership. Though I can’t deduce exact numbers, I would say there was probably somewhere around 300 people, maybe a few more, following the blog and watching. Really, that’s nothing compared to CMT’s overall viewership in the millions last night. However, thousands of people people came to savingcountrymusic.com yesterday as a direct result of either previous coverage of music on the site, or the live blog. Even today, even though the event ended hours ago, and I haven’t added anything to the live blog, it will probably get 3X the traffic that my other two original stories posted so far today will, resulting in an overall traffic footprint in the tens of thousands.
Now, most of those people will probably read whatever story they saw through Google or whatever search engine, then leave the site and never think twice about it. But some of those people, virtually all of which have never been to savingcountrymusic.com before, will have their eyes opened to an entire new world that questions corporate music and corporate music coverage, and introduces them to alternatives. How many of those people will there be? I have no idea, but there will be some. And the value of those converts in my opinion is much more valuable than whatever nominal bump CMT may get by a few hundred one-time watchers.
But I’m not going to try an act like the live blog is all altruistic. The reason the live blogs are so popular is because they are fun, and I try to do my best to give credit where credit is due if there is something positive that actually transpires. At the same time, I think they are vital for bringing the battle to them, instead of drawing back into our own little music communities and acting like if we ignore something, the problems will hopefully solve themselves. Everyone is entitled to good music, and as independent music fans, we should want to reach out to people and share what we know and how we feel, if for no other reason than it might help support the artists that need it. We’re not going to convert everyone. There’s always going to be idiots who take whatever corporate culture gives them. But some just need to be made aware that they have choices. And once they do, they will make better decisions.
I also do live blogs for good events like the Lone Star Music Awards, or Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic, but these get about 1/8th of the readers the big award show live blogs do.
Also, the plan has always been to at some point end this practice, just like I plan to end writing rants.
Pat
June 5, 2014 @ 5:22 pm
Appreciate the reply! And that’s all very well said. I especially like that you were watching on a stream versus subscription, well done.
I see your point about it being an excellent opportunity to reach new readers and am fully supportive of that, and you’re probably right that SCM’s reader-viewers are insignificant compared to the Party Down South crowd that tunes in.
And as for your other live blogs, I love them. The Lone Star Music Awards blog led me to buy three new albums(in addition to Kacey’s album that I already had) and turned me on to Jason Boland, for which I’m eternally grateful.
If you reach the point where you feel you have to end the rants, I’ll understand. But despite what my comment may have suggested, I consider the blogs and rants Grade A entertainment. Keep fighting the good fight!
Applejack
June 5, 2014 @ 5:22 pm
I can’t speak for anyone else, but I have come to the same conclusion as you. I will say that think some people find it important to pay attention to what is happening in mainstream country at the moment, because there is basically a culture war happening the genre. But the CMT Awards are beyond the pale. I had never watched before last night, and I won’t be fooled again.
Josh
June 5, 2014 @ 6:31 pm
I would like to reinforce Trigger’s great reasoning that it does bring more people in. I just started my country music blog and while I didn’t do a live post on the site, I did live tweet it. And as a result I got a lot more traffic to my site and picked up some followers. Hell I even got a few independent artists to see my tweets. Some of these people checked out reviews of relatively unknown people like Matt Woods. It’s one of the few good things that come out of these corporate country awards shows.
Robisc
June 6, 2014 @ 11:36 am
i just watched this trainwreck of a few clips on CMT’s site, wow! What’s scary to me is the number of folks that do love this stuff and the fact that it is a large number of teenie boppers which is what this is marketed to would have been sitting in their chairs looking bored if real country artists would have performed. This to me is where the record companies and CMT types are wrong in my opinion though, adults and folks with more disposable income than those with just an allowance do still buy records and go to shows so why not showcase that? I don’t get it. As for the comments on Lzzy Hale and Church, my musical preferences are all over the board and Halestorm is one of my favorite bands and have seen them live multiple times she can sing, but to whoever above commented that they have “shallow” lyrics has obviously not heard much more from them than what may have been on the radio but with that said she blew everyone off the stage for sure but I personally don’t like crossroads performances and wish she would have never performed with him. Finally the Lee Ann Womack kasey Musgraves performance while I wanted it to be good just sounded bad, something was off and seemed odd, just my $.02.
markf
June 6, 2014 @ 11:38 am
It was after last year’s CMA award show, that I started looking around the internet for somebody who thought the music, and the culture that they were offering was really lousy,
and, luckily, ended up
at SCM.com
Thanks for watching the show, so I can get some laughs, without watching this year’s episode.
Really good interview on “thumbing radio” , but how come no Texas accent?
thanks again
markf
June 6, 2014 @ 11:41 am
should say “most of the music” cause some of it was good.
Shane
June 9, 2014 @ 12:45 am
I know it’s a few days late but I have to say good heaven what was that? I don’t listen to country very much due to the fact at the relatively young age of thirty two, it’s changed too much even for me.
I keep checking on how it’s going though, just to see if this fad will end. Sadly, it just seems to get worse like a cyst that’s left alone and not treated. After reading the review I had to go back and watch the show for myself. I couldn’t even be surprised at what I watched. This isn’t going to stop anytime soon is it?