Thoughts on the CMA's Part 1: The Show

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Alright, as you can imagine, now the show is over, I have a lot to say. It is in 4 parts. 1st, lets tackle the show itself. Second, the acceptance speeched. Then, the overall outcome of the event. Fourth, the media coverage.

The show to me turned out to be one of the best I have ever seen, with a few major bumps. The show was high paced and included a great representation of the music.

I was fairly happy with the award winners for the night. The ones I weren't as happy with, I can understand why those rascals won. But, I won't get into that too much, because I am so excited to see winners like Lee Ann Womack and Dierks Bentley be honored with the awards. Its the likes of these artists that have made the last year in country music so good and even a turn back to the traditional country sound.

The best performance of the night:
Garth Brooks. His performance IN Times square was pretty amazing. The man is so pumped up, its just a truly awesome spectacle to see. On top of that, what a perfect tribute to Chris LeDoux. This is exactly the kind of tribute he would want.

Alan Jackson. What the perfect country gentleman. Vocals were strong, walked up to the microphone and did his thing. Pretty cool song selection as well. Eric Claptons' "Wonderful Tonight." Now, why he picked that song, not really sure yet. I was expecting "USA Today, but oh well.

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw... They have another hit on their hands after this exposure.

Lee Ann Womack. Elegant, great song, great example of what country music is all about.

Honorable mentions: Gretchen Wilson, Brad Paisley, Sugarland, and Miranda Lambert

The Less Desirable Performances:
Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, and Norah Jones. I'd never thought I'd mention Nelson in an area of not that good. He did a decent job, but, what ruined the performance was Paul Simon. Give me a break. That must have been one of his first times playing the song or something was really off. This was exactly what I was scared of when these announcements came out. Norah Jones was beautiful. Nelson should have done half of "Still Crazy After All These Years" and "Crazy" with Jones on piano, now that would've been perfect.

Big & Rich. The embarrassment of the night. Why do we need Big Kenny flinging around on the stage with a 2 Foot Fred up there. God help us. John Rich is the real deal and so talented. I must say that.

Bon Jovi. Great artist, but he was so out of place. Jennifer Nettles joining him made things better.