ACM Nominations “Fixed,” Carrie Underwood Snubbed
Jimmy Carter (no, not the peanut-farming ex-prez) on 96.9 “The Kat” from North Carolina in his “Wednesday Dirt Alert” segment called the recently-released Academy of Country Music awards nominations “super-political” and asserts that he was specifically told that Carrie Underwood got snubbed for nominations from her label so that fellow label-mate Miranda Lambert would get some much needed press. Both Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood are distributed by Sony.
Miranda Lambert. Is she the most popular act in country music? I don’t think so. I think she has gotten the most publicity because the machine is behind her. Is she more popular than Carrie Underwood, who didn’t get a nomination at all? It’s crazy political. . . You have to just say, “OK, these awards are what they are. They’re bragging rights, they’re an infomercial for the record label.” And like I was told off the record yesterday…that Miranda Lambert got all those nominations because the record label had to decide. Are they going with Carrie Underwood this year, or Miranda Lambert? Both are on the same label. They figured it would help Miranda more than it would help the career of Carrie Underwood.
Jimmy Carter also took the flamethrower to Curb Records when he said:
Tim McGraw. His record label is crappy. That is why he has never gotten the attention critically that he has deserved over the years.
Curb has its own history country award shows. Mike Curb battled with the CMA Awards in 1999 when it was discovered that big distribution companies that work with multiple labels were monopolizing the performances at the CMA’s. Mike Curb resigned from the performance committee that year because they refused to let Curb’s LeAnn Rimes perform. This was also the same year that George Jones was asked to sing an abbreviated version of his song “Choices”, and Alan Jackson protested by launching into “Choices” half way through his performance.
Jimmy Carter also turned their crosshairs on the Randy Rogers Band:
DJ: How does Randy Rogers band get up for group, and Rascal Flatts doesn’t?
Jimmy Carter: …I’ve met them, they’re very nice. I met them at Willie Nelson’s picnic this year. But they’re basically a Texas group. That does real well in Texas like Pat Green has done over the years. But bigger than Rascal Flatts? I don’t think so.
Listen to the Entire Jimmy Carter Interview
Jimmy Carter’s argument is that Miranda Lambert is not as popular as Carrie Underwood, and so thus, does not deserve these nominations. But should popularity be the only, or the majority measuring stick for who gets nominated? How about creativity, originality, or quality? It is probably fair to say that most country critics would label Miranda Lambert a “top shelf” artist in regards to quality and authenticity when looking at mainstream acts. Miranda is generally seen as more country than Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift for example. So is it a bad thing if “the machine” as Jimmy Carter puts it, is behind Miranda?
It is if the people who have a vote don’t represent their true feelings, but work from a tabulation formula in conjunction with other voters so that desired artists from certain labels are given preferential representation. And according to Jimmy Carter, this is exactly what happens when it comes to doling out nominations for the ACM Awards.
February 4, 2011 @ 4:35 pm
I realize that it’s all rigged but to say Carrie Underwood is better than Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw was snubbed, and Randy Rogers Band up for group is a sham. Let’s face the facts here..I believe Miranda had much better hits this year than Carrie, Tim McGraw’s music has sucked since his first cd, and good for Randy Rogers Band..bought time they get some credit. Rascall Flatts has sucked also and all their music sounds the same. Yeah Carrie, McGraw, and Rascall Flatts are considered the most popular but why does this have to be a popularity contest instead of real music, which I feel the 2 people he is attacking are genuine artists.
February 4, 2011 @ 4:55 pm
Carrie Underwood and the other top pop stars already get rewarded for being the most popular with the award called CASH DOLLARS. Why not a least consider creativity and quality for these awards? Popularity could be a measuring stick too, but not the only one. Spread the wealth.
Something tells me this Jimmy Carter guy has an agenda. Believe it or not, there’s quite a few people out there that feel like pop country is the thing that is under assault in country, and that it needs to be defended. If he wants to defend the right to an open and fair nomination process for awards, I’m all for it. But when he starts espousing that a band can’t be nominated for an award because “they’re only big in Texas,” then I don’t care to have my name associated with his theory. And why not name names? You will never, or very very rarely say that, “I have a unnamed source telling me this.” You listen to his “Dirt Wednesday” segment and its all gitter-pop soundbites and no substance. Throw a bunch of controversial shit out there, don’t back it up with any real news, and sandwich it between a story about Jimmy Buffett’s knee. Sorry, but I’d rather watchdog these award shows without your help bud.
May 30, 2012 @ 12:51 pm
Carrie Underwood deserves to win Best Vocals EVERY YEAR she has been on the country music scene… if she is the best, the give the award to the best!! If Brad Paisley can win 5 consecutive best vocal awards then Carrie surely should get them instead of handing them out to others like candy. Miranda, Reba, Blake, Judds, Sugarland, etc. were brought to tears on TV when Carrie belted out “Thou Art” on ACM Girls Night Out.. that performance alone should give Carrie vocals awards forever. The truth is ever since Joe Galante left Sony Country Carrie has not received a major award in 3 long years.. even when she gives us a great song like “Temporary Home”… yes, these awards are sometimes fixed, and I hate it.
August 23, 2014 @ 10:02 am
Maybe if Carrie would wear more for clothing she be more popular in the right way sad she says she is a god fearing christian in interviews but since Luke Bryan said her liked her legs she started wearing less clothing what the lord must think.
November 8, 2015 @ 2:19 pm
A lot of idiots out there. You can figure out the rest.
February 4, 2011 @ 5:07 pm
I agree with Chris Lewis, I think Miranda is a genuine country artist, sure she’s had commercial success but she’s got some real talent and I’m happy to see her getting recognition even if Jimmy Carter thinks her recognition is because the machine is behind her, hell there are ALOT worse musicians that the machine could be backing. when it comes to The Randy Rogers Band, I’m not a big fan, but they deserve far more recognition that Rascally Flatts, RF is a pop band, plan and simple, and a below mediocre (wayyy below mediocre) one at that. When it comes to Tim Mcgraw, I don’t think he’s truly a country artist, his music is more pop which at times has mild country sensiblities, but in my opinion he has released some damn good POP music. Sure he didn’t write his songs, but he sings the hell out of em’.
Great Article Triggerman
February 4, 2011 @ 4:58 pm
It’s also funny. Cause when I go to the Jimmy Carter link. He is promoting the following artists: Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Tim McGraw, Leann Rimes, Rascall Flatts, and Chesney. Also talk about objectifying women..just look at those images..lol
February 4, 2011 @ 6:24 pm
The guy looks to be into whatever is hot at any given moment, which lends to the idea that this is all about sour grapes, that he’s mad that the most popular acts are getting snubbed for artistic consideration. I am not saying that is the case, just saying I can understand if someone would look at it that way. And unfortunately, because of that, it takes away from the real heart and question of the story, are the ACM’s rigged?
February 4, 2011 @ 5:06 pm
What, did Jimmy Buffet injure his knee when he fell of the stage in Sydney? I wondered what he’d done as he cancelled his appearance at the Auckland Seafood Festival. True story. Oh man, this stuff is incredible. Carrie Underwood, I only know her as that chick that won American Idol a few years back.
February 4, 2011 @ 5:18 pm
i take pride saying i would not know taylor swift from carrie underwood if their music was playing. i don’t know mcgraw from rucker or chesney.
ignorance is bliss….
the behind the scenes drama is funny…..infomercial yep
February 4, 2011 @ 5:58 pm
I can’t join in the lionization of Mike Curb considering how horribly he treats his artists.
Miranda Lambert certainly made a better album than Carrie Underwood. But Underwood has the superior live show. The better point may be that there ought to have been room for both in the infomercial and that this would have better served the purposes of those putting on the infomercial. Lambert in the Song/Single/Album categories and Underwood in the Entertainer category.
But this isn’t really a Lambert v. Underwood thing – that’s just good ol boy Jimmy trying to start a catfight. The same label is also trying to prop up Brad Paisley as he sets up to release a new album, which is why you see him nominated in the Entertainer category ahead of Underwood too. When you look at the nominations, they are mostly dreck, much of it worse than Underwood’s music or at least no better. ‘Love Like Crazy’ by Lee Brice? Really? One or another of these august organizations has honored instant classics like ‘Hillbilly Bone’ (Blake Shelton/Trace Adkins) and ‘Toes’ (Zac Brown Band). Let’s not be too hasty in crediting them for taste.
Carter may be exposing this for the wrong reasons, but at least it becomes more obvious how desperate these labels are, and the lengths they will get to for that precious network exposure.
February 4, 2011 @ 6:25 pm
Trust me, Mike Curb gets no love around here. This website started to fight Curb Records from keeping their artists down. However the simple fact is he’s out of the collusive circle that run these awards shows, and that is why Tim McGraw is too.
Honestly, I think it can get really dicey when you start to talk about what artist is “better” than another, or “more popular” than another, or “more deserving”. I know I engaged in a little of this myself, but that was in rebuttal to Jimmy Carter’s assessments. If he really has information that the ACM nominations are fixed, THAT is the story here. He would have served himself, the public, and Carrie Underwood better by focusing in on that, telling THAT whole story, rather than swerving around wondering if Miranda Lambert or Randy Rogers Band are worth anything or are better than others. That is all opinions, and opinions cloud fact.
We can all go back and forth about how we feel about each artist. The facts remain the same.
February 4, 2011 @ 6:55 pm
Apologies for not knowing the history of this site when it comes to Mike Curb. I’ll go back into the archives on that.
But I don’t fully agree that Mike Curb is out of the collusive circle that runs these awards shows. He managed to get Lee Brice two nominations in connection with the aforementioned ‘Love Like Crazy’ this year. A couple of years ago, there was a collective “huh?” when he managed to score Heidi Newfield something like five ACM nominations. He has managed to get Rodney Atkins some attention from the ACM/CMA outfits too.
I do agree that Carter didn’t focus where he should have in making the argument. I hated the slight on Randy Rogers Band and I hated the pitting of two women against each other. I don’t know if he was insulting the intelligence of his audience or not but I suspect he framed the argument in that manner because it is more likely to get him a lot of attention that way.
February 4, 2011 @ 8:24 pm
“pitting two women against each other.”
That really touches a nerve with me. I don’t know if this is what Jimmy Carter was intending to do, but that is exactly what he did, and what a reduction of these two artists that is, and what a shame. First it was Taylor vs. Carrie. Now it is Miranda vs. Carrie. This is manufactured drama aka wrestling or something that is such and insult to these two female artists.
February 5, 2011 @ 10:36 am
Lets not drag the good name of wrestling into this.
February 4, 2011 @ 6:17 pm
It seems that the default state of most peoples’ thinking on music is that bigger equals better. It’s the main argument I run into when I’m discussing an act that has never really been on a national radar. I’ve seen music critics use the argument to dismiss independent acts when people bring them up as being better than the garbage they’re shilling and it’s obvious that’s all this guy is doing here.
It wouldn’t shock me if his argument is true about the ACM’s. I personally couldn’t care less if they or any of the other 112 award shows pop country has are rigged in some fashion. This so-called critic is just part of the machine, he ought to go ahead and dance with whatever girl his beloved infrastructure is bringing to the prom.
February 4, 2011 @ 6:29 pm
Funny thing is, most country critics LOVE Miranda Lambert and Jamey Johnson. Jamey Johnson is especially fawned over. And both of these artists have received awards despite their lack of the blockbuster commercial success of some others. Critics work in substance though, and Jimmy seemed to be working in pop and glitter 2-minute-soundbyte pop journalism. Listening to that guy for less than three minutes rattle off half a dozen topics made my head feel like it was in a pinball machine.
February 5, 2011 @ 1:57 pm
Oh yeah, a number of critics aren’t going to play the bigger is better game. Hell, I can’t imagine a critic who wouldn’t want to be the first to do a write-up on an up and comer. I have noticed some over the years though that do steadfastly subscribe to the popularity contest, and even for some who don’t it can be a defense mechanism when they get called out on writing about awful artists in a glowing light.
February 4, 2011 @ 6:49 pm
A couple of things:
I think that Carrie Underwood is an excellent singer. Maybe one of the best singers from a talent standpoint in all of country. She’s not country of course, but the talent is there, and like i said in an article I wrote a while back, it is important to draw distinction in pop country artists and give credit where credit is due to create solid arguments against it.
I think a LOT of this has to do with the continued backlash of Taylor Swift sweeping the CMA Awards in 2009. I think that was why Brad Paisley won the CMA Entertainer of the Year, and why you are seeing more Miranda Lambert nominations now, and on last year’s ACM’s as well. The “machine” is trying to keep the natives from getting restless. Because mark my words folks, next year Taylor’s album is going to be the only one with any major commercial success, and the sweep will be on again.
When it happened in 2009, a big Taylor vs. Carrie battle brewed, because Taylor one Vocalist of the Year, even though she can’t sing, when Carrie, a superlative singer, got snubbed. Carrie’s fans have a right to be a little angry about that, and I think Jimmy Carter is a Carrie Underwood fan.
However to many fans and artists, this fight is embarrassing. It is like the NFL and the players fighting back and forth when they’re all multi-millionaires. It makes everyone come across as selfish and jealous. Carrie Underwood is set for life, and so is Miranda, and so is Taylor. So why not throw the doors of the nomination process open and assure that the best woman wins? That could have been the effect from this information. And instead it is legions of pissed off Carrie fans yet again.
February 4, 2011 @ 7:38 pm
Opening acts should not be eligible for Entertainer of the year though. I LOVE Miranda, but it was too soon to nominate her for EOTY at either the CMAS or ACMS. Miranda just started headling a small, 2,000 venue tour, and was an opening act half the year in 2010. Taylor Swift was an opening act for Rascal Flats in 2009 for half the eligibility period, and somehow she not only got nominated for Entertainer, but she won. That was a black day in country music history, when the Entertainer of the year is not even remotely country, or remotely talented. But I digress. Lady A was an opening act for Tim McGraw in 2010, and they got the CMA EOTY nom over Tim. That was a terrible slap in the face to Tim.
Even Kenny Chesney agreed that Entertainer is a touring act. Why change the rules just to exclude Carrie, when she played by the rules, paid her dues, and slowly put together a very successful, solid touring act? Now, they let in opening acts, and snub the headliners.
They changed the very rules they created, to achieve the result they desired. And that makes them hypocrites.
What bugs me to no end, is that it wasn’t the country music industry that snubbed Carrie Underwood: It was her own label. And THAT is backstabbing and wrong, on many many levels….especially when Carrie brings in MUCH more money to the label then Miranda does. She is their big cash cow, and they are treating her like dirt. I hope she changes labels and tells them to piss off.
That is why Carrie Underwood fans are mad. IIt is not even remotely about Miranda– but about how terribly her label is treating her, when she has brought so much money and success to SONY. It is a stab in the back what they did to her.Most Carrie fans LOVE Miranda and Brad Paisley, and are not upset with their success. They are all friends with Carrie anyway. (Carrie fans dislike Taylor, but not Miranda lol).
February 5, 2011 @ 3:47 am
Again this maybe naive of me to say this, but why can’t all three women have a place at the top tier of country music? Why do they get pitted against each other as if only one can be considered first-class singer?
I don’t know if Jimmy Carter has an agenda in saying all of this. It seemed so out of the blue.
Also, no offense to Brad Paisley fans, and he’s a nice guy and all, but why is he suddenly being treated as if he is the Father of Country Music? lol
February 5, 2011 @ 10:40 am
I think some of this is manufactured drama to keep content coming in for People magazine and keep fan’s noses buried in it. This is how this Jimmy Carter guy makes his nut, with things called the “Wednesday Dirt Alert” where this info came from. Give me a break. And I am taking very keen notice that it happens to be women they are pitting against each other. It’s like they are pitting these celebrity brands against each other by manufacturing drama to create some sense of loyalty and fervor in their fan bases.
February 4, 2011 @ 7:26 pm
I will start by saying I am a Miranda Lambert fan, and respect her immensely. I own all her albums. But I am also a Carrie Underwood fan, and I am proud of that, despite the bashing she gets on this site. I stand by my choice. You can snub her for coming from American Idol, but remember when you throw stones, that you live in a glass house: Miranda came from a reality tv show too, so they are pretty much on equal footing there.
Miranda and Carrie are both from the South. Carrie was born on a FARM, and her Dad is a cattle rancher and paper mill worker. Her Mom is a school teacher. So I never understand why people call her “Hollywood” when she was raised dirt poor, and farm bred. She is also a nice, Christian girl who never says a bad word about anyone, and stays out of all the gossip and scandels. So why the hate?
Miranda IS a little more “country” in her music then Carrie, I agree. But that doesn’t mean Carrie sucks. She is more like Shania country, while Miranda is more like Gretchen Wilson. Both are good, both can exists peacefully in the country music genre with their different styles. They are also good friends, and really like each other.
I just need to say that I think it is pretty close minded of you allk to ignore the enormous talent that Carrie Underwood has. Clearly, you think she is trash, but you are very wrong. She may be more on the pop side of country then Miranda (who I love too), but at least she refuses to remix her songs to pop radio like Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum are doing. Carrie is not the writer that Miranda is, but she is a stronger vocalist. I like both Carrie and Miranda as I think they are like yin and yang, sugar and spice. But Carrie is MUCH more talented then you give her credit. It seems like this site just likes to hate on her blindly, without even addressing the facts of the matter at hand.
I agree that Miranda Lambert put out a stronger album then Carrie did, as Revolution was the defining moment of Miranda’s career. Her previous albums were decent but nothing special. Revolution is very solid and shows tremendous talent. So I think Miranda did deserve Album, Song, Single, etc, over Carrie this year, and perhaps even Female Vocalist too.
However, you cannot rationally justifiy giving Miranda Lambert Entertainer of the year at this early stage of her career, when she was an opening act for half of the eligibility period in 2010. Her headlining tour is small, in tiny venues of 2,000 people at MOST. She will be worthy of Entertainer someday soon, but not this year. For you to say she deserves it over Tim McGraw or Rascal Flats, or Carrie, is simply ludicrous, and shows that you are just a blind fan who refuses to even listen to the other side of this argument, or examine the hard cold facts.
Carrie Underwood toured over 107 cities in 2010 alone, as a headliner, not opening act like Miranda was for part of the year. Carrie’s tour got RAVE reviews from critics (see Tennessean, CMT, several other cities- it was a critically acclaimed tour). Carrie also sold out the Hollywood bowl in LA, 17,000 people strong, and played to nearly a million fans in 2010 alone. She also had 2 number 1 singles and 1 number 2 in 2010– which was better then Miranda did (though THe House That Built Me was a much bigger hit then Carrie’s singles last year). Carrie also went 2x platinum for Play On while Miranda is at 1x platinum, still very good for Miranda. Carrie also filmed a movie, filmed a tv show, performed at the Grammys with Celine Dion for the Michael Jackson tribute, and did the anthem at the Superbowl, all in 2010.
So while you may not like Carrie’s music (which is fine), you are blinded by hatred if you cannot see the argument why Carrie Underwood did, in fact, deserve Entertainer over Miranda.
Personally, I want Brad Paisely to win anyway, but my point is that of the two ladies, this is how it should have gone:
Album: Miranda
Single: Miranda- House that Built Me
Song- Mirnada- House that Built Me
Video- Miranda- House that Built Me
Female Vocalist: Both should be nominated, and were
Entertainer: Only Carrie and Brad should have been nominated from SONY
So bash me if you like, but I am speaking the truth here. You don’t have to like Carrie’s music, or even like Carrie, to admit she did enough to warrant an Entertainer nomination over Mirnada.
Why you all hate Carrie so much, remains a mystery to me. At least she can sing well, unlike tonedeaf Taylor swift, who is about as country as Snoop Dog.
Carrie loves country music. She respects it. She may not be as “country” as you would like, but she is a country artist, albeit a pop-country one.
February 4, 2011 @ 8:07 pm
Maybe you should have read the author’s follow up comments before accusing him of blind hatred. He doesn’t consider Carrie Underwood to be country but he acknowledges her talent. Look at this quote.
“I think that Carrie Underwood is an excellent singer. Maybe one of the best singers from a talent standpoint in all of country. She”™s not country of course, but the talent is there, and like i said in an article I wrote a while back, it is important to draw distinction in pop country artists and give credit where credit is due to create solid arguments against it. ”
I’ve read this site enough to know that Triggerman also does not care for Gretchen Wilson and her Black Crowes ripoffs and I doubt he would consider Shania Twain country either.
One more point. Miranda Lambert’s concert arrangements of her songs are pure rock, at least they were in the concert that I saw. Underwood’s are also mostly of the arena rock variety but I was very surprised to hear a few songs with a stronger country flavor then you’ll find in the studio recordings. Not enough to qualify as country by this site’s standards but enough to catch my ears.
February 4, 2011 @ 8:40 pm
Cityslicker,
I know I and my readers do a lot of pop country bashing around here, but honestly, Carrie Underwood has been one that has stayed above criticism from me and many others for the very things you mentioned. I mentioned in a comment above unprovoked how I felt about her singing, because I had a sense Carrie fans might come here and take my stance the wrong way. I DO think she has a strong voice, possibly the strongest in all of country, though I would argue that her MUSIC is not country.
If you comb this site I think you would be hard pressed to find any negative words about Carrie, save for maybe a passing quip just meat to be funny. And even the people I do criticize, I always make sure not to make it about them personally, but about their music.
I wrote and article a while back where I talked about the importance of drawing distinction in pop country acts, and used Carrie as the example:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/is-it-important-to-draw-distinctions-in-pop-country
“When Taylor Swift won the CMA Awards for Entertainer of the Year and Best Female Vocalist, one of the reasons it seemed like such a tragedy was that Swift couldn”™t even sing on pitch in her performance on the award show itself; something that should be natural to any music performer, let alone an Entertainer of the Year.
Carrie Underwood is about as country as a New York City sewer rat, but though it pains me to say it, the American Idol product has a strong, powerful, always on-pitch voice; and unlike an act like Rascal Flatts, her perfect pitch is not due to auto tuners.
There are tiers of pop country, just like there are to anything. Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, and Keith Urban aren”™t really country at all. Neither is Carrie Underwood, but like Brad Paisley, as a musician she has some undeniable talent.”
I don’t blame you for assuming I have or would bash Carrie, but it’s just not the case.
I’m trying to put myself in the shoes of a Carrie Underwood fan, and yeah, I would be mad right now, and it would also feel like it is just one thing after another with these stupid awards shows doing her wrong. But I would also be mad at Jimmy Carter, for making this be about a war between another great female artist instead of a corrupt system created by Carrie’s label, and by the ACM’s.
And just appreciate that I cover dozens of artists around here that get NO radio play, NO support from TV and movies, NO award show nominations or wins, and have such a little chance to ever do so, they can’t even fathom it.
From a financial and star-power standpoint, Carrie is one of the most successful artists of our generation. She doesn’t need the ACM’s for validation. If they take an award that Carrie deserves more and gives it to someone else, that’s THEIR loss, THEIR mistake. That’s how I would look at it as a Carrie fan.
February 5, 2011 @ 12:50 am
Wow thanx so much for that reply! You actually made me feel alot better, hearing your perspective. I am sorry if I assumed the worst, that you bash Carrie. lol
I guess I am very naive about the real politics behind all these award shows. I never realized how much power a label has for block voting. Jimmy Carter is right about that though. They pick who they want to back, and they block vote for that person, to the exclusion of everyone else on the label. It is pretty corrupt, and I feel very disillusioned as a fan of country music as a whole, to see what really goes on behind the scenes. I was stupid enough to think the best man won.
You might be interested to know that many of Carrie’s fans plan to boycott the ACMS and maybe CMAs too, next year, if this BS continues. So I hope their ratings plummet or at least decline enough to make some small statement. It may do nothing to change anything, but it will make me feel better anyway. lol
Funny thing, I agree Carrie’s music can definitely be pretty pop at times, but she, herself, seems country at heart to me, especially with her background of being raised a farmer’s daughter. She was even a member of the 4-H and FFA. So it sometimes confuses me why she personally is not considered “country”, though I do agree her music is on the pop side of country.
Taylor Swift, on the other hand, grew up in Pennslyvania the daughter of a rich corporate stockbroker…so how on earth she is able to pass herself off as “country”, remains a mystery to me. I often wonder why she doesn’t just go to pop and stay there, considering that she already remixes all her songs to pop anyway, and remixed her entire album to pop for European distribution. She even bills herself as a Pop artist in Europa and Asia. So I don’t get why Nashville puts up with it. If she could at least sing, that would be one thing. There are so many problems with country music right now, that I don’t blame you for starting a website like this. It really is going down hill.
February 5, 2011 @ 10:27 am
@cityslicker
I agree Taylor’s music isn’t very country. But to use shes from Pa as an argument for her lack of country cred, is a bit ignorant. I’m from the mountains of Pa, and I’m Country, born and bred. So I imagine is entirely possible for her to be as country as Carrie, even though her music doesn’t reflect that. Sorry if this seems like an attack, but it irks me when people assume that the South is the end all be all of country folk. But I do agree musically her stuff isn’t very country.
February 5, 2011 @ 10:35 am
“I feel very disillusioned as a fan of country music as a whole, to see what really goes on behind the scenes.”
I’m not happy that you’ve had your heart broken by country music, but this happens all the time around here. We find this kind of stuff and expose it. And I ALWAYS take the sides of artists over labels or the industry, whether I like the artists’s music or the artist on a personal level or not.
I hope Carie fans boycott the ACM’s. I don’t know how effective it will be, but I will cover it here. The ACM’s and these labels should know that the fans are tired of their favorite artists getting pushed around like this.
February 7, 2011 @ 10:20 pm
Since you don’t believe any of today’s popular country acts are actually country… What and who do you feel are true country acts and why?? and…..What do you feel constitutes a country song???
February 5, 2011 @ 4:03 am
I’ve been reading this site for some time now, I haven’t noticed any bashing of Carrie Underwood, or of Miranda Lambert. Well, there’s some bashing of Taylor I must admit, and I’m a bit ashamed to admit, I was kinda amused by it.
February 16, 2011 @ 11:21 am
Don’t HATE anyone. SO sick of being called a hater for having opinions and my own tastes in music. Did anyone call YOU a hater?
February 4, 2011 @ 7:58 pm
All I’m going to say is that Carrie Underwood should be up for any female vocalist award at any pop music awards show.
Her voice is legit, each and every night she sings, it’s not a DAT machine or Pro Tools rig.
I can also say with knowledge that she is a fantastic person, who treats her crew, and union members/local crew members like gold. This is something that means a lot to me due to my line of work.
I agree with you on your comment though Trig.
February 4, 2011 @ 8:42 pm
I don’t know much about the stupid nomination process and never pay any attention to the media crap. All I see is that all of the little blonds look and sound about the same. Either lots of cleavage or lots of leg and sexy videos. All the same, except T. Swift can’t sing at all.
I want to LISTEN to music and decide if I like it or not. I don’t want someone telling me what I should or should not like. Reviews are good but they are someone else’s opinion. (Triggerman, I DO appreciate your reviews of all the new stuff that I would not know about).
If you want to talk about snubbing, hundreds of real singers are snubbed every time there is an awards show because it is just the record labels pushing and shoving to get their person nominated so they can sell more. Same old same old, not much to do with the most talent, just looks and popularity.
February 16, 2011 @ 11:34 am
to Kay- ” All I see is that all of the little blonds look and sound about the same. Either lots of cleavage or lots of leg and sexy videos.
I want to LISTEN to music and decide if I like it or not. I don”™t want someone telling me what I should or should not like.”
Can you explain how you are so focused on the look of the singers, but then you simply want to listen and decide? Do you really listen, or if a singer is blonde and leggy, you decide you don’t like them even before a note is sung. Because some of them can sing pretty well.
Also, who is telling you what you should or shouldn’t like? We don’t live in communist China.
Award shows are business. Business is to make money. Award shows are one small sample of music that makes a lot of money. Your only access to music isn’t ACM/CMA/AMA/Grammys. And those shows are there to show off the best of the best. They are to show off the best of the money.
February 16, 2011 @ 11:48 am
just a grammar error in my last sentence.
“those shows are NOT there to show off the best of the best, but to show off the best of the money”
February 16, 2011 @ 11:54 am
Well, ya can’t go anywhere, grocery stores, malls, department stores, etc., without their giant likenesses glaring at ya so unless a person is blind, we can’t help but see what singers look like. Life size cutouts of T.Swift were everywhere a few months ago.
I don’t watch the music shows or awards shows. I go to concerts and find new music on the internet. Geez oh petes, I don’t FOCUS on looks. My point is that much of the world seems to be buying music with THEIR EYES INSTEAD OF THEIR EARS. I WANT people to LISTEN to music and not just WATCH it.
Heaven knows, I never accused anyone on this forum of telling me what to listen to. I was making general statements about the music industry and the way they market and the record companies and how they p u s h stuff in our faces.
You are preaching to the choir here when it comes to knowing what real music is. I think we actually agree more than disagree.
Have a good one 🙂
February 16, 2011 @ 12:11 pm
So if you see someones face plastered around, do you give them a chance? Or just assume they can’t sing and their looks got them where they are?
Sorry if I didn’t realize you were referring to the masses when you stated “I want to LISTEN to music and decide if I like it or not. I don”™t want someone telling me what I should or should not like.”
That whole “I” thing made me assume it was you, you were referring too.
February 16, 2011 @ 12:19 pm
Oh for Pete’s sake Ice Cold, I have said before, if someone can carry a tune, I am willing to give them a chance. You just like to antagonize don’t ya?
So, guess I can assume you are a big fan of Adam Lambert also?
February 16, 2011 @ 12:27 pm
Your talking about Carrie Underwood.
I am not a big fan of hers, nor Adam Lambert. Not even sure who that is?
I am just unclear why you don’t like Carrie? You certainly don’t have to, but what is it:
The looks- she is cute, not her fault nor created by a label.
The voice- she can sing
The media blitz of her?
Or simply because she came through American Idol?
I am not a fan because I don’t like the songs she sings. They don’t do much for me.
February 16, 2011 @ 12:32 pm
I don’t know her personally, so don’t know if I like her or not.
I have tried listening to her music and it doesn’t catch and hold my attention. Gosh, isn’t there anyone you don’t like listening to? Why is it so important that I like her? I am getting confused……… :o/
February 4, 2011 @ 9:03 pm
“hundreds of real singers are snubbed every time there is an awards show”
Exactly.
February 5, 2011 @ 8:18 am
Yah.
Call me old school but I just looked at Jimmy Carter’s website and there was something sad and empty about it. Like Hollywood gone bad. What an oxymoron, huh? Fake….plastic…temporary…..decadent……no wonder I haven’t wanted to go near media popularized country music in a long time. Maybe it is the cold and gray and snow here today but I am feeling very sad about music right now. My daughter has found good money and long contracts working as a lead singer on cruise ships and maybe she lives in a sort of bubble away from the real world but she is a hell of a lot more grounded and real than any of the crap I saw, except for maybe Alan Jackson and the Oaks……(and I do think Brad Paisley is an amazing talent and will find his way back to true country) but……wow. She rehearsed in Nashville a couple of times and had a couple of opportunities to work there. She said the people were friendly but it wasn’t country music and it wasn’t real. Now I know what she means.
February 5, 2011 @ 10:29 am
What, you mean the one with the subtitle “Your Source To The Stars” imposed over a shot of the Hollywood skyline, and is nothing more than a landing page full of a bunch of uber-indulgent celeb paparazzi photos?
Somehow I’m supposed to draw from this site that Jimmy Carter is a credible source for anything? He looks like a glitter-sniffing celebrity worshiping gossip mongerer.
February 5, 2011 @ 10:37 am
Even for a gossip/tabloid site. Its really poorly done. Its got no structure, the eye has nowhere to focus, it’s just too busy visually. My 10th grade website design teacher would be furious. lol. I mean, if a 17 year old highschooler, in 2008, could make a more professional site, than Jimmy, that reflects poorly on him, and shows his lack of credibility.
February 5, 2011 @ 8:15 am
While I’m not a fan of most of these pop-country groups,awards should be given for success in album sales, hits and concert sales.Carrie excelled more than most others in those things for the year,so kinda dumb she got “snubbed”.But yeah,I think she’ll survive.
And here we go again with claims that Miranda Lambert is real country,on a web site that calls itself “Saving Country Music” where we hate pop artists in country music but are fine with rock artists in country music. *Rolls eyes*
February 5, 2011 @ 10:22 am
I did not claim that Miranda Lambert was “real” country. I did say that she is more country than Carrie Underwood, and I stand behind that claim. In fact, I have tried to bleed any use of the term “real country” out of this website unless it is absolutely necessary for this exact reason.
I am also for another term to delineate when artists mix rock and country, beyond calling it “real country” or “country” altogether. If you want to see how that is going, you can sift through the 600 comments the three XXX articles generated.
February 5, 2011 @ 10:52 am
Who cares? This is what they want, HYPE. Stop listening to it, stop watching it, stop writing articles about it. Instead, write an article about a good country artist.
On second thought, ^that makes me sound like a dick. But I don’t think I’m the only one whos sick and tired of “x vs x” and “x won x” and “x is good for pop”. I guess my point is WHO CARES. Not me, because I don’t like plastic soulless music, nor the awards that glorify it. Yeah, they’re dragging the name “country” through the mud, but thats going to happen with everything. Lets just be ABOVE this dumb shit.
February 5, 2011 @ 11:22 am
I totally disagree Colby Jack, this article boils down to an artist with a label issue, and that is the direct charter of Saving Country Music, founded as Free Hank III when he was getting screwed over by Curb Records. I know there’s a celebrity brawl element to this story, but at the heart, fighting a record label manipulating their artists for commercial gain, and corruption at an awards institution is what this site is all about. I have no choice but to cover this story, no matter whose names are replaced by “x” and “y”.
And believe me, I was trying to avoid all of this, as I emphasized in the first sentence of this article. But I was getting pummeled with emails and such and so I need to comment, and I wanted to make sure somebody called out this Jimmy Carter guy, because I don’t want to get lumped with his ilk just because I’m against the ACM’s as well.
February 5, 2011 @ 11:42 am
But do you really want to help the artists fighting their labels, remembering those same artists are the ones who sold out to do pop music in the first place. They are the puppets, yes, and its quite frankly their fault for being that. Are you not going to put any blame on those people? Is it not also the fault of the american consumer for being so stupid? The record labels are there to make money, and the artists… well the money, the fame, or both. Even if the artists win over their labels, what does that mean? They get more money for the same product? Pop country singers aren’t going to suddenly become traditional country musicians because they win a dispute with their record label.
(Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been an absolutely a huge fan of this site since the beginning.)
February 5, 2011 @ 12:18 pm
Look, I did not want to write this story. The reason I did was because this glitter-sniffing Jimmy Carter cat was out there painting people who are against the ACM’s, and who have been saying for years they are fixed with a bad brush. That is what forced my hand, and that was the focus of the article, NOT Carrie Underwood or her music.
This comes up all the time, like I am literally scrapping articles promoting the music to write these, when it is such a small fraction of what I do around here. Look on the main page right now. There’s reviews for Bob Wayne and Sunday Valley. There’s an article on the death of Charlie Louvin. I’m promoting the Deep Blues fest and Ray Wylie’s “Grit N Groove” fest (both of which have been virtually ignored by my readership). There’s my Albums of the Year, info on a new Hank Williams movie, and interview with Darren of Farmageddon Records, a story about how Judd Films is going to cover muddy roots, where Don Maddox will be performing. A new album from Rachel Brooke and touring news with Those Poor Bastards. All of this on the main page, and two articles that maybe focus on something else. If it was every other article I would understand, but I’m getting tired of having to explain myself for every little move I make, when really my focus is articles promoting the music, many of which most my readership ignores.
I’m doing my best.
February 5, 2011 @ 12:31 pm
And your best is better than all that huge pile of poo that is called pop country. Triggerman you do this when you don’t have to, and you do this with passion and diligence. To shine just a little flashlight on the situation will surely get one person to see. You have been most helpful and wonderfully showing in your blogs and commentary. This is it, real talk and real debating. No, Colby Jack I don’t feel sympathy for Carrie Underwood. She’s having a perfect life. Miranda Lambert musically has more bite to her songs. She’s also having a perfect life with Blake Shelton! I feel sorry for the struggling artist, dredging through thick and thin just to do what they love. And not for some award ceremony to tell them great job for making their label and themselves millions.
Give me a honkey tonkin’ rockabilly punkgrass show, please. No statues required.
February 6, 2011 @ 12:00 pm
Thanks. Always like hearing what you have to say.
February 5, 2011 @ 12:13 pm
Wasn’t the same said about the American Idol hoopla that catapulted Carrie Underwood into country and western music greatness? Fixed for greed, fixed for maniupulation, fixed for ratings, fixed for number one songs played on the airwaves that are fixin’ to brainwash the mass public into mass thinking of what good music really is. I don’t want to watch those shows that have deteriorated into a pathetic attempt at recreating the magic that happened naturally with the real greats of country music. Naturally and through the hard knocks of sweat, blood and tears on a guitar. No Taylor. Not the tears of your boyfriend dumping you. The tears that surely came from above. The kind of tears that burn through your soul and put you back on solid ground. That kind of magic cannot be fixed. Snubbing and shining is what the producers have on their agenda. I will migrate toward the “meant to be” rather than fixed to be.
Blah.
February 5, 2011 @ 12:28 pm
VERY VERY well said Denise.
Though I will say this: Two wrongs don’t make a right. And if Carrie Underwood’s celebrity is the thing that finally exposes the ACM’s as corrupt to the masses, then I am not going to hold that against Carrie Underwood or anyone else.
February 5, 2011 @ 12:47 pm
Thank you very much, Triggerman. Carrie Underwood and such aren’t the ones to blame, necessarily, when they just want to be rich and famous. The machine is to blame. Imagine that.
How many songs sing about selling your soul to the devil? And then you got the ones dancing with the devil and they don’t even know it. That’s what was going on in the 70’s, even before with Johnny Cash and Waylon and remember Hank? Hank Williams? The one that wasn’t good enough for the Opry? But by goodness, these here country stars need more statues! More accolades for making so much money. They need it so they will keep making those awful songs to be played on the radio. Kickbacks and fixin’. Blah.
February 7, 2011 @ 10:28 pm
I don’t mean any disrespect but I don’t believe you have ever really listened to a Carrie Underwood song…. She doesnt just sing about her breakups….she sings more about life and God….something that a true country fan should be able to respect not look down their nose at…… It just doesn’t make any sense to me….
February 8, 2011 @ 2:51 am
I’m not taking any disrespect but I have listened to Carrie Underwood songs.
Jesus take the Wheel.
Maybe He’ll think Before he cheats.
Those two come to mind. I don’t care for American Idol. Call me old fashioned but there isn’t a bone in my body that will make me glad that corporate Hollywood has taken a girl with singing talent and made her a bonafide (ha!) country singer that America adores. Idoltry isn’t my thing, Kyle.
February 8, 2011 @ 7:04 am
As my Grandpa used to say: Maybe this will help ya clean out the duck bait. Carrie flashes those long legs and squeezes out the notes in her cute voice. If you guys had just HEARD HER SING, instead of looking at her sing, I guarantee she would not be the idol girl that you think she is. No offense, she can sing but she isn’t god’s gift to song that so many think. No offense to you either Kyle, you have a right to your likes and dislikes but maybe…take a listen to Loretta and Connie Smith and some of the pure country singers and clean your listening palette once in a while.
http://ilike.myspacecdn.com/play#Patsy+Cline:She%27s+Got+You:40749:s33744840.11777.10451.1.1.55%2Cstd_398b378893757dee8f5e5bd37182e1f8
February 8, 2011 @ 7:15 pm
Kyle, please don’t take offense with my post about cleansing your listening palette, not my business what you like, but I DO wish more people in general would expand their listening sometimes and hear more music than what is shown video style on TV.
February 10, 2011 @ 9:38 pm
Ha..No offense taken!!! And i have listened to Loretta and the other Greates of country music and their music is incredible! However, those days of country music are gone!!!! Look at Reba for instance she used to be pure country, but now…her music is more pop than anything Carrie has released!! I just think people immediatley toss Carrie aside because she is different than their “old school” country….However her lyrics and voice are pure country sorry to tell you!!! And I’m pretty sure even if she would have never come from American Idol and released some of the most country music you have ever heared….people would still be haters!!! And, the comment that her pretty legs and overall Hollywood image makes me laugh maybe you should talk to God about that….Carrie can’t help that she is pretty and talented!!! lol
I just think its funny….Shania Twain’s music was way more pop but nobody has mentioned that, I guess its because country is actually becoming popular that people can’t stand…….This is ridiculous…Your right Everybody has a right to their own opinion and Musical intrests!!!!!
February 10, 2011 @ 9:46 pm
Undiserved Idoltry isnt my thing either…However, I have seen Carrie in concert and she is more of a real person than you seem to think she is!!!! The song is just called Before he Cheats, but anyways, both of those songs were off her first album, and she has a long way to go before she can shed the american idol pop sound they gave her!!! but she is slowly coming in to her own!!! Her last album was definatley more country….I would suggest you try listening to her songs Temporary Home, and Someday When I Stop Loving You, or Mama’s Song….Your not going to tell me some Hollywood Robot Co-wrote two of those songs and sang them with heart!!! I don’t know what you feel is a country song…but to me country comes from the heart….singing a song about your Mom or God…cannot be faked…. She is pure Class!!! Oh yeah and she was born and raised in the country….. more than you can say for some other acts in country……
February 5, 2011 @ 12:27 pm
i don’t know what everyone is getting upset about..this kind of thing has been going on since at least the 70’s maybe even longer…even waylon mentioned in his biography that he new his CMA award was the result of block voting and backroom deals and trades….
February 5, 2011 @ 12:41 pm
Well, that is pretty much what I said up top in the article, but the difference is now that Carrie Underwood’s celebrity is allowing a light to be shined on what we’ve already known about around here for years, exposing it to the masses, and the passive music fans. This is a good thing.
I wrote a series of articles a few years back called “Down With The CMA’s.” Not about the ACM’s obviously, but the same rules apply. One of them included Waylon’s comments:
“I tried to be nice in my acceptance speech, thanking everybody for their support, though I knew that block voting and mass trading between the big companies”“we”™ll give you 200 votes for your artist if you give your 400 votes to our writer”“probably had more to do with it than anything else.”
https://savingcountrymusic.com/down-with-the-cma-part-1-waylon-jennings
You’ll have to fight through my bad formatting and immature writing, but here’s the other two. This is when this all still lived on MySpace:
About Curb and George Jones “Choices” and all that:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/down-with-the-cma-part-2-corruption-in-performances
About ACE and The Outlaws overtaking the awards:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/down-with-the-cma-part-3-ace-the-outlaws
February 5, 2011 @ 12:40 pm
Can someone tell me how and why is Taylor considered “country”? Her first album was. Her next one was alot more pop, and her 3rd one is totally pop. And I like how her camp can brag how much Fearless sold too. It was re released at least twice. So like 3 million bought it, then she added more tracks and brought it out again. So those 3 mill who got the first round like me, also bought it again to get those other tracks to make a 6 million figure. As well as total sales, she has like 6 cd’s. 1) Taylor Swift 2) Fearless 3) Beautiful Eyes 4) Holiday album 5) Live in SoHo 6) Speak Now.
February 5, 2011 @ 12:50 pm
Taylor is considered country because the music industry is imploding right now, and any music made by white people that is not rap is going to be called “country” if the aim is mass appeal. Two super-genres are forming, rap and country. If you want to get your music out in front of people, you have to call it one of the two.
February 5, 2011 @ 2:50 pm
Cha Ching a ling a ching! Those sticky fingered little kids have lots of money to spend and “the industry” wants them to spend it on their “pop country.”
Side note: The group Celtic Woman is no different, they are soooo artificial and contrived and plastic and just about every man I have talked to over the age of 50 is absolutely breathless and taken with them. Sold once, sold twice, down the river by the little sexed out blonds once again. TV music has taken over the minds and bodies of too many way down under that lowered bar of what we used to call music.
Real Celtic singers and I know a lot of them, are disgusted by these pop Celtic gals. And so it goes.
February 5, 2011 @ 4:56 pm
That’s a good point. So-called Celtic music has been besieged by the same beast. Celtic Woman being a more recent example, but all the new age/easy listening crap in the 90s that was labeled Irish or Celtic music. For the real thing give the Dubliners, Altan, or even the Chieftains older stuff a listen.
February 5, 2011 @ 8:18 pm
Yup. love the Chieftains. I am a Jethro Tull fan I think they are more Celtic than most.
February 7, 2011 @ 12:57 pm
Gee, I cannot wait for Taylor to win Album of the Year for the ACM’s and the CMA’s this year and then the Grammys for Country Album for her POP cd Speak Now. Why will she win? Cause of the sales. And it seems like half of Carrie’s fans will vote for Brad and the other half for Kieth cause they don’t want Carrie’s label Arista to get any credit.
So that will mean that Taylor who is NOT country, will win the EOTY award for whose resume can fit in one sentence like Miranda’s vs. Carrie’s 4 paragraph’s worth. Yeah you can say Carrie is POP, but Carrie has YET to get a Pop/Rock nomination like Taylor and Lady A has and Carrie’s singles do not get played on Pop radio off the bat like TS and lady A’s do. And she only has 2 songs that are being played on Pop radio long after it was “that big” on the Country charts.
And I believe that Carrie is the only Opry member that has represented the Opry while on tour. And her Play On Tour was nominated for a Pollstar Touring Award which I guess is again not enough to get a EOTY nom according to her record label.
February 10, 2011 @ 11:03 pm
This is for Kyle who is trying to convince me that a manufactured pop country American Idol-marketed singer who is pretty and has nice legs sings with more heart than . . . Rachel Brooke, who is also beautiful, and when she opens her mouth, pure heart comes gushing through. Cmon Kyle, I don’t know what you think is real, but a manufactured pop star has alot more to prove than someone who has really been through the musical wringer the real hard way, not through the magical golden touch that Hollywood cast upon a pretty country girl.
Carrie Underwood up against Rachel Brooke, or Six Gunn Brit, for instance, and you might see what I mean. Raw talent is raw talent and although Carrie Underwood has a nice voice, she was made into a star. Not the same as a true, struggling musician who has to make it on her own.
I suppose you might think it was hard for Carrie to win her glorified Idol royalty crown, with all those coaches, and personal assistants, and producers and hair and makeup people and . . . .get it?!
February 11, 2011 @ 8:15 am
This is for Kyle too. Dear Kyle, I didn’t defend Reba or Shania against Carrie, I mentioned Connie Smith, Loretta and Patsy. Timeless class talents. Never much cared for Shania. Reba would be better off singing her old songs.
I am not a hater of anyone. I don’t KNOW Carrie and neither do you, so who knows if she is real or not. No one forces her to use sex to sell her music but that is part of the package.
I HAVE listened to all of music and it’s not bad but it’s not something I would buy and replay. Just like a bite of cotton candy goes a long way once in a while.
My daughter is a beautiful professional singer. Occasionally she has to wear short dresses or more revealing outfits in shows that she does but she has the power to “bring it on” or play it like a lady. And please don’t tell me I am jealous because my daughter isn’t famous like Carrie. You don’t know her either and, trust me, she has a whole lotta talent. She plays fiddle, piano and can sing country, opera, jazz, musical theatre. can tap dance and a whole lot more. (Oh, and like Denise mentioned, she has worked her butt off for many years and people tell her all the time that she should go on Amer Idol. Sell her soul, I don’t think so). Carrie was 30 pounds heavier and had much darker hair before the process began. No hard feelings toward her, I hope she is happy and healthy and doesn’t get lost in the shuffle when Nashville decides they need a newer, younger, blonder kewpie doll to bring in the bucks.
So, we are back where we started. You like who you like and I like who I like but I don’t have to buy the package.
February 11, 2011 @ 8:22 am
Kay, I just have to tell you I doubt I’ll hear a better rebuttal than ” a little cotton candy goes a long way” today. Thank you for the smile!
February 11, 2011 @ 8:41 am
You are welcome. :o} Kyle probably feels ganged up on today. I sure don’t mean to do that to anyone but the marketing of pop singers is almost like brainwashing and pure music and real country music has gotten put on the back burner along the way.
I am not here to brag about my kid, but let me tell ya, if I could get her an honest break, I would. She is doing very well without my help and happy meal marketing (what I call it). Just Monday she had an offer to do an national TV ad and also a call from a big casting agency. Both things she did not pursue.
Speaking of singing from the heart, she had people weeping openly when she sang Patsy’s song Through the Eyes of a Child and many other times, she has brought people to tears.
I heard that Carrie had released a song before Amer Idol and it went no where. I often wonder if she had just kept pursuing her career the old fashioned way, she might have had to work harder, but maybe she might be happier in the long run. Just thinking like a mom 🙂
February 15, 2011 @ 1:38 pm
Common I don’t feel ganged up on…we’re just sharing our opinions:) To your point about Carrie’s music I have never heared of her releasing a song before Idol…. but I do know she had a record deal that was cancelled after the record label changed hands… and besides she was only a teenager then…..
Good Luck to your Daughter, maybe i will be arguing for her on one of these boards someday!!!!
February 15, 2011 @ 1:34 pm
You can believe what you want to believe…I’m not trying to convince you to listen to Carrie, but to consider her Hollywood made is hilarious….oh unless you also vote for the politicians Hollywood backs….. American Idol gave Carrie Underwood a stage for her talent….. They did not force people to go out and buy her music…we do that on our own!!! I guess the only point i was trying to get across is, just because you were founded by “Hollywood” doesnt make you anyless country than those who roughed it in bars…its about whats inside not what you see on the outside…and if that isnt something that can be accepted than we arent talking about a true country music fan!!!
February 11, 2011 @ 8:29 am
Oh, one last thing about it all, NO ONE should EVER be jealous of someone who sold their soul. EVER.
February 11, 2011 @ 1:10 pm
Boy Denise, for someone that has admitted in other articles that she used to think the Chesny song “The Good Stuff” was the good stuff before learning about this site and underground country, you sure toss out the accusations of souless and sellout.
“The Good Stuff” wasn’t all that long ago. You might consider that some folks that like mainstream artists are like you used to be. Maybe finding their way through the mess.
February 15, 2011 @ 1:55 pm
So Carrie Underwood dyes her hair and diets”¦..somebody call the press she is like the majority of twenty-year olds out there!!!! LOL”¦”¦ I know you used Connie, Loretta and Patsy as examples, and I used more current examples”¦. It is unrealistic to compare anyone in today”™s market to the greats you mentioned!! For one the lifestyles they sang about”¦and the ones that gave them hit songs”¦. Don”™t exist in the same context they experienced them in”¦..
I am glad your Daughter has great talent and still plays it like a lady”¦.I”™m just curious”¦.. When hasn”™t Carrie played it like a lady..???
I still agree that we all have our different tastes, but”¦I just think its sad people can”™t see true talent because they were given a chance by Hollywood”¦.at one point or another wasn”™t every star given a chance”¦.and had their image changed”¦ ”¦Oh I forgot Loretta Lynn the Coal Miners Daughter, didn”™t wear nicer clothes.. Or change the way her hair looked after she got her big break”¦”¦”¦ You see, back in Loretta”™s day music isn”™t where it is today”¦.from the sound to the image”¦. Wearing short-shorts was unheard of”¦not today”¦ so I guess my point is the days of the past are gone”¦. You can either consider every Carrie Underwood corrupted soul sellers, or you can learn to enjoy the music of today!!!
(I don”™t really care if you don”™t listen to Carrie”™s music or not, I just think it is unfair to talk her down and consider her a sell out because she isn”™t Patsy Cline)”¦…Wow…Sorry this got so long….
February 16, 2011 @ 12:02 pm
Thanks for your good wishes for my daughter Kyle, I just read that post. I sometimes wish all of us saving country music fans could get together in the same room. I think we would agree more than disagree and there wouldn’t be the typed misunderstandings that we too often get here.
k
February 16, 2011 @ 11:33 am
I just don’t enjoy listening to her sing. It’s too cutsey and sugar sweet for me. Neither of us know her personally, so I hesitate to speak about her (and NEVER said she was a corrupted soul), but still don’t enjoy her music just because she “is the new thang.” She is packaged and marketed to sell with BIG blond hair, tons of makeup and legs and sex. She isn’t the only one who does that. That basically is the whole pop market.
Oh, I do enjoy much music of today but won’t list them here as to not bore ya. I actually enjoy my own shower singing more than C.U. :o} I am sorry if I am just being a pain. I am in a good mood today and feel like picking on people. I really am a nice person, but I have a right not to like something and you have a right to like it.
Yup, a lot of young girls color their hair and diet, agreed.
I am just stubborn I guess. I am one of those people who never buy anything that is over marketed and shoved in my face at every turn.
February 16, 2011 @ 11:56 am
“She is packaged and marketed to sell with BIG blond hair, tons of makeup and legs and sex. She isn”™t the only one who does that. That basically is the whole pop market.”
Really? Or does she have blonde hair, nice legs, doesn’t need the make up, is sexy… so that is part of her. It helps no doubt to sell pictures of her, but, AND, she has a voice.
I am not buying up her music, but you can’t say you don’t like her music and then rip her for her god given physical image. Sounds like you don’t like that she is super hot, and has a great voice. Not many do, it is understandable.
February 16, 2011 @ 12:10 pm
Well, I am a heterosexual female so when I see her, I don’t see “hot.” I have seen photos of her without makeup and she is a cute girl. Lots and lots of cute blond girls out there who would be just as cute if they were all jazzed up like she is on stage and in pretty much every photo you see. She can sing. Yes, but so can lots of other cute girls and some much better.
Once and for all, I don’t have a problem because little Mrs. whatever her married name is, is cute, I just don’t happen to think she is god’s gift to singing like so many starstruck people do.
. All I have ever tried to say is that if you had never seen the girl, I doubt you’d be such big fans or even defending her so much.
February 16, 2011 @ 12:17 pm
Why is it when someone says they like some artist, it is an assumption by a few on here, that we think they are god’s gift.
I am not an Underwood fan. But if I was, it doesn’t mean I think she is the greatest ever.
There are plenty of female artists that my fiance has introduced me to that I enjoy but never saw before listening. Cat Powers, Niko Case, Florence and the Machines.
People might take pride in the fact of not buy into mass marketed things, but it is a bit annoying when something is mass marketed, and does have some talent and legitamacy, some people thumb noses at it as if they are smarter than the masses to not buy into it. Sometimes it is worth buying into.
February 16, 2011 @ 12:35 pm
You are talking in circles.
You want me to like her but you say you are not a fan.
Adam Lambert is a pretty boy from American Idol who can sing.
I am not a fan of his either but he has the same qualifications as Carrie.
Now I am getting snarky.
Jeepers.
February 16, 2011 @ 1:01 pm
I am not saying, nor ever said you should like her. I was asking for some clairification on why you don’t. Your accusations toward her didn’t make much sense. If you simply don’t like her music, doesn’t do it for you, I would agree.
But you brought up the idea that she looks to sexy and you don’t buy into that whole image thing, but then you listen to music to make a decision. So what does it matter that she has an image? Obviously her image influences how you feel about her.
February 16, 2011 @ 1:12 pm
No, her image did not influence my dislike of her music and you are wrong to assume that it did. However, I think it influences how many men feel about her “music.”
February 22, 2011 @ 11:36 am
Maybe we should leave stereotypes out of it….. I’m a guy and know alot of other guys who like her music, because she is talented not because she’s hot! The way you worded it suggests guys can only base judgement on sexual attraction…not true! It’s fair that you don’t like her but you make far to many assumptions as to why other people like her. You keep saying we all have a right to listen to who we want but you are far to biased, to legitimately state this….. on another note why was her image brought into your argument against her music if that is not a reason as to why you don’t like her??? just wondering….
February 22, 2011 @ 12:19 pm
Kyle, I brought up her looks to Kay since Kay made the statement:
“I just don”™t enjoy listening to her sing. It”™s too cutsey and sugar sweet for me. Neither of us know her personally, so I hesitate to speak about her (and NEVER said she was a corrupted soul), but still don”™t enjoy her music just because she “is the new thang.” She is packaged and marketed to sell with BIG blond hair, tons of makeup and legs and sex. She isn”™t the only one who does that. That basically is the whole pop market.”
I really didn’t understand that statement.
Kay doesn’t like her music. That is fine.
but then, Kay says she doesn’t know Underwood, and never said she was a corrupted soul.
But then goes on to say “She is packaged and marketed to sell…” Which to me implies Kay thinks Underwood is a corrupted soul and isn’t doing things her way, which Kay said she isn’t sure about in the prior sentence.
Then Kay drives it home with the last lines, which show she simply doesn’t like Underwood’s music, but there is more to it- “BIG blond hair, tons of makeup and legs and sex. She isn”™t the only one who does that.”
Seems Kay has an issue with her looks, which Underwood really can’t help. She is a goodlooking gal.
Being a guy, I don’t decide if I like or dis-like a female artists music based on looks. If the music is good I will buy it, if it isn’t my thing, no matter how hot the woman is, I won’t be out buying her records. I think most guys are like that. We might buy a poster of her, but her music isn’t going to be coming from our speakers. (I.E. see Shania in the late ’90s. Guys weren’t gobbling up those CD’s as much as her image.)
Underwood is a perfect example for me. Her music does nothing for me, so I don’t buy it. But that doesn’t mean Underwood’s looks are carrying her. I just am not a fan of that music. I do think Underwood has talent and isn’t just some manufactured star. Plus, she is 20 something years old. We are expecting/comparing these 20somethings to legends. When Underwood has 20years of a career under her belt then start ripping her for not living up to Loretta or Patsy.
February 22, 2011 @ 1:53 pm
This statement has bothered me for days and I should have come back and said this:
“Her image influences how many PEOPLE feel about her “music.”
Many have bought into the heavily marketed fantasy package of picture perfect.
The possibility of any male liking her music because of her looks is just plain silly. That is why advertisers pay millions for a couple of minutes of Super Bowl ad time because fancy packaging has nothing to do with sales.
February 22, 2011 @ 2:50 pm
Kay, forgetting how you phrased your comment about who and how they like Underwood, I guess I am confused on what the problem is with her “packaging”?
How do they package and present her?
Blonde- she is.
Young- she is.
Great legs- she has.
None of that is false or made up advertising. This type of accusation happens 9 out of 10 times when a female artist is a goodlooking gal. “She can’t sing” “She is all looks” etc…
She certainly is a goodlooking girl (that isn’t market executives pulling that off), but she isn’t presented as a stripper either.
Her image might influence how young girls look at her and her music, but I don’t think she is setting a bad example. Again, she is not my type of music, I don’t buy her stuff, and I don’t consider her “true country”, but she is no doubt will continue to grow and come into her own as an artist. How much of what she has done is tied to American Idol? They are calling the shots, so don’t crush her for it. And she didn’t exactly sell her soul to become a star. She entered a contest and won.
February 23, 2011 @ 8:29 am
IceColdCountry- Thank You! I respect that you don’t like Carrie’s music, its not for everybody! I respect your taste because you said its just not for you you didnt go comparing her to Loretta and Patsy and fabricating stories of soul selling…lol.. I have no problem when people don’t like Carrie’s music, i have a problem when they don’t like her based on other peoples careers and accomplishments. If you only judge her on her performance as an artist and still don’t like her, then thats ok, but its unfair to judge her or any other artist on the careers of legends! Their careers are why their legends…. Its also unfair to say she sold her soul for her career…I don’t see it…I doubt she is anymore or less corrupted than the artists who climbed the ladder singing in bars, and had behind the scene deals with labels…. I also laugh..because it was mentioned to me earlier about how Hollywood made her. I’m pretty sure America made her…you know.? Hollywood didn’t buy her music…America did… I’m just saying its legitimate to dislike her music but to have these severe biases, based on nothing is ridiculous!!!
February 21, 2011 @ 2:11 pm
Miranda has no right being nominated for entertainer of the year over Carrie Underwood…
Carrie Underwoods year:
-Three #1 singles, One #2
– 2 million albums sold
-over 2mill digital downloads
-over 1million fans attended her play on tour (which was critically acclaimed, and in the list of the top 20 tours this year)
Miranda Lamberts pathetic year:
-ONE #1 single ONE #2 single (her latest single “Only Prettier” barely made it to top 10)
-Less then 1 million albums sold
-Just started first headlining tour
*Carrie has been nominated for 150 awards and has won 109 *
She also has 12 #1 singles!
7 of Carries singles have gone platinum “Inside your heaven” 2x platinum “Before he cheats” 3x platinum
SO TAKE THAT MIRANDA LAMBERT
February 21, 2011 @ 3:18 pm
I would let your facts speak for themselves, and leave Miranda Lambert out of it. It’s not her fault, it’s the label’s.
February 21, 2011 @ 4:43 pm
AMEN!!!
April 2, 2011 @ 3:36 pm
When it comes to music everyone has there favorites, and if they don’t win, people go to bashing other performers.. Let it go , Carrie and Miranda are great performers in there own ways..If you dont like either of them , then don’t listen..stop bashing.. its stupid..Miranda has every right to be up there as Carrie, and Carrie will be back up there..god people get a life..
July 29, 2011 @ 2:54 pm
First it was Carrie Underwood Vs. Taylor Swift. Then, we have Carrie Underwood Vs. Miranda Lambert. It’s always Carrie Underwood Vs. Another female. My point is that Carrie Underwood is here to stay. She’s not going anywhere.
April 7, 2013 @ 10:55 am
Well I hope Kacey Musgraves and Randy Rogers wins everything they are nominated for and piss on the rest
April 19, 2015 @ 7:35 pm
If anyone has been snubbed it’s Scotty McCreery, he has a great true country voice.