As with all live award shows, there were a few technical problems which resulted in the Single of the Year category being read the old fashioned way – by the presenters – instead of by video presentation. The wrong award category teaser was aired at one point and there were a smattering of sloppy camera angles, but the sound quality was better this year than in years past. Although even quality microphones couldn’t help the vocals of some of the performers. Maybe it was nerves, maybe it was some sort of bug that was going around, but several of country’s best vocalists were not at the top of their game last night.Surprisingly, 
the small stage set in the midst of the crowd produced some of the best performances of the night: Montgomery Gentry and Lady Antebellum rocked the small stage. Did anyone else notice how much Charles Kelley resembles a younger Ronnie Dunn? Jamey Johnson re-created the “In Color” video by setting his stool on a bed of photographs. The producer’s use of black and white and color saturation effects was grossly predictable. John Rich was seemingly looking for reaction when he changed a couple of key words in “Shuttin’ Detroit Down.” It kind of worked. And was Blake Shelton just filling time with only a partial song? It’s interesting that none of the Top New Artist nominees performed.
On the main stage, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Nettles may just have to throw down in a pool of Jell-O to decide the title of best performance of the night. Carrie proved why she won Female Vocalist of the Year, but the beautifully enormous dress was almost distracting from the song because it let the mind wander with questions. How did she get into that thing? How many assistants does it take to carry the train? And was the train really attached to the draperies? In any case, 
Carrie’s petite framed poking out of the girth of the dress resembled a Barbie Doll perched on top of a molded cake. Whereas the longing gaze Jennifer Nettles gave the camera seemed as though she was going to pull the man she was pining for right out of American living rooms, through the TV set, and onto that stage with her. With the believability of her performance, there has to be some willing candidates out there.
The rest of the main stage performers that filled a whopping three hour show included Trace Adkins’ moving tribute to soldiers of all conflicts, introduced by an elongated standing ovation for a wounded Lt. Marine; David Copperfield making Taylor Swift magically appear for her piano-based tune; Miley Cyrus’ stark white performance of “The Climb” (the Luxor called, and they want their inclinator back); the debut performance of hostess Reba McEntire’s new song; and the opening medley of hits. Kenny Chesney, Heidi Newfield, Toby Keith, George Strait, Lee Ann Womack, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, and Rascal Flatts also performed. The winners are:
Entertainer of the Year
· Carrie Underwood
Top Male Vocalist
· Brad Paisley
Top Female Vocalist
· Carrie Underwood
Top Vocal Group
· Rascal Flatts
Top Vocal Duo
· Sugarland
Top New Male Artist
· Julianne Hough
Single Record of the Year
· “You're Gonna Miss This” Trace Adkins
Song of the Year
· “In Color” Jamey Johnson
After the awards, Clint Black stepped up to be project manager on last night’s Celebrity Apprentice. Was he trying to get fired? Stepping up to be the leader really brought out the assertiveness in Clint and he barely let his team contribute to the project. The task was to create a sixty-second viral internet video for laundry detergent. Clint had a risqué idea for his team’s video, and he persisted to run his agenda with little input or help from the team. At first, they were all on board because they felt the innuendo was funny, but after meeting with product representatives, the girls on the now-mixed KOTU team had second thoughts. Clint insisted and near single-handedly ran the project. Team Athena, meanwhile, was trying to be funny by having little people dressed in product-themed costumes scrubbing down Jesse James. It worked up to the point that the little people started using inappropriate language related to the product. In the end, the product representatives hated both videos. Neither hit the demographic they were aiming for. So with no clear-cut winner, The Donald announced that he would be firing two people. Knowing they were in trouble, Clint and Athena project manager Melissa Rivers each brought two seemingly low-risk team members into the boardroom. It backfired on each. Having done an excellent job with leadership in each case, The Donald was hesitant to fire the project managers because they did produce respectively creative ideas that just didn’t happen to fit the company. Instead, he chose to fire Tionne from Athena based solely on the fact that she volunteered for execution, and he fired Chloe from KOTU because he lost respect for her when he learned she had a DWI. Trump said that he never would have asked her on the show had he known that in advance. Trump did however offer to make the prize donation of the week to Chloe’s anti-drug/drinking charity, so they wouldn’t suffer because of her mistakes. After all, neither Clint or Melissa’s charities were going to get the money, so Trump had to spend it somewhere. Next week: possible merge?
Tomorrow, Rascal Flatts' Unstoppable hits streets. In addition to the current single, “Here Comes Goodbye,” you’ll get another highly recommended song, “Forever.” Perhaps The Great Country Blog is sniffin’ out future singles. Look for Gary, Jay, and Joe Don promoting their 6th studio album on NBC’s Today Show tomorrow (4/7), followed by appearances on the The Ellen DeGeneres Show on April 13th and the Late Show with David Letterman on April 16th. Also look for the Flatts’ cameo in the Hannah Montana movie on Friday as well as music on the soundtrack.
the small stage set in the midst of the crowd produced some of the best performances of the night: Montgomery Gentry and Lady Antebellum rocked the small stage. Did anyone else notice how much Charles Kelley resembles a younger Ronnie Dunn? Jamey Johnson re-created the “In Color” video by setting his stool on a bed of photographs. The producer’s use of black and white and color saturation effects was grossly predictable. John Rich was seemingly looking for reaction when he changed a couple of key words in “Shuttin’ Detroit Down.” It kind of worked. And was Blake Shelton just filling time with only a partial song? It’s interesting that none of the Top New Artist nominees performed.
On the main stage, Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Nettles may just have to throw down in a pool of Jell-O to decide the title of best performance of the night. Carrie proved why she won Female Vocalist of the Year, but the beautifully enormous dress was almost distracting from the song because it let the mind wander with questions. How did she get into that thing? How many assistants does it take to carry the train? And was the train really attached to the draperies? In any case, 
Carrie’s petite framed poking out of the girth of the dress resembled a Barbie Doll perched on top of a molded cake. Whereas the longing gaze Jennifer Nettles gave the camera seemed as though she was going to pull the man she was pining for right out of American living rooms, through the TV set, and onto that stage with her. With the believability of her performance, there has to be some willing candidates out there.The rest of the main stage performers that filled a whopping three hour show included Trace Adkins’ moving tribute to soldiers of all conflicts, introduced by an elongated standing ovation for a wounded Lt. Marine; David Copperfield making Taylor Swift magically appear for her piano-based tune; Miley Cyrus’ stark white performance of “The Climb” (the Luxor called, and they want their inclinator back); the debut performance of hostess Reba McEntire’s new song; and the opening medley of hits. Kenny Chesney, Heidi Newfield, Toby Keith, George Strait, Lee Ann Womack, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, and Rascal Flatts also performed. The winners are:
Entertainer of the Year
· Carrie Underwood
Top Male Vocalist
· Brad Paisley
Top Female Vocalist
· Carrie Underwood
Top Vocal Group
· Rascal Flatts
Top Vocal Duo
· Sugarland
Top New Male Artist
· Julianne Hough
Single Record of the Year
· “You're Gonna Miss This” Trace Adkins
Song of the Year
· “In Color” Jamey Johnson
After the awards, Clint Black stepped up to be project manager on last night’s Celebrity Apprentice. Was he trying to get fired? Stepping up to be the leader really brought out the assertiveness in Clint and he barely let his team contribute to the project. The task was to create a sixty-second viral internet video for laundry detergent. Clint had a risqué idea for his team’s video, and he persisted to run his agenda with little input or help from the team. At first, they were all on board because they felt the innuendo was funny, but after meeting with product representatives, the girls on the now-mixed KOTU team had second thoughts. Clint insisted and near single-handedly ran the project. Team Athena, meanwhile, was trying to be funny by having little people dressed in product-themed costumes scrubbing down Jesse James. It worked up to the point that the little people started using inappropriate language related to the product. In the end, the product representatives hated both videos. Neither hit the demographic they were aiming for. So with no clear-cut winner, The Donald announced that he would be firing two people. Knowing they were in trouble, Clint and Athena project manager Melissa Rivers each brought two seemingly low-risk team members into the boardroom. It backfired on each. Having done an excellent job with leadership in each case, The Donald was hesitant to fire the project managers because they did produce respectively creative ideas that just didn’t happen to fit the company. Instead, he chose to fire Tionne from Athena based solely on the fact that she volunteered for execution, and he fired Chloe from KOTU because he lost respect for her when he learned she had a DWI. Trump said that he never would have asked her on the show had he known that in advance. Trump did however offer to make the prize donation of the week to Chloe’s anti-drug/drinking charity, so they wouldn’t suffer because of her mistakes. After all, neither Clint or Melissa’s charities were going to get the money, so Trump had to spend it somewhere. Next week: possible merge?
Tomorrow, Rascal Flatts' Unstoppable hits streets. In addition to the current single, “Here Comes Goodbye,” you’ll get another highly recommended song, “Forever.” Perhaps The Great Country Blog is sniffin’ out future singles. Look for Gary, Jay, and Joe Don promoting their 6th studio album on NBC’s Today Show tomorrow (4/7), followed by appearances on the The Ellen DeGeneres Show on April 13th and the Late Show with David Letterman on April 16th. Also look for the Flatts’ cameo in the Hannah Montana movie on Friday as well as music on the soundtrack.
1 comment:
Enjoyed the award show. Have to strongly disagree on Montgomery Gentry -- worst performance of the night and in fact had to change the channel. How in the world did they ever get a record deal?? Alan Jackson should have been up there performing instead of them.
Trace's performance was great and very touching!!! LOVED the opening!
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