What Were They Thinking?

As a fan of both kinds of music, Country and Western, last night’s CMAs were a huge bust.

The quickest way to kill your longevity in Country Music is to begin the cross-over into Pop music; which is what happened as the CMAs were moved from Nashville to New York City.

Oh, it was a miserable show, reaching a crescendo as Dolly Parton and Elton John sang a duet; John Lennon’s classic Imagine. Certain songs should never, ever, be covered. Imagine is one of those songs.

The performances looked like skits pulled from Saturday Night Live; first, we’ll pair Dolly with Elton, they can wear each other’s clothes. Then, we’ll get New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano to say something patriotic. Oh, and then, let’s give the gazillionaire New York Mayor national exposure to show-off Times Square (some guy named Garth is grandstanding there).

Why stop with Pop Music, Mr. Network Execs? Why not reach for the young, African-American gangsta audience? We’ll introduce three white be-yotches, Faith Hill, Martina McBride and Gretchen Wilson with 50-cent, Snoop D-O-Double G, and Eminem. The song; Black-Eyed Peas, My Hump (with Lady Lumps).

C’mon, if country fans wanted their music diluted, Kenny Rogers would still be on the charts with those sugar-coated Lionel Ritchie songs. Get back to Nashville. Give us real C&W fans more of George Strait and Allan Jackson and less of Nora Jones and Bon Jovi.