Roots, Toots n' Hoots Blog

Had enough of awards shows?

Jeffrey Remz  |  November 22, 2010

Is anyone getting tired of awards shows yet? Well probably not the record labels because the shows all help to build CD sales, such as they are these days.

The American Music Awards, created by Dick Clark in 1973, were at it again Sunday. Clark is no longer involved, but he started the AMAs to rival the Grammys. That did not happen, but the awards continue.

Four country awards were handed out: Brad Paisley for Favorite Male Artist; Taylor Swift on the female side, Lady Antebellum - Favorite Band Duo or Group and Carrie Underwood as Favorite Album for "Play On."

Lady A received five nominations, but lost for T-Mobile Breakthrough Artist to Justin Bieber, the big winner of the night and to The Black Eyed Peas for Favorite Band, Duo or Group.

I wouldn't worry too much about these awards.

Nominees were selected from BigChampagne's Ultimate Chart, a ranked list of the most popular artists and songs based on a weighted combination of music sales, radio and TV broadcast, internet streaming and video viewing, and incorporating additional online metrics, including activity on social networks.

Got it (NOT!).

The main problem is the credibility of these nominations. I mean Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan go up against Brad Paisley for Favorite Male Artist? What about Kenny Chesney and George Strait among others? I can't argue too much about the female nominees (Swift won over Miranda Lambert and Underwood) or favorite band for that matter (Lady A won over ZBB and Rascal Flatts). However, that did mean no nomination for Sugarland or Brooks & Dunn.

But "Wide Open" by Aldean for favorite album? I could understand "Need You Now" from Lady A and "Play On" from Underwood. The former did really well sales -wise, although it definitely could have been a stronger album when it came to music quality. There were a lot of other albums that could have made the list, but somehow did not. ("Twang" from Strait for starters)

Part of the problem is that only three nominations were available in each category.

I will be honest. I did not watch one second of these awards. After the CMAs, enough was enough. It's fine if you did watch, of course, but just know that all of these awards shows have their limitations. In this case, they were pretty big.

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