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The 2008 Country Music Association Awards Recap

Last night’s 42nd annual CMA Awards show was both a hit and a miss in my book. Artists like Sugarland and Carrie Underwood demonstrated that they are not only hits on the radio, but hitsduring a live performance as well. Meanwhile, top-grossing artists like Taylor Swift and Jason Aldean show that sometimes all you need is a pretty face and a great marketing machine to back it. Many people are up in arms over the way that the night played out, and what it means for the current state of Nashville and the future of country music.

My favorite country music news source, The 9513, cites

“Country Music’s Biggest Night Wasn’t Country… if you are reading this website now, on the morning after, not because you’re looking for pictures of Kellie Pickler’s boobs but because you love country music, or because you like country music, or even because you have just a passing interest in one of the few contemporary art forms that can be said to be truly and uniquely American, you should feel both insulted and outraged by what you witnessed last night.”

DH Country Music site administrator and Earps guitarist Ump had this to say:

Join the conversation and tell us what YOU thought of last night’s 2008 CMA’s in our country music forum!

LeAnn Rimes confesses that appearing on awards shows isn’t quite as much fun as simply attending.

“It’s nice to have people all in one place,” she tells the New York Daily News, “but if you’re performing or hosting, it gets pretty busy. You’re running around, you’re changing clothes, there’s some tension, you really don’t get to relax and enjoy the show very much. Thank God for TiVo.”

LeAnn will be both a performer and a segment host this Wednesday, when ABC airs the Country Music Association’s “41st Annual CMA Awards” from Nashville at 8 p.m.

But there’s one thing LeAnn says she will definitely enjoy: singing a duet with Reba McEntire. “Reba’s been one of my idols since I was a little girl growing up in Texas,” she says. “Now she’s also a friend, and it’s such a pleasure any time that I get to sing with her.”

LeAnn could find herself on the nomination side of the show next year for her new CD, Family, which consists of songs incorporating a wide range of styles, from country to pop, rock and blues.

“I think as a singer, that’s always been my natural inclination,” she says. “I love country music, that’s my base, but I don’t want to be pigeonholed. Country has definitely gone mainstream. It appeals to people everywhere now, and not just in America. People in other countries love it, too. It’s become an international music.”

~Courtesyof GACTV.com