Dear ACMs,

(and other Country Award shows)

According to Country Aircheck, the ACMs have opted out of the eight nominees for the category “Entertainer Of The Year” because they “felt that, on TV, it got to be too cumbersome. It took a long time in the monologue to address eight artists and required more time when the category was mentioned during the show.”

I understand that your show has time constraints. After all, it’s admittedly difficult to run a three hour long broadcast and not exceed times, especially when you cannot account for the emotional reactions that could be exhibited on stage. But do time constraints mean that you do not honor one of your most deserving artists?

I understand that this particular artist, Carrie Underwood, does not really feel the need for all the awards she’s been getting. She’s been having consistent sales, chart topping singles and, the least you could say, a devoted fan-base that will never accept see injustice happen to her. And this is precisely what this post is about.

As a follow-up to my heavily viewed previous post about a possible reason for the snub, which can be viewed here, I have been asked by many people to provide links and proof to my claims. And here it goes.

For those who doubted the critical-acclaim Carrie Underwood’s Play On Tour has gotten, these are a few excerpts from the many glowing reviews that her sold-out shows have received.

The Oakland Tribune:

More musical mediocrity has been spawned by TV’s “American Idol” than from any other single entity in history.
The biggest exception continues to be Carrie Underwood, the 2005 “A.I.” champ that has totaled 10 No. 1 country singles, three platinum-plus-selling albums and numerous music awards during her relatively short career.
Her one weakness has traditionally been her live show, but now that has become a strength as well.

The Orange County Register:

It usually takes a mighty big voice to fill a big place like the Hollywood Bowl, but Carrie Underwood was definitely up to the task: the third American Idol champ and her band, accompanied by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, made a highly satisfying debut at the famous venue Saturday night.

AZ Central:

The sounds of fireworks that kicked off Carrie Underwood’s Play On Tour at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale Sunday, Oct. 3, held the promise of a night filled with interesting sets, sparkling costumes and larger-than-life vocal acrobatics. And the show delivered all

Kansas City:

With no apologies to Taylor Swift, we can now crown Carrie Underwood the reigning queen of country music.
She can also claim the title of the most successful “American Idol” contestant ever.
Saturday night, Underwood headlines a sold-out show at the Sprint Center. Yes, she is sold-out-arena caliber these days, and not just in places close to her Oklahoma hometown, like Kansas City. Earlier this month, she sold out the Hollywood Bowl, where more than 17,000 fans came to see her.

CMT:

Without a hitch — or a drop of sweat or a hair out of place — Underwood brought Music City two hours of dynamic set and wardrobe changes to her performance. Throughout the entire evening, she managed to tastefully and effectively intertwine love, lust, nostalgia and vengeance along with a passionate dose of spirituality.

This is only but a fragment of the accolades Carrie has gotten for her Play On Tour. And as this fragment clearly illustrates, the tour was a resounding success. She goes over the crowds on a blue truck… if that’s not enough for an award, what is?

Now I won’t compare these reviews with those of other nominated Country starts, but I will ask this: how could a tour of this magnitude, having played for over 1 million fans across the United States and Canada not have the artist responsible nominated for it?

After all, isn’t the award “Entertainer Of The Year” supposed to be given those who have showed excellence in the field of entertainment?

And if concerts aren’t enough for the ACMs (and other Country Award shows for that matter), Carrie has even tried her hand at some acting.

Her debut movie, Soul Surfer, comes out this April. It’s a movie about the power of faith and love. This artist decides to break into Hollywood and the first movie she decides to undertake is not one of those commercial blockbuster flicks that are sure to bring her buzz, but a subtle role in a movie about the healing power of faith… isn’t that what country music preaches? Belief in God, in yourself and in others?

Moreover, Carrie’s “Play On” album has been recently certified 2x Platinum. Out of all the current Entertainer Of The Year nominees, only Taylor Swift has surpassed Carrie’s sales. But Taylor isn’t even a cornerstone for comparison: she has outsold everyone in the music industry today, which makes Carrie’s total even more remarkable.

In addition, Carrie has shown remarkable faithfulness to the country genre, having refused to remix all of her songs to cater to other radio formats. Even her smash hit “Before He Cheats” was not remixed, which goes to show how much this artist really cares about the overall improvement of her genre, not some passing moment of multi-platform success. Of course, we, the fans, want to see another Carrie single crossover, and we feel that some of her songs are able to do just that if only the label were to help.

I’ve also come across people saying that Carrie not winning or being nominated is only natural as other female artists have had this happen to them when Carrie came to the country scene. My only reply to them is: those female country artists were not having a fragment of the success Carrie has been having since the moment she set foot in the country music industry. How many of those female artists can boast that they have had a 12 #1 streak on country radio, including an astonishing 6-week run with their debut single? How many of them can boast of having sold over 7 million copies of their debut album and how many of them can say that they are the only female country artists that have won Entertainer of the year twice?

So for all matters and purposes, Carrie was deserving of every award she got. Sure, her label might have helped her a little bit here and there but can you imagine the response had Carrie not won those awards?

Dear ACMs, you shunning out Carrie Underwood is a disgrace. Not only is she the most deserving artist of the bunch, but to give her only one nomination that she will most probably not win is really shameful…

To other Carrie Fans I say, Carrie will always be a winner in our hearts. We might have thought a win this year is a lock, but the politics of country music have proven even more barbaric than allow the most deserving to be recognized. We cannot do anything regarding that except make our voices heard. And this is me making my voice heard. Now it’s time to make yours.

Sincerely,

A disgruntled Country Music fan.