Here we have the 57th Annual CMA Awards or the long version would be the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards, which means those have been in existence since before the 1960s already. As you can see from my rating, I would say that it is probably more interesting now to watch one of the really old editions than this one here or maybe also the ones from the last few years, but as awards shows or especially music awards shows are having a truly hard time to deliver quality nowadays this one here is, despite the fairly low rating, still better than most other music awards shows. I am especially talking about the Grammys here who have become disastrous in recent years, but that is another story. Let's move away from the comparisons now and just look at the outcome of this one we got here. What stayed memorable, where it struggled the most etc. One key problem is something they always have at music awards shows and this would be an exaggerated amount of music. Maybe it is to some extent personal preference, but if the name is awards show, then it should be about the awards most of all and not include stage performances for two thirds of the show. Maybe it is better this way for the people there listening to live music rather than speeches, but for the audiences at home watching this one on television, it is not. So yeah, I would say that with a little less music, this also would have been totally fine at 100 to 105 minutes rather than over two hours and maybe even the better choice. Or just include all the awards. Again, this is an awards show. It is simply disrespectful to exclude certain categories that are maybe not considered as popular or important as others. Disrespectful not only to the winners, who do not get to give a speech, but also to the other nominees and their hard work, actually even disrespectful really to anybody working in these branches that got excluded. It is almost impossible for me to give a show a positive recommendation as long as stuff like this takes place.
On a more positive note, one of the show's highlights was the hosting. They always got at least one country musician to host and usually pick another co-host, sometimes also two country musicians, so I was a bit skeptical when I saw former American football player Peyton Manning there as co-host, but he did fine and so did Luke Bryan. Actually, Manning even surprised me once with his decent singing, even if it was a short moment, but those two brought a good vibe to the show, seemed humble, respectful towards all the artists and still very chill as a whole. I think they should try to bring them back next year. No need for any Taylor and especially not Swift. But maybe not bring out a baseball player right at the very beginning then to present an award and also get so much praise for his talent from the other guys he was presenting with. This was then still a bit too much sports inclusion. Speaking of the singing, my favorite inclusions there were perhaps Kelsea Ballerini whose song I really liked and Cynthia Erivo who is always a welcome addition from perspective because of how much she thinks outside the box instead of taking the really convenient route like so many others like her do. And man is her voice amazing! The show also had some segments that were prerecorded like one of the hosts paying homage to his former singing teacher and of course there were hundreds other students she had over the years, if not thousands. That was pretty cool, also how they brought her than to the stage where she also got a great amount of applause and clearly she was enjoying it. It would have been an even better addition if they had not felt the need to constantly mention a car manufacturer who probably paid a solid amount of money to be included this way. I will surely not mention the name here, but this kind of advertising has really become an issue with many awards shows by now and it is just not needed. At least, here they did not name any awards after companies. This is really the worst.
If we look at the winners, the love on the men's side got shared this time: Brothers Osborne, Luke Combs and Chris Stapleton won key categories there and these folks have been around for years really and we will probably hear from them again during most of the next editions until 2030 at least. Maybe longer. Those names also include dominators from previous CMA Awards, but the one who won the biggest in 2023 was female singer Lainey Wilson. I cannot say how much I like her or appreciate her because I am not really familiar with any of her music, but I found it interesting that she won so big because I think she is not one who has been there for years or decades even. We will see if her star keeps glowing or happens to fade fast. Repeating what she did here on 8th November will be a difficult challenge though, if not an impossible one. She took home Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year plus Music Video of the Year and Musical Event of the Year. She did lose a few categories too, but in some of those it was only because she won for another nominations. Also scored the most nominations I think and I remember reading from briefly before the event that people considered her the frontrunner for most wins. Which happened then. We will see if this is going to happen too at the Grammys or how much of an impact she can have there.
One person who was not nominated this year is Keith Urban, but he was still around as always with his partner Nicole Kidman and also presented one big award. To Wilson. He will be back on the list of nominees I am sure. As I said, it is mostly the same names with not too many new additions each year here. Not comparable to the Grammys. But it's okay. This means this CMA show is not as fast-lived, even if there are surely country musicians out there who are not getting the coverage and praise they deserve. But let's not get into detail there now. Most of the fellas you saw this night two weeks ago are respectable artists. I already mentioned two female performers whose singing I liked or actually three performers if we count Manning too, but I also wanna mention a song from the very start of the show that was about God. While I did not think the singing there was great or that it was a super catchy number, I must say it is nice that songs like this are included here. Many other awards shows would probably have preferred to leave them out or especially not throw them at liberal audiences at the very start of the show. Country is still conservative for the most part I assume. Plus another contender for my favorite music number of the show was a tribute to the late Jimmy Buffett and what can I say. "Margaritaville" deserves all the praise coming its way and I already thought so before hearing the song during the 2023 CMA Awards, so well done to everybody who contributed there and may Buffett rest in peace. Best moment of the show perhaps. This is how you honor the fallen. Many awards shows can learn from that for sure. Well done.
Okay, now I mentioned quite a few positive aspects here from the evening, but still I must say that several music numbers were just downright mediocre. There probably wasn't one that was really poor, but this show being better than most other music awards shows from recent years is really only because the latter were really bad and this one here was just forgettable for the most part. Despite the occasional highs I already mentioned. There was definitely some dragging going on here and yes simply too much music. It was too much of a concert show. But I mentioned already that a shorter running time would not have hurt the outcome at all. Before I keep repeating myself any further, I shall end the review now, but not without saying that while Wilson was the big winner that night, maybe as many people were talking about Tracy Chapman, who managed to beat Wilson her category, despite her not even being present to give a speech (herself). I think this is a good trend. If there is one thing this show needs, then it is that it should be featuring artists from past decades and not just those who dominated the industry in the 21st century. Country music has so much tradition, the 57 in the title says it all, and there's really more than enough folks who should not be forgotten. Bring those back for the shows in the next years. Then I will also not complain if the makers will be crossing the 120-minute barrier once again. Plus commercials that is, so maybe 150 minutes including commercials. Which is a lot. Really a lot. That is all from me now. This 2023 edition of the CMA Awards gets a thumbs-down from me overall.
On a more positive note, one of the show's highlights was the hosting. They always got at least one country musician to host and usually pick another co-host, sometimes also two country musicians, so I was a bit skeptical when I saw former American football player Peyton Manning there as co-host, but he did fine and so did Luke Bryan. Actually, Manning even surprised me once with his decent singing, even if it was a short moment, but those two brought a good vibe to the show, seemed humble, respectful towards all the artists and still very chill as a whole. I think they should try to bring them back next year. No need for any Taylor and especially not Swift. But maybe not bring out a baseball player right at the very beginning then to present an award and also get so much praise for his talent from the other guys he was presenting with. This was then still a bit too much sports inclusion. Speaking of the singing, my favorite inclusions there were perhaps Kelsea Ballerini whose song I really liked and Cynthia Erivo who is always a welcome addition from perspective because of how much she thinks outside the box instead of taking the really convenient route like so many others like her do. And man is her voice amazing! The show also had some segments that were prerecorded like one of the hosts paying homage to his former singing teacher and of course there were hundreds other students she had over the years, if not thousands. That was pretty cool, also how they brought her than to the stage where she also got a great amount of applause and clearly she was enjoying it. It would have been an even better addition if they had not felt the need to constantly mention a car manufacturer who probably paid a solid amount of money to be included this way. I will surely not mention the name here, but this kind of advertising has really become an issue with many awards shows by now and it is just not needed. At least, here they did not name any awards after companies. This is really the worst.
If we look at the winners, the love on the men's side got shared this time: Brothers Osborne, Luke Combs and Chris Stapleton won key categories there and these folks have been around for years really and we will probably hear from them again during most of the next editions until 2030 at least. Maybe longer. Those names also include dominators from previous CMA Awards, but the one who won the biggest in 2023 was female singer Lainey Wilson. I cannot say how much I like her or appreciate her because I am not really familiar with any of her music, but I found it interesting that she won so big because I think she is not one who has been there for years or decades even. We will see if her star keeps glowing or happens to fade fast. Repeating what she did here on 8th November will be a difficult challenge though, if not an impossible one. She took home Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year plus Music Video of the Year and Musical Event of the Year. She did lose a few categories too, but in some of those it was only because she won for another nominations. Also scored the most nominations I think and I remember reading from briefly before the event that people considered her the frontrunner for most wins. Which happened then. We will see if this is going to happen too at the Grammys or how much of an impact she can have there.
One person who was not nominated this year is Keith Urban, but he was still around as always with his partner Nicole Kidman and also presented one big award. To Wilson. He will be back on the list of nominees I am sure. As I said, it is mostly the same names with not too many new additions each year here. Not comparable to the Grammys. But it's okay. This means this CMA show is not as fast-lived, even if there are surely country musicians out there who are not getting the coverage and praise they deserve. But let's not get into detail there now. Most of the fellas you saw this night two weeks ago are respectable artists. I already mentioned two female performers whose singing I liked or actually three performers if we count Manning too, but I also wanna mention a song from the very start of the show that was about God. While I did not think the singing there was great or that it was a super catchy number, I must say it is nice that songs like this are included here. Many other awards shows would probably have preferred to leave them out or especially not throw them at liberal audiences at the very start of the show. Country is still conservative for the most part I assume. Plus another contender for my favorite music number of the show was a tribute to the late Jimmy Buffett and what can I say. "Margaritaville" deserves all the praise coming its way and I already thought so before hearing the song during the 2023 CMA Awards, so well done to everybody who contributed there and may Buffett rest in peace. Best moment of the show perhaps. This is how you honor the fallen. Many awards shows can learn from that for sure. Well done.
Okay, now I mentioned quite a few positive aspects here from the evening, but still I must say that several music numbers were just downright mediocre. There probably wasn't one that was really poor, but this show being better than most other music awards shows from recent years is really only because the latter were really bad and this one here was just forgettable for the most part. Despite the occasional highs I already mentioned. There was definitely some dragging going on here and yes simply too much music. It was too much of a concert show. But I mentioned already that a shorter running time would not have hurt the outcome at all. Before I keep repeating myself any further, I shall end the review now, but not without saying that while Wilson was the big winner that night, maybe as many people were talking about Tracy Chapman, who managed to beat Wilson her category, despite her not even being present to give a speech (herself). I think this is a good trend. If there is one thing this show needs, then it is that it should be featuring artists from past decades and not just those who dominated the industry in the 21st century. Country music has so much tradition, the 57 in the title says it all, and there's really more than enough folks who should not be forgotten. Bring those back for the shows in the next years. Then I will also not complain if the makers will be crossing the 120-minute barrier once again. Plus commercials that is, so maybe 150 minutes including commercials. Which is a lot. Really a lot. That is all from me now. This 2023 edition of the CMA Awards gets a thumbs-down from me overall.
