THE CMA'S..... IF THEY CAN MAKE IT THERE!
BY DAN MILLER
(originally posted October 5, 2004)
So they're moving the CMA Awards Show to New York City for one year. What does that say about Nashville, the home of country music?
I've never understood why a nationwide telecast originating in New York would have any more exposure than a nationwide telecast originating in Nashville. The same affiliated stations carry the show, at the same time. Are Americans more apt to watch a show simply because it's being staged in New York? I can't imagine why.
And most of the seats in New York will be filled with the same music folks who'd be filling the seats here in Nashville. So what's the difference?
And if it's being done just to expose the people of New York to the pleasures of country music, I can think of some other things that should be moved as well.
Why not move the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival to New York? And perhaps the Mardi Gras as well. I don't think New Yorkers are exposed to enough jazz. And New Orleans is a smaller TV market than even Nashville.
And how about moving the Nashville Independent Film Festival to Los Angeles? We'd get better exposure with "the right people" out there.
Even the Cannes Film Festival. Nobody wants to travel all the way to France. Move it to somewhere like Austin, Texas for a year or two.
And the Master's Tournament, played down in little 'ol Augusta, Georgia. That's a fairly small TV market..... let's move that tournament to Atlanta.
The Talladega 500.... that place is much too small for such a big event. They should move that race to Detroit for a year or two..... after all, Detroit's the Motor City.
Maybe they could run the Kentucky Derby up in Chicago for a year or two....
And why not bring Charleston's Spoleto Festival here to Nashville? We would all like to learn more about spoletos.... I love them.... I order them all the time with sour cream and chives.
Oh well.... next thing you know they'll be moving London Bridge to Lake Havasu City, Arizona!
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