1. Bring Vince back!!!
2. Don’t have performers like Kid Rock on a Country award show.
3. Narrow the catagories down so there can be more performances
4. Televise the Hall of Fame Inductions – after all those who are inducted are te pioneers of “our” music.

No, Gloria. I said:

“On the sound issue, the thing that bugged me mightily about the whole slate of performances is that most if not all the performers were performing to instrumental tracks, such that the only thing live about the performances were the name artist’s vocals and, if applicable, the name artist’s instrumental.”

No one was lipsynching at the CMAs. No name artist who played an instrument (like Keith) was miming. But as far as I can tell, only the name artists’ voices and instruments were live for the CMA performances. They were singing live to pre-recorded instrumental tracks. And that’s a shame because a lot of these acts (like Keith) have fantastic bands who lend additional character to the live performances.

I would also love to see past winners as the presenters for the category they won in. I think one award show did that before (don’t remember which one, maybe the ACMs or CMAs) and I thought it was a brilliant idea, sort of like “passing the torch” to the next winner.

I would like to see only nominees perform too but after awhile, I think only the same people will perform every year.

On the sound issue, the thing that bugged me mightily about the whole slate of performances is that most if not all the performers were performing to instrumental tracks, such that the only thing live about the performances were the name artist’s vocals and, if applicable, the name artist’s instrumental.

Having seen Keith Urban’s very tight band in live action (for example), it was really disorienting to hear Keith singing “Sweet Thing” to a track while his band was up there on stage. I wanted to hear his band! Moreover, a significant portion of the appeal of any artist’s live performance, especially a master stage performer like Keith, is the opportunity for spontaneity, for adjustments in the moment and the chance to hear a somewhat different take on a song. Using a studio track tethers the artist to the original version of the song.

My impression is that both the ACMs and CMAs have decided to deal with the prospect of glitches in trying to hook up different bands and the repeated complaints about sound by having acts go up and perform to tracks. Sometimes, these are tracks that get recorded in rehearsal, but on the CMAs this year, the tracks that I noticed were directly from the studio versions of the songs.

Frankly, if plugging in a series of live bands and producing decent sound mixes from each of them is such a problem for the pros who do the ACMs and the CMAs, I would much rather see the awards shows rely on acoustic performances. The better to actually hear the artists, you know? It would make for more interesting performances, I think.

And moving the show back to the Opry House would be fine by me, too.

What makes country music special is its respect for its long and deep history. The CMA Awards haven’t been the same since the Hall of Fame inductees were marginalized. If you’ve given your life to country music and made it all the richer for it, you deserve to be recognized for it. Cindy Walker’s induction is proof that the best moments of the show’s history can come during the Hall of Fame segment. It’s a travesty that Ralph Emery, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Tom T. Hall, The Statler Brothers and Mel Tillis were denied the tributes that they deserved.

I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. After all, when folks like these are no longer with us, the question that George Jones asked before in song is going to arise: “Who’s gonna fill their shoes?”

If country music doesn’t remember its own rich history, it may very well not have much of a future (IMHO).

I always said that they should have an Im Memorium reel as it shows respect for the country legends who passed. Great idea.

— A Songwriters award would be perfect for people like Taylor Swift as she is not a vocalist, and should not be ever nominated in that category again. If there is a songwriter award- she can fight for that and if she wins, most people would be happy for her. But most people are not loving the fact that she was nominated as a vocalist, with her very limited vocal ability.

– A Live Performance category is great. They can give this to Kenny every year for biggest tour for all I care, but leave Entertainer of the YEar for someone with the all around package— vocals, live performances, tour, album sales, radio success, etc.

This would open the category to deserving people like Martina and Carrie Underwood who have successful tours but not of the scale of Kenny…