Comments on: Single Review: Taylor Swift, “Mine”

By: Zack

Zack — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 00:20:13 +0000

(again, not to berrate Swift’s deserving EOTY win).

By: Zack

Zack — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 00:19:46 +0000

Plus, you might consider that the CMAs might’ve been looking for an alternative to Chesney.

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 23:41:47 +0000

I didn’t mean it like that. It’s kind of one of those things that makes more sense in my head than it does in writing.

I was just using the sympathy factor in Swift’s case.

Basically, in my humble opinion, part of the reason Swift received the EOTY so early in her career (even including her monster year) is because of the VMA scandal. If that hadn’t happened, I don’t think they would’ve given her the EOTY. They would’ve handed it to Mr. Chesney again. If their intentions on the EOTY is to give the trophy to the artist they believe truly deserved it, then like I said, Underwood would have that award on lockdown come November.

ZBB and Lady A certainly didn’t earn their nods this year via sympathy, but I don’t think they deserved the nods because they haven’t reached the expectations (that are virtually transparent now, seeing as the CMAs have ignored their own requirements this year in the ballot) that the association has set up.

By: Leeann Ward

Leeann Ward — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 23:17:13 +0000

How would giving nominations to Zac Brown Band and Lady A be sympathy awards? I think there's a difference between undeserving and sympathy.

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 21:10:06 +0000

“Giving Taylor awards just to make her feel better? I wouldn’t think that the CMAs would stoop that low. I think it was mostly Taylor’s incredibly strong industry presence during 2009 that contributed to her massive CMA sweep.”

Her 2009 presence was partial to the wins. If the CMAs are giving the Entertainer of the Year awards out to the people who were in the forefront of everyone else throughout the year, and their incredible domination of the music industry, then Carrie Underwood would’ve already won the EOTY this year.

Seeing as that won’t even happen, I’m willing to bank that a part of Swift’s sweep at the CMAs was due to the VMA scandal. If the CMAs don’t hand out sympathy awards and give the trophies out solely to the deserving winner, Zac Brown Band and Lady Antebellum wouldn’t even have a nomination for the big category this year.

By: Zack

Zack — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:45:14 +0000

I share the same viewpoint as you, Ben. I want her to succeed too, and to learn to work with the voice she has, as well.

By: Ben Foster

Ben Foster — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:31:08 +0000

Maybe I should clarify that I’m not getting all up in arms over Taylor’s success, and I will admit that my opinion of her does tend to vary greatly depending on what mood I’m in (a fact often reflected in my comments on certain threads).

I do generally consider Taylor to be a decent songwriter. I know some people dislike her because her vocals grate on their ears, which is understandable, but I do think it’s a bit unfair to dismiss her lyrics on the basis that they’re mostly written for young people. I’m curious to see how much she can grow as a songwriter, and if she can get a good vocal coach, and learn to work with the voice she has, that would be great.

By: Zack

Zack — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 17:29:46 +0000

Ben– I do not berrate Swift of her success in 2009, I personally like listening to some of her songs; and I do believe she won EOTY fair and square, regardless of whether or not it was too soon, but I think it would’ve happened anyways.

I understand how you feel, I was frustrated year after year of watching Sara Evans lose, even at her peak!!

However, I am saying that we need to consider the factors surrounding the year, and that was one situation we can’t avoid. I’m not saying the CMAs didn’t reward her because of that, and I’m not saying they did… we just don’t know what they are thinking when they vote. [and I'm not saying it was just the CMAs, the nominations and wins at the GRAMMYs also might've been because of that, who knows].

Swift is a great songwriter for her age and age group, but hopefully as she gets older she’ll be able to transition more easyily to older material. I just think it’s probably harder for mature adults to wrap their minds around the fact that Swift is a good songwriter [even though they think that], due to her current material.

By: Observer

Observer — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 05:41:56 +0000

I’d like to clarify my earlier statement about what a bad year 2009 was for Country-pop music. What made it a bad one for me was that one person so thoroughly dominated the awards given. For all of the awards given to that one person, other artists were denied. That injustice can never be corrected.
I did not mean to say that there were too few good songs and CD’s produced in 2009. On the contrary, I’m satisfied that there were plenty, and probably too many for me to ever hear. I’ve been building a collection of my favorite Country-pop songs for a few years now and, although I haven’t worked out all the numbers, if I can add about 10 songs to that collection in a year, then it’s a good year. I think 2009 easily met that criterion. So far, I’m very pleased with the way that 2010 has been developing.

By: Ben Foster

Ben Foster — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 02:52:32 +0000

Giving Taylor awards just to make her feel better? I wouldn’t think that the CMAs would stoop that low. I think it was mostly Taylor’s incredibly strong industry presence during 2009 that contributed to her massive CMA sweep.

While I do tend to like Taylor’s music more than I would care to admit, I am still irritated when I think of all the great female singers who were far superior to Taylor, but never achieved the same high accolades. There’s Trisha Yearwood, Pam Tillis, Patty Loveless, Sara Evans, Kathy Mattea… the list goes on and on.