Skip to main content

My CMA Picks: Female Vocalist of the Year

The nominees:
Kelly Clarkson
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

My pick: Carrie Underwood. This was a pretty easy choice for me, for a number of reasons. But before I go into those, let me talk about the other nominees.

Kelly Clarkson. She's a great singer, but I don't understand why she got nominated in this category. Yes, her duet with Jason Aldean was a huge song for both of them. Sure, she released a country version of a song that had already been a single on pop radio. And yeah, she's good friends with Reba McEntire. But none of that makes her a country singer. Her inclusion in this category makes absolutely no sense. If she ever does a fully country album and starts releasing country songs to radio - and country remixes don't count - than I would have no problems with her being nominated for country awards. She could do well in country music, but she needs to fully commit to a project instead of just flirting with the genre. 

Miranda Lambert. As the reigning female vocalist of the year, Miranda certainly can't be counted out. She's had a pretty good year this year and to say she has a good chance of winning again would be an understatement. I don't have much else to say about her honestly.

Martina McBride. Without question one of the best singers in music today. All music; not just country. The way I see it, her voice is so good that she'd deserve a nomination every year that she continues to make music. But I just don't see her winning this. Not this year anyway. Not when some of the other nominees have had the years they've had.

Taylor Swift. Her Speak Now tour was huge and her new album, Red, is coming out this month. There's been a lot of buzz about her lately, though that's not exactly a new thing. Taylor probably has a decent chance of winning. I'm not sure that her new single "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" is going to help her out much. Because though there is a so-called country remix, it's a pop song. I'd also say that while she definitely seems to grow as a vocalist with each passing year, she's still the weakest vocalist in this category. But again, you never know. She might take this one home.

And then there's Carrie.


What can I say about Carrie? Well, for starters, her latest album Blown Away was recently certified platinum. Considering that it just came out in May, I'd say that's pretty impressive. The song "Blown Away" has become her 16th top 10 single and as I'm writing this is sitting at #2. Her Blown Away tour, which began in mid-September, seems to be off to a good start and I've been hearing and reading all sorts of rave reviews about it. Carrie may have stayed out of the spotlight before Blown Away was released, but as all of the above proves, she's back. And she's back in a big way.

Vocally speaking, she's one of the best singers in music today. She's singing better than she ever has and is making the best music of her career to date. Out of all of the nominees most recent albums, Blown Away is my personal favorite. My instinct tells me that this award is hers to lose. Sure, it could easily go to either Miranda or Taylor. And maybe they'll decide to throw a major curve ball and give it to Kelly Clarkson. But I just don't see that happening.

So yeah, I'm going with Carrie.






Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Song review: Water Tower Town by Scotty McCreery

I have an odd relationship, or whatever you want to call it, with American Idol. I was interested when I heard about it and watched the first three seasons, got annoyed with the third season and didn't watch the next only to start watching again during the fifth season. I loved the show during its sixth and seventh season, but started getting annoyed with it in the eighth. Sometime between then and now I've gone from being annoyed with it to now hating it as I see it for what it really is. I could go into more detail about that, but I won't. At least not here; maybe at another time. I'm sure many of you are wondering why I'm bothering to bring it up in the first place. Well, it's because I decided to do a review of "Water Tower Town" by the current American Idol for my next song review. Now, if you're a fan of American Idol, you might not like what I'm going to say next, but I ask that you stay with me because it'll end up being importa...

Song Review: Tip it On Back by Dierks Bentley

Before I get to my review, I want to give a shout-out to the Dierks Bentley Congress aka the @dbcongress. They are members of the Dierks Bentley fan club dedicated to supporting and promoting Dierks any and every way possible. They have a blog page,  found here , which includes links to their Facebook page and twitter account that you'll find to the right when you click on the link. If you're a Dierks Bentley fan and aren't following them, you really should be. They're pretty much my go for anything Dierks related - articles, interviews and so on. They also keep everyone updated on where his songs are on the charts and post all sorts of links to places to request or vote for his songs. Well worth the follow, I assure you. Last month they had the opportunity to interview the three gentlemen who wrote "Tip It On Back" - Ross Copperman, Tully Kennedy and Jon Nite. I strongly recommend that you go and read it as it's a very enjoyable read. You can find it  h...

Album review: Christmas with Scotty McCreery by Scotty McCreery

First things first, I'm wishing everyone who celebrates a happy Hanukkah! Perhaps that's a strange way to kick off a review of a Christmas album, but it wouldn't have felt right not to include it. And really, when you really think and learn about what each holiday is about you see that in a way the first Hanukkah is one of the things that made Christmas possible. So once again, happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate. Those of you who have read my album reviews know this, but the way I do album reviews is to give my overall opinion and then look at each song individually after the cut. Which means that album review posts can get pretty long. Just a warning. This album came out back in October, but I never listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. Hence why there hasn't been a review until now. So what do I think? I think that releasing Christmas albums can be a little risky. The majority of these songs are so well known and loved already. They've been recorded ...