Swift w/ her Band as she won Entertainer of the Year.
Winning is sweet. What’s even sweeter is karma. A few weeks ago, when the now infamous, Taylor Swift versus Kanye West incident happened at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, who could have ever guessed that an entire industry of people would get behind one person and defend her on national television?
Well, that’s what happened in a series of jokes and mock re-creations of the infamous moment at the 2009 Country Music Awards on November 11, 2009.
As I blogged about earlier this week, Taylor Swift’s brand of “Taylor Swift the Musician” is doing mighty fine. The CMA Awards on November 11, 2009 were just another testament to that, some clever marketing and a little karma.
If you weren’t able to watch the show, allow me to enlighten you on a few tidbits:-
Brad Paisley & Carrie Underwood Singing Their Jokes
- Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood made two jokes referencing the Taylor Swift/Kanye West mishap from the MTV VMA awards earlier this year.
The first one was at the opening of the CMAs. Brad played his guitar to Carrie crooning, “Mammas don’t let your kids grow up to be like Kanye.”
The second, was a bit later, where Carrie complimented Brad on his “Welcome to the Future” music video. He preceded to make a mock acceptance speech to the audience about “Welcome to the Future,” what it was like to film it, who came up with the idea etc., when a very small, very elderly, old man in a glittering top and cowboy hat interrupted him on the stage. Little Jimmy Dickens, 88, said something to the effect of, “Excuse me sir, excuse me. I’ll let you finish later. Now, Brad Paisley, I know you had a nice video and all that, but Taylor Swift made the best video in her time. You go girl!â€
(I couldn’t find the video to embed for you but if you go to People Magazine, here, you can see Brad Paisley getting “Kany-ed.”)
- Taylor won no less than four awards: Music Video of the Year “Love Story,” Album of the Year “Fearless,” Female Vocalist of the Year and most of all the coveted Entertainer of the Year
That’s a lot for a 19-year old and she’s the youngest to take home the Entertainer of the Year award. Especially, at the CMAs of all other important country award venues. Why? Because it’s uncommon for newcomers and women to win this category. Kenny Chesney won it in 2006, 2007Â and 2008 in a row.
If you look at the CMA awards list for Entertainer of the Year for the past few decades it contains the same names over and over again with multiple wins: Kenny Chesney, Vince Gill and of course Garth Brooks. The fact that Taylor won it says a lot about her brand and what the country music industry makes of ‘who she is.’
Sure she’s a money maker, appealing to teenie boppers and adults alike. But at the same time, she’s likable. There is just something about her…
I remember Carrie Underwood once joking about Entertainer of the Year being a “Boys Club” award when she was nominated for it. The funny thing is since 1967 it has been. Very few women, let alone new to the country music industry, have won it:
- Lorette Lynn – 1972
- Dolly Parton – 1978 (only once?)
- Barbara Mandrell – 1980, 1981
- Reba McEntire – 1986 (only once?)
- Shania Twain – 1999 (this was post-in-the middle of Come On Over, one of the best-selling records in the world of all-time to date.)
- The Dixie Chicks – 2000
- Taylor Swift – 2009
So if Taylor Swift winning Entertainer of the Year at the CMAs didn’t capture your attention the first time, I hope it did the second time around, because that my friends is a BIG DEAL.
I read earlier this week, where someone said, she never got anywhere in this world by being mean and disrespectful to people. She was always herself and all-around aimed at simply being a good person.
That got me thinking about my post earlier this week and the Taylor Swift brand.
We see fallen stars like Gary Glitter (child porn scandal), or Michael Vick (illegal dog-fighting rings) and we watch them fall from grace. Some never make it back up into the spotlight and those that do — like Britney Spears (drugs) — get back with a stain and a scarlet letter branded on them forever.
Kanye West will forever be known as a great musician with a lousy mouth he doesn’t know how to keep shut. It’s a stigma that will carry with him no matter where he goes.
Even take Michael Jackson, up until his death, some people still considered him a child molester.
But then I look at people like Angelina Jolie, who went from one extreme (vials of blood and having sex in her limo on the way to an awards show) to the next (adopting children from all over the world, the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, and being a UN Ambassador). Her image has evolved dramatically.
Which brings me full circle to Taylor Swift and that statement I read earlier this week:-
We only have one life, one ‘image’ and one chance to be us.
What will you do with it?
Swift Crying When She Won Entertainer of the Year
P.S.,
On a complete and totally side note, either by divine intervention or someone who paid attention handling the logistics for the night — Taylor Swift was awarded Entertainer of the Year by Tim McGraw — who incidentally was whom she named her debut single, back in 2006, after.
Talk about a cosmic alignment.
At this moment in time, it must feel pretty cool to be Taylor Swift.
** All Images Belong to CMT/Getty **
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Sasha Muradali runs the ‘Little Pink Book’ . She holds a B.S. in Public Relations from the University of Florida (’07) and an M.A. in International Administration from the University of Miami(’08). She loves Twitter and all things social media, so you should find her @SashaHalima or get a copy of the ‘Little Pink Book’ delivered to your Kindle.
Copyright © 2009 Sasha H. Muradali. All Rights Reserved.
