So, while watching the Simpson's episode where Homer wins a Grammy, it got me to thinking how irrelavant the American Music Awards have become.
So, I did some surfing to see if they were still around. Sure enough, this November, ABC will host the 2009 edition. That wasn't as surprising as seeing who you could vote for Artist of the Year.
Kings of Leon were there, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Eminem... 3/4 had huge years this year, and deserving... but there were 5 nominees.
Michael Jackson was the 5th.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm a fan. I'll be there Wednesday night to see "This Is It", I've purchased tickets already. I loved his music, and I've watched Moonwalker a dozen times since his death.
But artist of the year? He hasn't done anything but die this year. Harsh, yes. Worthy of Artist of the Year? No. And as a betting man, there's no doubt in my mind that when they announce the winner, someone from the Jackson family will be on stage to accept.
Seems like a pretty blatant attempt to take advantage of his death for some publicity for this second-rate award.
Btw, am I the only one who hates the term "artist" when referring to a someone in the music industry? Then again, I guess you can't call them musicians anymore, since hardly any of them play any instruments or write their own music.
Seems like a pretty blatant attempt to take advantage of his death for some publicity for this second-rate award.
Btw, am I the only one who hates the term "artist" when referring to a someone in the music industry? Then again, I guess you can't call them musicians anymore, since hardly any of them play any instruments or write their own music.
Lots of famous singers and crooners didn't write their own music. Elvis, Frank Sinatra (well most of the rat pack) - lots. Just because they didn't write a lot of their stuff doesn't diminish their success.
To me it just means the ones who do write their own stuff are multi-talented.
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Seems like a pretty blatant attempt to take advantage of his death for some publicity for this second-rate award.
Btw, am I the only one who hates the term "artist" when referring to a someone in the music industry? Then again, I guess you can't call them musicians anymore, since hardly any of them play any instruments or write their own music.
Well MJ did write most of his own music as well as a book and a short book of poems too.
AND, since his death, sales for his music have been phenomenal. I would not be surprised if his sales are not as high as a lot of the other artists nominated. And I would think that many will be seeing This is It as well.
The entire Micheal Jackson thing is fascinating to me. To me he is easy to argue as both one of the best artists ever, and one of the largest self destructing idiots of a generation.
However many seem to be polarized into two different sides, thinking he's only one of the two, but certainly not both.
If he won it would be even stupider than Obama winning the peace prize. MJ hadnt produced relevant material in quite a while.
However, it is rumored that he has way more material that he composed that has never been produced to date. Don't be surprised to see the estate take advantage of that.
And that would no different than any other artist. In fact, there is always excitement when new unpublished material is found, no matter if from contemporary artists or from the old masters like Mozart etc.
I'd reserve the term 'artist' only for those who write music. To me, 'artist' implies that something is created, while 'musician' only requires performance.
I don't really agree with the list, my artist of the year list wouldn't include any of those names......maybe lady gaga since she's unique to her genre. The general public rarely gives a damn about ground breaking artists and it would be ratings suicide to have anything but pop artists/performers on the show.
Song writing and singing are two totally different skills, and while there is a correlation between the two, you don't need both to be successful at one.
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Miles was great, no doubt, but I don't think anyone can top the Beatles in terms of quality AND quantity. Lennon is on the same level as Mozart and Beethoven in my view.
Almost everything the Beatles touched (except for Yoko....shudder) was gold. Most bands/musicians are lucky if they have 2-3 big hits over their lifetime...these guys usually accomplished that by track 3 of an album (it's pretty rare to find any duds, period). It's just amazing what they put out in under a decade (and the stuff afterwards for the most part was good too!).
Who knows how long it will be till we find someone of that calibre who is popular with the general public and "serious" fans of music at the same time. It's an extremely tough feat these days.
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most over-rated artist maybe. this is why music awards suck, unlike the Oscars were usually the deserving movies do win, in the Grammies and other music award shows it's always the most popular, never the most talented
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Christ, are we seriously doing this again? LET IT GO people. Goddammit! If he does win the award, great. If he doesn't, who the hell cares! The man is dead, let him rest in peace already! It's not like it's anything new that the latest famous dead guy wins the next award.
FACE PUNCHES all around!
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If people are going to mention the Beatles , why not mention the Single man that paved the way for most of these people to become famous. "The beatles only took over because Elvis was off serving his country, and it took four beatles to compete with 1 Elvis." Or so said my grandmother who would then more time than not break into tears and talk about how big a waste it was for Elvis to kill himself.
Artist Of The Year: Michael Jackson???
