Okay, I'm pretty sure that everyone is sick to death of the whole Kanye/Taylor incident (you have to be living on Mars to have missed the story--even the President of the United States had something to say about it). However, I was poking around looking for interesting news from Nashville this morning and came across this blog entry on Examiner.com:
Taylor Swift Should Write Kanye West A Thank You Letter
The blogger in question makes a big deal out of mentioning that Kanye gave Taylor's career "a shot of Petron" (that's a fancy word for "fuel," folks), and notes:
"When you add up all the tweets, Youtube videos, and television coverage this little lady has received, you must agree at the end of the day she'll be just fine as media watches her every move for the next 3-4 months."
Talk about living on Mars?
Hey--yeah! I'll agree! Heck, I'll go a step further and say--at the end of the day Taylor Swift would be just fine if she never showed her face in public again. She's 19 years old and already set for life, both financially and in terms of career achievement (I doubt there's many artists out there who'd deny being happy with reaching Taylor's level of success).
In short, Taylor Swift needs a shot of Petron like Kate Gosselin needs more children.
But another thing that bothers me about this blog is a sentiment I've been hearing quite a bit--I'll quote again from this gentleman's entry:
"What Kanye West did was wrong but what he said was right. Beyonce's million dollar videos are hard for any celebrity to compete with. Is MTV guilty of a little affirmative action in this case? You bet."
Was Beyonce's video better? That's what I keep hearing debate about, and it isn't a question I can answer easily. True, Bey is a consummate superstar through and through, and just about everything she produces is award-worthy. It is a bit of a stretch to compare Taylor's cute, charming "You Belong With Me" to the anthemic "Single Ladies."
However, let's actually look at this in terms of "affirmative action." Affirmative musical genre action. It's no secret to fans of country music that the genre is hotter than it has ever been. It's crossed over into mainstream, pop, tween, rock, and even urban audiences. It is no longer the hick genre to poke fun at (actually, the hick factor of it is conversely what makes it rather cool). People under the age of 35 actually do like it. Artists in other genres are flocking to reinvent their careers as country musicians--and why? Because it's hot right now and it sells.
MTV's Video Music Awards is an event that, well, for lack of a better way to put it, is considerably invested in appearing cutting-edge. What's cutting-edge nowadays in the music world? What's making headlines? Whose faces are you sick of seeing already because they are damn near everywhere?
And, the final question: Who has the active fanbase these days?
Yes, at the end of the day, Taylor will be just fine, as will a host of her Nashville colleagues.
So given all this, was "You Belong With Me" really such a crazy, left-field win this year?
I'll leave it at that, and no more talk on the matter, I promise--unless Kanye proposes to Taylor, or something like that. Hey, I wouldn't be surprised at this point.
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