I am still confused by this whole Kelly thing with Country music even if she makes a country album is she going to tour as a country artist (I don’t think so) so whats the point of the full court press to welcome her with open arms she is never going to be defined as a Country Artist no more then Carrie would be defined as a pop artist  or tour as a pop artist just because she sings some pop songs.  Obviously this is all possible due to the power of her future family if she and Brandon break up I would guess that will bring an end to it.

I think Kelly would’ve been welcome to sing at the CMAs whether or not she was nominated because the CMAs usually invite a few people from outside the genre to perform. Besides, I can’t think of many people who mind hearing Kelly sing regardless of genre. 

DB987: I am still confused by this whole Kelly thing with Country music even if she makes a country album is she going to tour as a country artist (I don’t think so) so whats the point of the full court press to welcome her with open arms she is never going to be defined as a Country Artist no more then Carrie would be defined as a pop artist  or tour as a pop artist just because she sings some pop songs.  Obviously this is all possible due to the power of her future family if she and Brandon break up I would guess that will bring an end to it.

I think the point of it is to maximize her audience and sales by taking advantage of 1 of Kelly’s biggest assets as a singer: her versatility. She doesn’t want to ever be defined as a country act but, she probably does want to be defined as more than a pop act. I don’t think that would change even if her status with Brandon did (and everything points to that relationship being for keeps). I’d guess she wants to be everywhere where she can explore different parts of her musical soul. 

I think most people see through the CMA nomination, and pretty much everybody’s in agreement that it wasn’t earned. It isn’t going to help Kelly get cred in the country world because almost nobody’s taking that nomination seriously. But, if she takes advantage of the performance slot by performing a real country song or at least a real country crossover song (as opposed to MKIA) then it may be how she handles it that eventually helps her get a little bit of a foothold in the country world. She’ll still be seen primarily as a pop act of course which is as she likely wants it. It’s something that by expanding her audience could help extend her career and her options. They’re trying to do a reverse Taylor Swift.

TV show producers usually don’t like unfamiliar songs being performed and they’re usually pretty stingy about letting people perform new singles. So, it’ll be interesting to see what Kelly performs. MKIA would be a really lame choice, it wasn’t even a hit. A country classic for a tribute would be nice, or maybe Kelly’ll be releasing a real country crossover song from the greatest hits album. If that is out in time for the CMAs there’s a chance the producers will let her perform it depending on what other people want to perform. 

I can also see Kelly sticking around for the CMA Country Christmas taping and performing her song with Blake.

This doesn’t surprise me at all, especially with the nomination.  Isn’t it customary for the male and female vocalists nominees to get a performance slot?

The biggest question will be what’s she going to perform.  I can very easily see it being MKIA which I don’t think I’d mind seeing as I actually vastly prefer this version to the original, but I don’t think it’d be the smartest move.  And she’s never performed it this way, yet.  

I’m actually leaning towards it being a completely new song, specific for the genre.  She had been making some comments lately about putting out more songs just for the country genre… more specifically in The Tennessean interview that was done prior to the CMA nomination announcement.  So that leads me to believe that there’s been talks of this for a little while and the nomination might kick those plans into a different gear.  Then there’s that wild card of the not yet officially announced but all signs pointing to it existing Greatest Hits album due in Nov/Dec that will likely have a few new songs tacked on that may or may not have a potentially crossover or genre specific song included. (intentional run-on sentence)

And then there’s also the tribute option and that wouldn’t be a bad thing either, especially given the waves she’s been making this year with her concert covers. I actually like this option the best, especially if performing a new single isn’t feasible.

I can also see Kelly sticking around for the CMA Country Christmas taping and performing her song with Blake.

Oh, good thinking.  Their song together is really nice too.  He’s got some options with that record for the show.

This is just a random bit of info that popped up after the recent Nashville concert.  It goes with a comment that was said in that interview about how her “going country” has been around since she won Idol.  A fan happened to be sitting next to Jim Lightman, a producer/mixer out of Nashville, and he had told this person that TPTB actually had Kelly record a country version of Before Your Love right after Idol and he did the work on it.  I’d love to hear what kind of treatment that schlocky song got. It’d probably be an improvement.  lol

 Obviously this is all possible due to the power of her future family if she and Brandon break up I would guess that will bring an end to it.

Doubtful.  She had her toes in the country world and culture long before Brandon came in the picture and would probably continue to if anything were to happen. And like windmills said, everything is pointing to this one going the distance.

heartly: A fan happened to be sitting next to Jim Lightman, a producer/mixer out of Nashville, and he had told this person that TPTB actually had Kelly record a country version of Before Your Love right after Idol and he did the work on it.  I’d love to hear what kind of treatment that schlocky song got. It’d probably be an improvement.  lol

Oh wow, I’d love to hear that too. 

heartly: I’m actually leaning towards it being a completely new song, specific for the genre. 

Could be, could be. There’s also the possibility of them including Breaking Your Own Heart on the GH album and sending it out as a country single parallel to a new pop single. But, I think you mentioned Kelly was also seen recording in Nashville after she confirmed she’d recorded a couple tunes with Greg Kurstin, right? That could still be anything. 

DB987: A very thoughtful answer to my glib remark which I guess is really still about the nomination and not the performance slot.  As someone else said never a bad thing to hear Kelly sing.

Yeah, that was one of the thing about the nominations: figure if Sara Evans had been nominated then her team could’ve lobbied for a performance slot that she could kind of use right now. But, I’m pretty sure Kelly would’ve gotten the performance spot anyway. That’s a TV decision moreso than a fairness decision. 

DB987: Maybe they will do a tribute to Kitty Wells she could join in for I agree MKIA would be lame.

The CMAs have been somewhat allergic to historical segments: Hall Of Fame inductees used to get a whole segment on the show, now they don’t even get acknowledged. But, they did have a nice Glen Campbell tribute last year, a highlight in a show that tbqh had very few other highlights other than Brad & Carrie’s monologue and maybe Zac Brown Band’s performance of The Devil Went Down To Georgia. A Kitty Wells tribute would be nice, hope it happens. 

DB987: As an slightly off topic aside I saw on Lauren’s Tour calendar that they have tickets for the CMA Christmas Show which suggest she will be part of it again.  I am assuming Scotty will since he has the XMas CD so if Kelly joins in and either Carrie or Kellie and Keith are involved it could be a idol christmas show. Blake better get Raelynn on it to represent the voice and that I would pay money to see.

You wash your mind out for that last thought there!!!!! We should probably thank our lucky stars Blake has Xenia on his Christmas CD instead of RaeLynn :p

Carrie won’t be at CMA Country Christmas: the taping is 11/3 and she’s got a show in Charlotte that night. It’s weird but Carrie’s never done the CMA Christmas show. I think part of that is just being exhausted from hosting and all the prep, but this year the taping’s 2 days after the CMA Awards and she’ll be back on the road. I definitely expect Scotty to perform and I’m excited by the hint Lauren will too.

Could be, could be. There’s also the possibility of them including Breaking Your Own Heart on the GH album and sending it out as a country single parallel to a new pop single. But, I think you mentioned Kelly was also seen recording in Nashville after she confirmed she’d recorded a couple tunes with Greg Kurstin, right? That could still be anything.

I like that BYOH idea almost as much as a new song.  It’s always been one of favorites off of Stronger and has the country songwriter connection.  And yes, on her days off during the later weeks of the US tour, she was spotted a several times at recording studios in Nashville.  Doesn’t mean anything more than she’s been recording new material, but the timing is curious and squeezing the sessions in during a relatively busy time leads me to believe that there was a need or rush to get them in for something. 

To add even more to the confusing pot, Amazon has put the Pepsi Anthems song “Get Up” on their site saying the track will be available to buy on Oct. 2 and the original release date of Sept. 25.  All of which makes no sense since it’s a free download through Feb. of next year.  AllAccess has added it to their new music page, but the other 4 songs in that Pepsi program are also on there so that’s not as head scratching as the Amazon thing. 

There are so many questions and options surrounding Kelly right now with very few answers other than something is up. Guess that’s a better problem to have rather than the alternative of nothing going on and silence.

You wash your mind out for that last thought there!!!!! We should probably thank our lucky stars Blake has Xenia on his Christmas CD instead of RaeLynn :p

Have you had the chance to listen to this album yet?  Oddly enough, the Xenia song was my least liked on it.

I’ve gotten way off track with that last bit (sorry!) and besides Kelly, I’m really looking forward to LBT’s performance.  LOVE their new album.

Maybe Kelly is gearing up to eventually transition from a pop artist to a country artist? She is getting a little old for pop radio (for whatever reason, once you hit 30, pop radio doesn’t seem to like to play your music, although, as with all things in the music business, there are always exceptions to this). Look at Darius Rucker, for example — he was able to made a pretty smooth transition from pop-rocker to country artist, so maybe that’s what Kelly is going to try to do with her career once this current album cycle is over.

Beyonce 32, Nikki Minaj, 30, David Guetta 45, Flo Rida 33. Pitbull 32, Enrique Iglesias 37, Adam Levine 33, Christina AFguilera 32, JLo 43, Britney Spears 31, Fergie 37, Jason Mraz 35, Gotye 32, Pink 33, Gwen Stefani 43.  And there are more….don’t think “30″ is a cut-off point……
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Windmills – I definitely expect Scotty to perform

Hopefully Scotty will appear on the show and us fans will not be further disapointed. I know Carrie wasn’t on last year either.

I would love to see him sing 1 of his 2 new songs on the Christmas album.

As far as some other people mentionned, really, really not a fan. But I realize it’s a matter of taste.  

I love Kelly, but I can not get behind this. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from her nomination. I still don’t like it.

They announce Kelly in the first batch because she is the biggest name.  She is an international star.  It’s not them backing her, it’s them using her.  She’ll bring attention and viewers that would never otherwise pay any attention to a country show.

Considering country has 50 billion awards shows every year, I find it funny that one nomination is seen as such a travesty.