Link: http://newsbusters.org/node/10805
NewsBusters dissects the fawning media coverage of the Dixie Chicks' Grand Slam at the Grammys, winning Best Album, Best Single, and Best Song as well as two other trophies. The New York Times led the charge, heralding the Chicks' "vindication" at the Grammys.
Here's the thing: I couldn't care less about the Dixie Chicks. They lost relevance a long time ago. The reason my apathy matters is because I am the average country music fan and none of us care anymore. The reason the girls' careers were "sidelined," (other than the fact that they didn't make an album for three years) was because they lost relevance to the average fan. If the girls wanted to become political activists as so many celebrities do, so be it. The should not, however, expect their red-state living, flag waving fans to accept their positions without some sort of impact on record sales.
Herein lies the problem with celebrities in general and Grammy voters in particular: they think we are too dumb to know what is good and what is trash. The Chicks' single screaming how unprepared to make friends they are is not a great song. It isn't even a good song. It is simply a song in which three angry women (remember, Hell hath no fury, etc. etc.) get to thumb their artistic noses at the very industry and fan base which made them rich and famous. The country music business has relegated them to the a status befitting their inability to sell albums and fill concert venues.
By awarding massive amounts of hardware to the band, the Grammy voters did not, contrary to liberal theory, "vindicate" the Chicks. Instead, they pointed out the fact that they do not find the economic vote of the consumer a valid measurement of an artist's success and viability. The elitist voters showed their disdain for the average country music fan by overwhelmingly rewarding the Dixie Chicks' abandonment of their fan base and their genre. Such wholesale disenfranchisement is one of the major reasons award shows of this type - the Oscars, the Grammys, etc. - are no longer the major audience draw they once were but why programs like the People's Choice Awards, MTV Music Awards, and the CMA and ACM programs still draw significant ratings for the networks. The awards themselves become less and less relevant as the voters show more and more disdain for the audience by ignoring their economic votes.
To quote Mr. Spock - The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. In this case, the opinions of the many in the form of CD sales far outweigh the opinions of the few in the form of Grammy votes. The Dixie Chicks are no more successful now than they were a week ago - they just have more to dust on their shelves.
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