Country Music Television (CMT) focused exclusively on women for its annual Artists of the Year awards, highlighting the impressive talent among female artists in country music.
The performances on Wednesday night featured seven recipients, including notable stars such as Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, and Kelsea Ballerini, showcasing their exceptional abilities and leaving a strong impression on the audience.
It’s clear that there is a “woman problem” on radio’s airwaves, with female artists often underrepresented.
CMT addressed this issue head-on by boldly showcasing talented women during its live network broadcast from Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
This event highlighted the exceptional contributions of female artists to country music and aimed to rectify the gender disparity in the industry.
As Carrie Underwood said when she accepted her award at the end of the evening,
“I definitely want to say to all of the incredible, amazing, talented women that have been on this stage tonight, you are not here because you are women. You are here because you are dang good.”
Despite the stirring performances, the CMT Artists of the Year show was as much a protest and an impatient plea for parity as it was a celebration of talent.
The event underscored the ongoing struggle for gender equality in country music, emphasizing the need for more representation and recognition of female artists.
“I just want to say to CMT, thank you for being the one to change the conversation into an action tonight,” Ballerini said in her acceptance.
Besides this,
“Carrie was like, ‘I’m not taking these girls out because they’re girls, I’m taking them out because they’re the best choice for the support,” said Runaway June’s Naomi Cooke. “That’s the real point of equality. We’re proud to be a part of country music even in a tough time like this. It’s a little uncertain, but that’s the excitement of it, in a way.
A love story isn’t epic if it’s isn’t difficult and weird and you don’t know where it’s going to go.”