Can we bring this segment back?
As the 60th ACM Awards are quickly approaching, we here at Whiskey Riff are having a grand ole time walking down memory lane and visiting some of the biggest statements, awkward moments, and jaw-dropping performances over the years. Since we have fifty-nine years of material to sift through, some treasures can be found.
One of those memorable moments comes from the 18th Academy of Country Music Awards in 1983.
In 1983, the ACM Awards opened with a monologue from the famed wrestler Laurence Tureaud, better known as Mr. T. His role at the show’s start was to enforce the “rules” and share with the audience how the awards show would go. He also gave a quick and dirty explanation of how voting for the ACM Awards worked.
“Listen up, and listen good because I’m only going to say this once. And there’s a good chance I might be answering questions later, so pay attention. I’m not very big on rules myself, unless I make them. But in this case, I’m the law. I’m the boss. I’m the enforcer. I’m the one who gets to stomp on your boots and rip your hats apart if my rules don’t get followed. Now that’s a fun kind of job for a man, a mild-mannered man like myself. And I’m a winner.
Speaking of winners, I’m going to tell you how tonight’s winners are determined. First, there’s a preliminary ballot—not the main event, but a preliminary ballot selected by a blue ribbon committee of the Academy. There’s ten nominations in eleven categories, all heavyweights—we don’t got time for lightweights around here.
Got it? Good.
Then, the ballots is approved by the Board of Directors by the Academy, they are voted on. They vote for five finalists in each category. And I made it easy for everybody, all you have to do is mark an ‘x’ just like your name.
Got it? Good.
Both the preliminary ballots and the main event go directly to the independent firm of Call and Trippony. They are real heavyweights. I mean, these guys are qualified, bona fide, certified public accountants, and they don’t tell anybody until tonight. You know why? Because if they did, I’d break every bone in their wimpy bodies.”
Mr. T then introduces a couple of accountants to the crowd, showing the faces of the men who have kept the winners a secret leading up to the awards show. He then shooes them off the stage so they are not coerced into sharing any award winners early.
“I run a tight ship. Alright, everybody understands the rules? Everybody got that straight? Good. Because I’m a mild-mannered, easy-going, peace-loving, fun-loving, humble kind of guy who just came down here for some good country music. Now that’s the real A-team.”
It sounds like an easy way to select the award winners, right? While voting might be easy for the Academy’s members once the finalists are picked, a lot more goes into it. And things have changed drastically since 1983.
In 2008, after seeing a decrease in viewership, the ACM Awards introduced fan voting for the highly acclaimed Entertainer of the Year Award. Fan votes counted toward who was given that honor until it was discontinued eight years later in 2016. When the ACM Awards made the decision to stop including fans’ votes, CEO Bob Remeo told Billboard that he believed fans should have input; however, after some artists began putting down their peers in order to promote themselves, the ACM felt like it was no longer serving the country artists justice.
“At the end of the day, that’s just something the Academy can’t be behind. It’s a no-win for the Academy to be put in a position that would [set up] acts to bicker to each other.”
Today, voting is done by ACM members, with each award category having a list of criteria detailing if a song, artist, project, visual event, songwriter, etc…, is eligible for said award. For the main award categories, the Academy opens up the Awards Submission process to receive submissions for consideration for the following awards: Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Music Event of the Year, New Male Artist of the Year, New Female Artist of the Year, New Duo or Group of the Year, Video of the Year.
For the first round of voting, full ACM members will choose one submission from the above categories and then write in one submission for the following awards: Entertainer of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Duo of the Year, and Group of the Year.
According to the ACM’s website, after the first round, the board will review the top 20 submissions to ensure that they all meet eligibility criteria. The top 20 submissions must also have “achieved a minimum of 2% or more of the vote within the respective category.”
After the first round, the second round takes place, in which members vote again. The rules of this round are very nuanced, so if you want to get into the nitty gritty of it, you can read more about it HERE.
After the second round, there is a final round where members can only cast one vote per category. The nominee with the most votes in their respective category will be named the winner, and in the case of a tie, all winners receive an award.
So, it is still similar to how Mr. T described it, but in a much more mundane way. We need to bring back his segment of awards shows because it is nice to have a little refresher on how things are done. Of course, the voting members will not always reflect what the fans feel, which is why having some portion of fan involvement is always nice. However, I hope his year’s ACM Awards reflect the current state of country music. I feel it might happen because Ella Langley, Zach Top, the Red Clay Strays, and Riley Green have already won awards.
But I won’t believe it until I see it on May 8th. The 60th Annual ACM Awards, hosted by Reba McEntire, can be watched on Prime Video at 8 PM ET.
