Looking into 2008...

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Okay, we did this last year, and last year I got way out of control. This time, I promise to take myself a little more seriously.

What will 2008 be like on the country music scene? Here are some of my guesses:

* Some radio stations will refuse to play "Gunpowder & Lead". Nonetheless, it will finally give Miranda her first Top 10.

* Lila McCann will break Amy Dalley's record for most singles released without putting out an album.

* Gretchen Wilson will be dropped from Columbia and picked up by Raybaw, perhaps within the same week. Her first album for Raybaw will continue in her pattern of edging further away from the novelty that made her such a success early on.

* Gary Allan will still take 30 to 35 weeks to climb the charts with his next two singles. Or 70 weeks with just one single.

*Tim McGraw releases a cover of Justin Timberlake's "Sexyback". (My apologies if I cause nightmares for anyone...)

* Faith Hill's next single will be the worst thing she's ever put out. (And that says a lot, considering that I actually turn off the radio for at least three of her songs -- namely "Breathe", "The Way You Love Me", and "Red Umbrella".)

* People on this board will start making jokes about how the "F" should be taken out of "Shiftwork".

* Curb will finally pay more attention to Clay Walker, Lee Brice, LeAnn Rimes, and all the other artists on their roster not named Tim McGraw or Rodney Atkins. And nobody else will ever go through Hell again, since it will have frozen over.

[maverick]

I truly hope you are right about Miranda. I think this album has multiple potential Top 10s for her.

I hope Gretchen gets dropped and NOT picked up by anybody.

If Curb does what you project, I might faint. Actually giving talent a chance to shine? It won't ever happen!

[storm]

* Carrie Underwood will have the best selling CD of the year, but will finally release her first single that doesn't go to #1.

* Sugarland will have a guest appearance on Beyonce's debut country album, and they'll perform the song on at least one awards show.

* LeAnn Rimes will release "What I Cannot Change," and after a very slow start, it'll climb into the Top 5 where her insane, rose-colored-glasses-wearing fans will watch with exaggerated anticipation to see if it will reach #1. The success of the song, however, will finally help her receive at least once nomination at the CMA Awards, but she'll lose to Carrie Underwood.

* Taylor Swift will release her sophomore CD with sales of 231k in the first week. Earlier in the year she'll be nominated for a Grammy and she'll post a MySpace bulletin announcing her excitement and thanking her fans for their support.

* Reba will release two more singles from her Duets CD, but neither will be as successful as the duet with Kelly (but only because she wasn't able to release her duet with LeAnn, and because Faith refuses to release any singles that make her look/sound good).

* Justin Timberlake will be paired with a country artist for a live performance on a major awards show.

* Carrie Underwood, Reba (with one of her duet partners), and Rascal Flatts will be asked to perform at the Grammy Awards. Reba and Kelly will win the Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Carrie will win for Best Female Vocal Performance and Keith Urban will win Best Male Vocal Performance.

* George Strait will hit #1 twice, Kenny Chesney 3x, Rascal Flatts 2x, and Carrie 2x.

* Dierks Bentley will release a racy video that gets censored on CMT.

* Big & Rich will say something stupid publicly...again.

[maverick]

Didn't Carrie already not release a #1 single? I could have sworn "Don't Forget to Remember Me" only went to #2. I could be wrong though.

[drock89]

maverick said:

Didn't Carrie already not release a #1 single? I could have sworn "Don't Forget to Remember Me" only went to #2. I could be wrong though.

Debatable. Because "Don't Forget" went #1 on R&R, and R&R is now Billboard, does that mean it went #1 on Billboard?

[Ten Pound Hammer]

shaniagotchagood said:

maverick said:

Didn't Carrie already not release a #1 single? I could have sworn "Don't Forget to Remember Me" only went to #2. I could be wrong though.

Debatable. Because "Don't Forget" went #1 on R&R, and R&R is now Billboard, does that mean it went #1 on Billboard?

I just avoid the confusion and say it went to #1 on Mediabase.

[zaclord]

shaniagotchagood said:

maverick said:

Didn't Carrie already not release a #1 single? I could have sworn "Don't Forget to Remember Me" only went to #2. I could be wrong though.

Debatable. Because "Don't Forget" went #1 on R&R, and R&R is now Billboard, does that mean it went #1 on Billboard?

i guess not because every article they have of carrie says that she has 4 #1 singles (jesus take the wheel, before he cheats, wasted, so small) and then "dont forget to remember me peaked at #2." so it did not count on billboard but most people still say it was a #1 hit, because it was...just not on billboard.

[zaclord]

* Gretchen gets dropped

* Taylor Swift gets #1 with "Our Song"

* Carrie wins multiple awards for "Just A Dream", not to mention it spending 8 weeks at #1

* Carrie also gets #1s with "All-American Girl"

* Kellie Pickler wont get top 10 when she undoubtably deserves it (unless she releases a song about teenage crushes that either make her write a song or cry about it)

* Brad gets multi-week #1 with "Letter TO Me"

*Sugarland beats Brooks & Dunn at every award now and "Stay" goes #1 for 3-4 weeks

* Kenny will go #1 with "Shiftwork" and no one will like him anymore

* Keith Urban slowly fades away (unless him tour with carrie can gain him more fans and some better music)

* Shania makes her return and has one top 10 then has 3 other singles that dont go top 20

* Brooks & Dunn lose a lot of fans because of "God Must Be Busy" being interpreted differently than what they wanted it to

* Miranda and "Gunpowder & Lead" will get shunned from radio

* Tim McGraw switched labels to his label and finally puts out the music that should get put out

* or Tim stays on Curb and fades away like his wife

* Faith will continue to get more an more poppy and finally stop putting out country singles

* Kelly Clarkson, Beyonce, and other huge pop artists will go country

* Garth goes back into retirement and maybe puts out a "Greatest Hits Volume 79" by the end of the year

* more very talented women will not get the radio airplay that they deserve (kellie, danielle, leann, sara evans, sarah buxton, carmen rasmusen, rissi palmer...)

* Lady Antebellum scores a top 10 and then another by the end of the year

* Martina releases a REAL album that she had no contribution to other than the singing

* Josh Gracin finally releases his sophmore album

* Many artists will release masterpieces like "The Power Of One", but they wont get played because they are not established artists

* Toby releases more and more horrible songs and his label goes down the drain

* Big & Rich will release "You Shook Me All Night Long" and it will go top 20 but everyone that is 25 and older will hate it, right after "Loud" flops of course

[Zach]

I’ve never done this before, but thought I would give it a shot. These mean absolutely nothing, many are just intended as humor.

* LeAnn Rimes will continue to make her comeback as she and Kenny sell out venues all across the country, making their tour what will be the biggest of 2008 for Country music. She will also see a long-overdue nomination this year at a country award show. She will continue to have great success with NBTD on the AC and Dance charts, but will have a huge hit on both Country and AC radios when she releases “What I Cannot Change” sometime in the year. While some Country stations will be reluctant to play it, the response from listeners will give them no choice but to spin this one to what could possibly be LeAnn’s second #1 hit.

* Carrie Underwood will win many more awards and will make her first acceptance speech in which she doesn’t say “You guys” fifteen times! She will also not squall nor act like she’s never given a public speech before.

* Sugarland will continue to have huge success (even winning the Top Duo award at both the ACMs and CMAs) and will release a new album that will be their best selling album so far. It will be an R&B album.

* Not to be outdone, Rascal Flatts will announce they are doing a pop album and, upon release, many country fans will not see the difference. Then the whole world will have an epiphany.

* Kenny Chesney has yet another great year all around as he continues to see his singles line up in the #1 slot, yes, even the awful-at-times “Shiftwork”. His 2008 tour will attract more fans than ever, most of this can be due to his fine special guest on the tour ;).

* Keith Urban will start the year out big with his tour with Carrie Underwood, but will take a hiatus while he works on a new record. Also, will this be the year Keith becomes a dad?

* Taylor Swift will continue to be the hottest new star in country, slowly overshadowing Underwood, especially with teenage girls. However, don’t expect to see her sale as many albums just yet.

* Faith Hill will announce her retirement from the business (she has already been talking about it).

* Garth Brooks will release at least three albums by the end of the year. Two of them a package of previously released material, but with a bonus DVD of a performance of two live songs during his recent shows. The last album will contain twelve new songs but will be re-released later to contain a bonus disc of Greatest Hits plus a DVD. Look for it to be very conveniently priced ! He will do all this while on a major world tour, but will still try to convince everyone he is retired. ;)

* Gretchen Wilson will stop drinking, chewing tobacco, and cussing and will start wearing high heels, dresses, and start singing inspirational songs by the year’s end. Big & Rich will follow- oh, but without the dresses and high heels.

* Many artists from various other genres will make country records and will be welcomed with open arms, while many of country’s women do not get played today because radio holds a grudge at them for going pop at one time in their careers, even though there is a new rule that that is obviously okay today because so many artists release remixed versions of hit country songs to Contemporary radio these days.

* Yet another country artist will dance on Dancing With the Stars.

[storm]

zaclord said:

* Carrie wins multiple awards for "Just A Dream", not to mention it spending 8 weeks at #1

You really think that song is THAT good? It's one of my least favorites on the album. I think there are better selections for singles.

[storm]

You are wayyyy too excited about LeAnn going on tour with Kenny. I'm glad she'll get the exposure, but I'm just hoping the crowd will welcome her. I've been to two concerts where she performed with other artists and the crowd wasn't very friendly towards her, and I think a lot of people complained about her and even left during her performances during her tour with Keith Urban in Australia. I'm just not sure the Kenny crowd is a LeAnn crowd. We'll see I guess! I hope it goes great for her!

[Zach]

^ Have you ever seen Chesney's live show? It's massive and the fans are crazy, of course they will welcome her! It's not like everybody hates her, lots of people like her but just don't buy her music.

[Patches]

* Not to be outdone, Rascal Flatts will announce they are doing a pop album and, upon release, many country fans will not see the difference. Then the whole world will have an epiphany.

LMAO!!!!

[43dudleyvillas]

I'm in the middle of drafting some more serious posts/PMs, so with apologies, I'm going to blow off some steam here:

* Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw will regain Pulse Country forum good will when we realize that the reason they chose crap for their respective new singles is that they, too, are sick of country radio overplaying male artists and want to force radio to give more ladies' singles a chance. Such gentlemen, those two. ::wub::

* The tabloids will fall over themselves inventing all sorts of stories about how Carrie Underwood is breaking up Keith Urban's marriage to Nicole Kidman. The only response from any of the principals will be a rousing collaborative performance by Nicole, Carrie and Keith of "Before He Cheats" on the last day of the Love, Pain and the whole crazy Carnival Ride tour. The tabloid media will prove too dim to get the joke.

* Rascal Flatts will film a CMT Crossroads episode with Nickelback. The episode will be incredibly and hilariously critically reviled, but it will also go down as the highest rated CMT show ever.

* Kellie Pickler and Jessica Simpson will both release country albums that play up their saucy/sexy minx personas with a helping of heart on the side. Jessica's will get the much bigger hype but Kellie's will fare better both critically and commercially. Joe Simpson's response will be to launch a French restaurant chain featuring Jessica in ads "hilariously" discovering that France is, indeed, a country. These ads will end with Jessica holding forth some potatoes (pommes de terre) and proclaiming, "How do you like them apples?"

* Taylor Swift will go through a goth phase.

* After an incredibly successful run of 5th Gear singles, Brad Paisley will launch a classic rocker alter-ego, replete with eyeliner and a new emo haircut, via myspace.

[edwin1961]

Well here goes, I'm no Nostradomus!!!

Lee Ann Womack will finally get her CD finished and her first (or second single depending if you count Finding My Way Back Home the first single) will be released in the Fall of 2008. However due to the Christmas songs (like this year), many songs willnot receive the airplay and will fade.

Tim and Faith will have their own record labela nd will sing happily ever after..for themselves. (ok, it sounds like a fairy tale, but the record label idea seems plausable since Faith's singles choices have been in the dumper.)

Jack Ingram will have another Top 10, eventually.

Jason Michael Carroll will be the CMA Horizon Award winner for 2008. Yes, I'm sticking my neck out on this one but his live concert I've been to proves this.

Gretchen Wilson will put out two more singles and then retire from the business.

Bill Anderson (either alone or with co-writers) will have another Song of the Year at the CMA's in 2008.

George Strait will have a female duet partner on a song for his next CD and will actually chart the T60.

Cross Canandian Ragweed will appear on the charts again in 2008, I hope. AND Bomshel will somehow make the T40 as well....with a lot of prayer I suppose!

Following Mark Chesnutt, either Tracy Byrd or Ty Herndon will make another T60 chart appearance.

The 'new' Lonestar will go nowhere on the chart, however Richey McDonald will have his first solo single go T30.

Big & Rich will strictly go into songwriting by the end of 2008.

#1's for 2008
Chesney-2, Carrie-2, Jason Michael Carroll-1, Sugarland-2, Taylor Swift-1, Rodney Atkins-2.

An female artist from the 50's or 60's will pass away who made a BIG impact on the industry. Eddy Arnold hits 90 years old!

More remakes will be released in 2008 to show that originality is starting to wane.

SHeDAISY will return 2008 with a different sound, more towards traditional country. It surprises everyone!

Wynonna still hasn't got a clue.

Country radio will still shun female artist and upcoming artist but fans will start a backlash of some sorts, but attending their concerts and buy up as much of their CD as they can, to prove the industry wrong. Internet sales for music downloads will continue to increase.

So that my predictions, anybody gonna keep a running total of correct predictions?

[S4C]

43dudleyvillas said:

* Rascal Flatts will film a CMT Crossroads episode with Nickelback. The episode will be incredibly and hilariously critically reviled, but it will also go down as the highest rated CMT show ever.

Is it a bad thing to say that I'd watch that?...

43dudleyvillas said:

* Taylor Swift will go through a goth phase.

* After an incredibly successful run of 5th Gear singles, Brad Paisley will launch a classic rocker alter-ego, replete with eyeliner and a new emo haircut, via myspace.

LMAO

[maverick]

Jason Michael Carroll will be revealed to be the long lost Hanson brother....

[ClevelandRox]

zaclord said:

* Taylor Swift gets #1 with "Our Song"

This could still happen in 2007!

[tsr]

Here are a few of mine:

* Big & Rich will realize that they aren't having huge success in country and cross over to rap. Unfortunately, rap stations will refuse to play them, and all of their big time fans will demand for country radio to play them. It will go #1 on the charts, thus meaning the death of country radio.

* Garth Brooks' hit will drop off the charts, only to be replaced the next week with another #1 debut that gets everyone hyped up again.

* Taylor Swift will release "Picture to Burn", which will reach #1 in less than 10 weeks.

* Chris Brown will cross over to country, sing a duet with Beyonce, also crossing over to country, and the duet will be the vocal event of the year at the CMAs. The show will unfortunately have its lowest ratings ever.

* Jamie O'Neal will make a comeback with a new song that will go top 5, however her new album won't sell nearly as much as it should.

* Tim McGraw will release his album in April, with a single or two, then release ANOTHER album in November.

* Sara Evans will release a studio album in which the first single hits #1, the next one will be top 5, the next top 15, and the last one top 40. Nonetheless, she'll finally take home the FVOTY award at the CMAs.

* Carrie Underwood will win Entertainer of the Year at the CMAs, along with Song of the Year for "All-American Girl" or "Last Name".

* There will be a fuse at the ACMs while Rascal Flatts are performing.


Just trying to add some humor, but I think some of these are likely to happen!!! Okay maybe about 3 of em but... yeah. lol

[John77]

crox said:

zaclord said:

* Taylor Swift gets #1 with "Our Song"

This could still happen in 2007!

Perhaps as soon as next week if everything breaks her way actually...

[tobysooner]

Jason Michael Carroll will be the CMA Horizon Award winner for 2008. Yes, I'm sticking my neck out on this one but his live concert I've been to proves this.
^
Prediction that has merit.

[edwin1961]

john77 said:

crox said:

This could still happen in 2007!

Perhaps as soon as next week if everything breaks her way actually...

Like Moses parting the Red Sea?

[edwin1961]

tobysooner said:

Jason Michael Carroll will be the CMA Horizon Award winner for 2008. Yes, I'm sticking my neck out on this one but his live concert I've been to proves this.
^
Prediction that has merit.

I made that prediction because only a year ago Alyssa Lies hit the chart and Livin' Our Love Song spent the majority of it's time (40 weels) in 2007. Jason has at leasr two or three more great songs to still chart before the CMA Awards in 2008.

[wannam]

IMHO, Jason's next release would have to reach #1 for him to have a chance at the CMA Horizon Award. "I Can Sleep When I'm Dead", if it is the next single released (as has been rumored), should have a great chance at doing so, especially if a great video accompanies it.

[kim8]

These are so fun to read. I'm laughing hysterically at some of them. You guys are funny :)

[dcowboy77]

crox said:

zaclord said:

* Taylor Swift gets #1 with "Our Song"

This could still happen in 2007!

but chartyear wise its already 2008.

[rowdawg21]

• Jo Dee Messina’s album will continue to be shelved (as will Amy Dalley’s, but that goes without saying)
  
  
• Garth will peak between #11 and #20 with both “Workin’ For A Livin’” and “Midnight Sun”
  
  
• Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, and Carrie Underwood will each score 3 top five singles
  
  
• Taylor Swift’s new album will be one of the highest country debuts of the year
  
  
• Keith Urban and Taylor Swift will hit #1 with the lead singles from their new albums
  
  
• Dierks Bentley’s new album will perform better than Long Trip Alone (I can only hope…)
  
  
• The debut single from Eric Church’s sophomore album will be his first top 10 single
  
  
• Montgomery Gentry’s “Clouds” will be nominated for multiple awards, but will not make the top 5 (a la Brooks & Dunn’s “Believe)
  
  
• Toby’s star power will continue to decline
  
  
• Country radio will not give Little Big Town a top 10 hit
  
  
• Josh Gracin’s album will finally be released
  
  
• Jewel and Darius Rucker will have moderate success at country radio, each earning two top 40 singles
  
  
• Shania's new album will sell between 350-400k copies in its first week
  
  
• Faith Hill will not have any top 20 singles from her new album
  
  
• Alan Jackson will return to #1 for the first time since 2003’s “Remember When”
  
  
• Kenny continues to sell out all of his concerts, and he’ll take home another CMA Entertainer award
  

[zaclord]

rowdawg2187 said:

• Josh Gracin’s album will finally be released
  

yay! someone agrees with me! i really hope this is true. he had a bunch of fans until his second album never came out. i still think he should have released it with "Favorite State Of Mind"

[Marv]

Kenny Chesney will wind up as the top singles artist of the year in 2008, marking the fourth time in the past five years that he's done so.

Neither Chesney nor Tim McGraw will have 2008's #1 single thanks to their extremely underwhelming current releases.

2007's top new singles artist, Jason Michael Carroll, will have another top ten single (and hopefully two) from his phenomenal debut CD.

Trisha Yearwood's stunning CD, 'Heaven, Heartache And The Power Of Love' will be nominated for Album Of The Year' at the upcoming ACM & CMA shindigs, if there is any justice in the world.

Her brand new single, 'This Is Me You're Talking To' will also merit serious consideration for 'Record Of The Year', 'Song Of The Year' and 'Best Female Country Vocal Performance'.

No one will become a superstar in the realm of country music in 2008; the two folks next in line (Dierks Bentley and Joe Nichols) will have to wait until 2009.

New studio CDs from the likes of Alan Jackson & George Strait, as well as the strong possibility for greatest hits CDs from Brad Paisley and Kenny Chesney will make 2008 another fine year for frequent shopping trips on Tuesday to my local Best Buy or Target, and many more raids on my steadily shrinking piggy bank!!!!

[dboulton]

Kenny Chesney and Rascal Flatts will do yet more of the same and be rewarded with the same OTT airplay and awards.

Brooks & Dunn will split after God Must Be Busy and the follow up from the lame Cowboy Town album confirms that their day has passed.

Montgomery Gentry will replace them as the premier duo (while Sugarland will give up the pretence and become "Jennifer Nettles") and enjoy big hits with What Do You Think About That and Twenty Years Ago.

Fan power will once again overcome the industry's hatred of him and allow Toby Keith to follow up Love Me If You Can with another #1 with Get My Drink On and White Rose.

The wonderful Alan Jackson will release a classy countrified album that propels him to the top of the charts and back to superstar status.

Tim McGraw will claim (rightly) that the industry hates him because he is a liberal.

Brad Paisley will realize that he should release songs like Letter To Me rather than nonsense about ticks and MySpace and will be Entertainer of the Year.

Keith Urban will continue to be punished for having been in rehab and will not get another top 5 single.

Taylor Swift will replace Carrie Underwood as the superstar female artist (deservedly so) and will release Picture To Burn which will power to #1

George Strait will sneak a #1 with How 'Bout Them Cowgirls and his lead-off single from his 2 millionth album, making a total of 6,879,981 career #1 singles.

Jack Ingram will sneak Maybe She'll Get Lonely into the top 10 and continue to fail to get any of the recognition he deserves.

Jason Michael Carroll, the uber-talented artist, will have big hits with Waiting In The Country and I Was Looking At You.

Shooter Jennings will release 2 or 3 more amazing songs and will be played an average of 12 times per week in the whole country, 11 during the overnight show on one Knoxville station.

Garth Brooks will release a 89th hits collection, but it's okay because there's a new song on it, a few videos, and $1 from each purchase goes to Save the Whale.