More Favorite Songs of 2023

    I recently listed my Top 10 Favorite Songs of 2023. Just for clarification let me explain that those songs all had to meet the eligibility for that list by reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard HOT 100 during 2023. I happen to be one of those people that believes that "It's not a hit until it's a hit on Billboard". Just in case you don't know, in order to reach the top of the Billboard HOT 100, a song must get the most sales, streams and radio airplay for any given week.

There were lots of other songs that I loved in 2023 that failed to make the top 10 on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart. Here's a list of some of my other favorites in 2023. One thing that I can say about all of these songs is that it's a shame it didn't get more sales and airplay to do better on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart.

In the ideal world, great songs from Country, Pop, Dance and R and B would all find their way to the upper positions of the Billboard HOT 100.

If You Go Down (I'm Goin Down Too) - Kelsea Ballerini: Just listening to this song is a lot of fun, but Kelsea took us a step further and delivered the visuals to elevate this to best of the year status! The official video is comedic, campy fun and entertainment perfection. But her performance of the song on the CMT Video Music Awards was a grand slam hitting it out of the park. The joyful exuberance of seeing so many of our favorite drag performers on stage with her was the cherry on the top of this fantastic song.         

In Your Love - Tyler Childers: This is genuinely the most truly heartfelt and wonderful love song ever. But the fact that this love is conveyed with a music video showing two men who find each other, share their love for each other and heartbreaking lose each other makes it a cinematic work of art worthy of awards.         

Dancing In The Country - Tyler Hubbard: First and foremost, a favorite song of the year has to be catchy with a great beat that makes me want to dance and sing along with it. From the first time I heard this to the millionth time I simply had fun and enjoyed it. It has a really fun and entertaining video as well.      

I'm Not Here To Make Friends - Sam Smith: Starting out the year with a #1 hit (Unholy) didn't necessarily mean that the follow up singles were going to get support. This one is preferred to have been the big hit, but the fickle fans didn't agree with me.        

Same Here - Brad Paisley: When country music gets it right it's able to tell stories that bring diverse people together. This is a beautiful song that illustrates how we fundamentally have so much in common with the people of Ukraine as they fight for their country. This song not only gets it right - it exemplifies country music at its best.      

Lottery - Latto: Talk about a pop anthem that checks all the boxes! This one has it all. A great beat. Fun lyrics. Catchy hook. It is absolutely mind boggling how it went overlooked on the charts this year! I am very happy that I found it and at least had it in heavy rotation on my own playlist.      

Tell Me Ray - Jon Wayne Hatfield: With a song this great it's shocking to believe that this American Idol contestant didn't even make the Top 20! But the love and support he has for his grandpa, Ray, comes through so beautifully in every word. For this reason alone, he will always be a winner.      

Waffle House - Jonas Brothers: This boy-band of brothers do a great job not just serving up the fun pop jams, but also serving them up with a little unexpected twist that keeps them from being basic cookie cutter, run of the mill songs. After enjoying this song I have never wanted to have a deep conversation at a Waffle House this much!       

Rock and a Hard Place - Bailey Zimmerman: This new guy comes along with this great song that is all over the place. That's it. It's a good song.       

Thank God - Kane Brown: Despite his ever-growing catalog of great music, Kane remains one of the most underrated artists out there. When he should be getting nominations and winning CMA's, ACM's and Grammy's he remains completely over-looked. But at least this song, with his wife as his duet partner, took home the (fan voted) 2023 CMT Award for Video of the Year.     

More Favorite Songs of 2021

  I recently listed my Top 10 Favorite Songs of 2021. Just for clarification let me explain that those songs all had to meet the eligibility for that list by reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard HOT 100 during 2021. I happen to be one of those people that believes that "It's not a hit until it's a hit on Billboard". Just in case you don't know, in order to reach the top of the Billboard HOT 100, a song must get the most sales, streams and radio airplay for any given week.

There were lots of other songs that I loved in 2021 that failed to make the top 10 on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart. Here's a list of some of my other favorites in 2021. One thing that I can say about all of these songs is that it's a shame it didn't get more sales and airplay to do better on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart.

In the ideal world, great songs from Country, Pop, Dance and R and B would all find their way to the upper positions of the Billboard HOT 100.

Next Girl - Carly Pearce: I am so happy that this amazing strong female singer songwriter is continuing to get more recognition and accolades. She won the CMA for Female Vocalist of the Year and she deserves to keep going up on to the next level.       

Whiskey and Rain - Michael Ray: There's just something about a song having the perfect shuffle beat for a stationary cha cha that makes it an instant favorite. This is one of the best to come out in a long time.       

Martha Divine - Ashley McBryde: Another strong female singer songwriter delivering the classic story song of revenge on cheating hearts. A great beat with impressive vocals to perfectly tell the dark tale of getting away with murder.    

Undivided - Tim McGraw and Tyler Hubbard: This is the perfect anthem of hope for a better future. You can't live in denial that the country is more divided and polarized than ever so hearing this on repeat all year shined a glimmer of optimism that we can all come together.      

Somebody Like That - Tenille Arts: It's so refreshing to hear a strong female singer songwriter deliver a fantastic song that comes from her heart and also serves impressive vocals with a great beat for a two-step. .    

Freedom Was A Highway - Jimmie Allen and Brad Paisley: Jimmie is having a great year appearing on Dancing With The Stars, having hit songs and earning a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. This is a great song with the nostalgia of the old days and a welcome return of Brad Paisley.    

The Good Ones - Gabby Barrett: This former American Idol finalist came back with another amazing song to prove that her big hit last year was not a fluke. She's a strong female singer songwriter who is the real deal.    

Younger Me - Brothers Osbourne: Coming out as gay this year, TJ Osbourne and his brother John give us a heartfelt anthem of inspiration to hang in there confident that life gets better no matter how rough it was when we were younger.    

Famous Friends - Chris Young and Kane Brown: Great music is a celebration of living our best lives with all the special people who mean so much to us. This is the song to enjoy when you get together with all of yours.     

GOOD TIME - Niko Moon: During the hard times we need this song to allow us to take a breath, relax and just have that GOOD TIME.   

More Favorite Songs of 2014

I recently listed my Top 10 Favorite Songs of 2014. Just for clarification let me explain that those songs all had to meet the eligibility for that list by reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard HOT 100 during 2014. I happen to be one of those people that believes that "It's not a hit until it's a hit on Billboard". Just in case you don't know, in order to reach the top of the Billboard HOT 100, a song must get the most sales and radio airplay for any given week.

There were lots of other songs that I loved in 2014 that failed to make the top 10 on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart. Here's a list of some of my other favorites in 2014. One thing that I can say about all of these songs is that it's a shame it didn't get more sales and airplay to do better on the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart.

In the ideal world, great songs from Country, Pop, Dance and R&B would all find their way to the upper positions of the Billboard HOT 100.

Somethin' Bad - Carrie Underwood with Miranda Lambert: The two biggest female artists in Country Music got together to provide the hottest rockin jam of the year.   

Small Town Throw down - Brantley Gilbert with Thomas Rhett and Justin Moore: There was so much young smoking hot country man testosterone raging through this song it was impossible not to love it!   

This Is How We Roll - Luke Bryan with Florida Georgia Line: There's just something about songs with young smoking hot country man testosterone raging through them. Gotta love it!   

Bottoms Up - Brantley Gilbert: This song is sexy as hell and it makes for the best shadow dance of the night. 

Bartender - Lady Antebellum: Every song Lady Antebellum releases seems to be better than the last! Bartender took them down an all new and exciting direction of catchy and fun country/pop awesomeness.   

Something In The Water - Carrie Underwood: Listen to her exceptionally outstanding vocals - How Sweet The Sound!! The best voice is country music also just happens to be the best voice in ALL of music.  

The Walker - Fitz and The Tantrums: From the distinctive whistle to the great beat and catchy hook, this song had no choice but to be one of the favorites of the year.   

Follow Your Arrow - Kacey Musgraves: There are those people who are dismissive of Country Music saying it is just a bunch of wacko religious conservatives and rednecks. But this song about kissing boys or kissing girls if that's what your into was awarded the Song of the Year by the Country Music Association, so just ponder that for a moment before you judge. :)   

River Bank - Brad Paisley: I always love it when a new song comes out that is perfect for dancing a County Line. Especially when it's as good as this one with such a fun video.  

Roller Coaster - Luke Bryan: It's a really great thing when the lyrics to a song relate perfectly to the things that happen in our own lives. Every time I heard this song I was taken back to that week that ended too soon and left me twisting like an old beach roller coaster.... 

Carrie looking amazing in a new video!

An official video has finally been released for the spectacular duet between Brad Paisley and the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood. Remind Me should be in heavy rotation on CMT very soon and it is a likely contender for the #1 position on the CMT Top 20 Video Countdown.

It's a simple and tasteful portrayal of Carrie and Brad walking towards each other in the vast and beautiful desert. The video showcases their amazing voices and just mesmerizes you as they move closer to each other.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qzhngp7jh8

Remind Me is currently at #27 on the Billboard HOT 100 and it should get a boost with the release of this exceptional video.

New Music from Carrie and David

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood makes a debut on the Billboard HOT 100 this week at #59 on a duet with her Country Music Association co-host, Brad Paisley. It's a wonderful ballad called Remind Me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQYToz7o6BQ

The Season 7 Miss American Idol winner, David Cook, is hoping to have a hit with the first release from his second album, This Loud Morning, that will be released on June 28th. The video for the first single, The Last Goodbye, is already in the rotation on VH1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4VyubKgRG8

Finally, after only three weeks on the chart I Love You This Big from the Season 10 Miss American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, drops down to #68.

The Results - Lady Gaga

Scotty and James opened the show with a performance of the Brad Paisley and Keith Urban duet, Start A Band. James was able to add a convincing musical interpretation to the lyrics as this is something that he has clearly been striving toward for his entire life, while Scotty was just going through the motions. Lauren and Haley followed this up with their best effort of the Miranda Lambert anthem Gunpowder and Lead. The fact is, though, that clearly neither of these girls has the spit fire composition to live up to the premise of the what little girls are made of in the song.

Lady Gaga performed a live concert on HBO this week and the You and I clip from it was shared with the American Idol audience. It was nice to see this song done well after the mess that Haley made of it a couple of weeks ago.

Lauren was then the first of the remaining finalists to secure a spot in this year's top three.

The Season 6 Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks, has enjoyed some wonderful well-deserved success since getting the crown. She has consistently reached the top 10 on the Billboard HOT 100 with singles, No Air, Tattoo and Battlefield. Tonight she made the debut of her latest single, I Am Woman, which is an empowering dance throw down. Hopefully this year's finalists were watching closely and learning a lesson about how a very young and talented singer should look in order to have pop music success. Jordin looked and sounded amazing.

Enrique Iglesias made his way back to the upper portion of the charts last year with his dance club friendly songs like I Like It. Tonight he is hoping to get more success with his release Dirty Dancer.

In an unpleasant twist, it was announced that Haley would be the next person joining Lauren in the top three along with Scotty. That left the most impressive singer with the best vocal range and stage presence, James Durbin, to be the one eliminated this week.

Needless to say, I was not right with my prediction at all this week and Haley is continuing to move another step closer to winning the Season 10 Miss American Idol crown.

It seems like James Durbin is set to follow in the footsteps of Chris Daughtry who was eliminated at this same point during Season 5, but went on to release the top selling album for all of 2007.

2010 CMA Viewing Party!

As the 2010 Country Music Association Awards was approaching I was filled with anticipation. Of course, I was looking forward to seeing the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood perform live on stage, but there was even more to be excited about.

A wonderful friend decided to host a 2010 CMA's Viewing Party in the Movie Theater at his condo. How awesome is that!!!! Watching on a big screen TV, eating pizza, cookies and cupcakes with your favorite friends!!!

The night turned out to be a super fun blast even though I am sad to report that Carrie ended up not winning either of the awards she was nominated for. But even though she didn't take home an award, she was still quite the star of the evening as she hosted the show once again with Brad Paisley. Carrie looked stunning as usual pleasing the crowd with 7 different costume changes.

She opened the show with a performance of her high energy jam Songs Like This.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az4_6wHhuzE

Later in the show she came back to sing her latest single whose video just hit the #1 position on the CMT Top 20 Countdown, Mama's Song. For this lovely song she stood center stage in a beautiful long lilac gown.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbbxfS2AR1I

In addition to hosting the show and having two performances, Carrie was spotted in not just one, but two commercials that were airing during the show. Carrie is the radiantly beautiful and flawless face of the new Olay ad campaign and the new commercial for the Chronicles of Narnia film features a new song written and sung by Carrie. It's called There's a Place For Us and the film opens in theaters on December 10th.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE3KeVmLl1g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ2Vzw33v6w

Season Five Miss American Idol finalist Kellie Pickler made an appearance on the show as a presenter exuding her usual bubbly personality in a fabulous gold sparkly number. The Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson is also getting back in touch with the Country audience after her successful duet with Reba a few years back. This time Kelly performed a duet on stage with Jason Aldean. She truly provided one of the best vocal performances of the night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyUZQodw_wY

All award shows should be viewed this way because even though none of the awards went to any of our favorite Miss American Idols, a great time was had by all and we all felt like winners! Thanks Andrew!

CMA 2010 Nominations

November 10th 2010 is looking to be another great night for the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood. This is the night that she will join Brad Paisley for the third year in a row as the hosts for the CMA Awards. In addition to showing off her wonderful personality for the entire night, we are sure to see her in a whole new assortment of beautiful fashions with each different moment on stage. And, of course, she will add another outstanding live television performance to the list of ones she's already done. With her recent marriage to hockey player Mike Fisher, I predict that she will sing the lovely and appropriate Mama's Song, which could be the next single from her amazing album Play On now that the current single, Undo It, is ending its reign as the undisputed song of the summer.

While being the queen of the night with her hosting duties and performance, Carrie is in the running to add some more awards to her impressive collection. She is once again nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year and her Album, Play On, is up for Album of the Year.

The People's Choice

The 2010 People's Choice Awards were on tonight and as expected, The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood has added yet another award to her collection. Based on the online voting process Carrie won the award for Favorite Country Artist. She was up against Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift and managed to come out on the top of the heap!

Season Five Miss American Idol 3rd Runner Up Chris Daughtry was in the category of Favorite Rock Band, but he ended up losing to Paramore. Season Three finalist and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson was in the category of Favorite R&B Artist but she was up against the biggest superstar of all-time, who of course ended up getting the most votes, Mariah Carey.

And in another instance where there was no competition, in the category for Favorite Competition Show it's no surprise at all that American Idol, still the highest rated show on TV, was clearly the People's Choice and the winner.

As we get closer to the start of the ninth season of American Idol we can look forward to meeting an entirely new group of finalists who will hope to someday be the people's choice. We can look forward to Ellen Degeneres joining as a judge and seeing if any of the music will make an impact on the charts this year. And as a matter of fact, the winner of the People's Choice award for Favorite Talk Show was the Ellen Degeneres Show!

Speaking of having high hopes of having chart impact, Season Five Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up Katherine McPhee is releasing a new album today called Unbroken. In her new video for the single Had It All she's almost unrecognizable from the finalist who stood next to Taylor Hicks when he won the crown as she has dyed her hair blond! Will the music buying public know it's even her? Next week we'll be able to see how well it sells to debut on the Billboard albums chart.

Also coming up this Monday January 11th is the premier of something new and completely different from Season Three Miss American Idol winner Fantasia. She will be starring in her own reality show on VH1. I can't wait to see it and see if she can get some more singles or albums back on the charts as a result of this kind of promotion.

Carrie Underwood back at #1

Carrie Underwood's "Play On" bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart this week, shifting 318,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

It's the country star and former "American Idol" champ's second album to top the Billboard 200, after her sophomore set "Carnival Ride" bowed in the penthouse with 527,000 in 2007. Underwood's debut effort, "Some Hearts," started at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in 2005 and at No. 1 on Top Country Albums with 315,000.

"Play On's" 318,000 sum is also the largest sales week for an album by a woman in 2009.

This debut at #1 arrives on the same day that the Season Four Miss American Idol winner co-hosts the CMA Awards with Brad Paisley. She performed her smash hit Cowboy Casanova which has been the #1 video on CMT's Top 20 countdown for three weeks now.

The big winner at the CMA's turned out to be the young woman who has been following in Carrie's footsteps all year. 19 year old Taylor Swift ended up winning the awards for Female Vocalist of the Year as well as Entertainer of the Year. Just like Carrie did earlier this year at the ACM's, Taylor ended up snagging the biggest prize of the night from the old boys club.

The next big award show of the season will be the American Music Awards Sun. Nov. 22nd. Once again Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry are the only Miss American Idol finalists who managed to get any nominations. Neither of last years top two, David Cook or David Archuleta, have made a ripple in the music awards season so far. The glaring omission from the 2009 American Music Awards nominations is Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson. She had a huge #1 smash early in the year with My Life Would Suck Without You and it is certainly deserving of recognition.

This year's top two, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert, are right at the beginning of their opportunity for ongoing success in the music world with new albums coming out this month. We'll just have to wait and see what happens....

Entertainer of the Year!

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner, Carrie Underwood has done it again!! She is continuing to add more and more awards to her collection. Tonight it was on the Academy of Country Music Awards.

She performed on the show twice and she had three costume changes. The first time she sang All American Girl in a beautiful short white dress that showed off her amazing legs. The second time she exuded class as she flawlessly performed her current hit single I Told You So. She stood center stage dressed in a grand red gown that surrounded her like fabulous rose petals.

After these two showstopping crowd pleasers it's no surprise that Carrie was first called up to the stage to accept the award for Female Vocalist of the Year. The next time she graced the stage I'm sure it came as a surprise to some. With top notch competition like George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley and Keith Urban who would have thought that Carrie Underwood would rise above them all and be named ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR!!!!!

I had no doubt in my mind that she would win. :)

Carrie continues to set the standard and raise the bar for all American Idol finalists to live up to. It's unlikely that any will ever get close to achieving her status, but let's hope they never stop trying!

The Results - Grand Ole Opry

On last week's results show The Season One Miss American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, sang her recent #1 smash, My Life Would Suck Without You. This week she is topping the Billboard album chart with her latest release, All I Ever Wanted with sales of 255,000. Doesn't suck so much at all.

Tonight's group performance of Trouble was a fun burst of high energy. For the most part the Scott MacIntyre choreography issue was resolved by having him sit at the piano while the others danced around him. It turned out to be a very good choice for the song.

Only the top 10 finalists make it to go on the American Idol Summer tour. Danny Gokey, Lil Rounds, Anoop Desai all learned that they are going to be part of the Live Concert festivities while Allison Iraheta and Michael Sarver learned that they are the first two in the bottom three.

Brad Paisley is another country music legend who is a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He sure looked great up there on the American Idol stage wearing his tight jeans, boots and cowboy hat as he sang his latest single, Then. Every week when I go dancing at Charlie's I'm surrounded by a dance floor full of Brad Paisleys. I'm not kidding, you gotta go and check out the handsome crowd over there!

Scott MacIntyre, Meagan Joy Corkery, Matt Giraud, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert are all going on tour this summer. That left Alexis Grace to round out the bottom three. It didn't remain three for long as Allison Iraheta was sent back to safety.

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner, Carrie Underwood has already had four #1 singles on the Billboard HOT Country chart from her album, Carnival Ride. The fifth single is a cover of a song that Randy Travis had a hit with in 1988 called, I Told You So. The album version is Carrie singing it solo, but tonight Carrie and Randy got together to sing it live for the first time as a duet. This performance was nothing short of spectacular. Carrie just keeps getting better and better. This year's finalists have a lot to live up to.

Turns out that Michael Sarver is safe and I got my prediction right that Alexis Grace would be the lowest vote getter. She sang her clunky version of Jolene one more time while the judges considered if they were going to use their Judges Save. They did not.

This week I got two out of my three predictions correct as well as my prediction for who would be going home. And I have to admit I'm a little surprised. Can't wait to see what happens next week!