Posted on 04/20/2007 9:37:13 PM PDT by peggybac
Jeff Foxworthy's Passionate, Show-Stopping Speech at the CMT Awards
Nashville, TN -- The CMT Music Awards have a grand history of show-stopping performances, all of them rendered by such country music superstars as Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson and Big & Rich, to name only a few.
But it was host Jeff Foxworthy who stopped the show this year, when the generally genial comedian delivered a powerful, heartfelt and somewhat angry speech just before introducing the last song of the night, the haunting Anyway by Martina McBride.
Foxworthy had during his previous two gigs as host of CMT's annual awards presentation appeared in memorably funny musical performances. At the start of the 2005 show he was seen suspended above the stage with Billy Currington, the two of them whirling about in a spoof of the video for Shania Twain's Party for Two, in which Twain and Currington similarly twirl. Last April he opened the show dancing with Lisa Rinna, a competitor at the time on ABC's Dancing with the Stars.
But this year, Foxworthy's opener was a simple pre-taped sketch inspired by his gig as host of Fox' midseason hit Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? featuring country singer and Nashville Star judge Blake Shelton playing opposite kids pretending to be Kenny Chesney, Willie Nelson and other country stars. It was a charming but low-key bit that left some of us wondering if this edition of the CMT Awards would pass without a Foxworthy Moment that people would be talking about for weeks to come.
And then, with only minutes to spare, Foxworthy came through in a way nobody could have predicted. He delivered a quiet, compassionate, deadly serious commentary that was ostensibly about country music and its fans, but spoke to, about and against so much more, expressing points of view not commonly heard in entertainment programming on major television networks.
The audience didn't know how to react at first, but quickly began cheering Foxworthy along as made his points. After musing for a moment about all of the country music award shows he has hosted (including some not on CMT), Foxworthy said that as he prepared for this particular gig he began contemplating his interest in the genre. He then said the following, to periodic cheers and applause from the audience at the Curb Event Center at Belmont University:
"I started thinking about why I like country music and doing this show so much, and here's what I came up with, y'all.
"I like country music because it's about the things in life that really matter. It ain't about braggin' about how you're gonna mess somebody up, or how somebody ain't respectin' ya. It's about love, family, friends -- with a few beers, a cheap woman and a two-timin' man thrown in for spice. It doesn't take political sides, even with things as ugly as war. Instead, it celebrates the brave men and women who go to fight 'em, the price they pay to do it and the longin' we have for them to return home to the ones that they love.
"It's about kids and how there ain't nothin' like 'em. I get tired of hearin' about how bad kids are today, because there are a lot of great kids out there that just need somebody to love 'em and believe in 'em. Country folks love their kids and they will jack you up if you try to mess with 'em!
"People in country music don't forget the people that allow them to do what they do for a livin'. They sign autographs and they take pictures with the fans because they know without 'em most of us entertainers would be gettin' a lot dirtier in the course of our workday. We are thankful that people want to hear the songs and the jokes that we write. Country music doesn't have to be politically correct. We sing about God because we believe in Him. We are not trying to offend anybody, but the evidence that we have seen of Him in our small little lives trumps your opinion about whether or not He exists.
"We love country music because it touches us where we live. It's about mommas, and when they were hot, and when they are unappreciated, and when they were dyin'. It's about daddies and the difficulties they have sometimes at tellin' the people that they work so hard to protect and provide for how they feel about 'em.
"Country music is about new love and it's about old love. It's about gettin' drunk and gettin' sober. It's about leavin' and it's about comin' home. It's real music sung by real people for real people, the people that make up the backbone of this country. You can call us rednecks if you want. We're not offended, 'cause we know what we're all about. We get up and go to work, we get up and go to church, and we get up and go to war when necessary.
"All we ask for is a few songs to carry us along the way, and that's why I love this show, because it ain't some self-important Hollywood hype with the winners determined by somebody else. On this show, you decide who goes home with a trophy and you get to dance and sing along with the people that bring you the songs of your life."
What was behind Foxworthy's need to express these sentiments? In the pressroom after the show, he said he wrote it after thinking about why he likes to host the CMT Awards as much as he does. After completing it, he told us, the first person he took it to was his wife.
"I read it to her and she goes, 'I love it but they're never going to let you say it. You're supposed to be funny and it's pretty serious'," Foxworthy recalled. "When I showed up [at CMT] and we were talking about [the end of the show] -- usually at the end they have a big number, like Big & Rich, some kind of party song -- they were sayin', 'We've got kind of a serious song at the end with Martina singin' Anyway, how do you think we should tee it up?' I said, 'Well it's weird you say that. I have somethin' in my bag that I wrote five weeks ago that my wife said you wouldn't let me say.' I let them read it and they were like, 'Yeah, we love it, say it."
"The comic people don't ever expect you to be serious about somethin', but I have a serious side," Foxworthy concluded. "I have a real serious side."
No argument there.
I recorded that too..gave me goosebumps!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Amen Jeff!
You might be a redneck...if you’re patriotic and take pride in your family.
Wow! This is the entertainment equivalent to “A Time for Choosing” speech by Reagan.
What did he say about the Dixie Dinks?
put it up on google
damn good - stupid monitor is getting a little fuzzy however
He said something about them getting the Grammy,then he said he didn't know if it was any good or not because he hasn't heard it...he listens to country stations. Then he said the name of the song was "not ready to make nice", which was fine with him because we're not ready to care.
but maybe that show will be worth watching the 2nd time around....
Cool! I knew there was something I liked about the guy.
I’ll try...may take me a while, I recorded it on my DVD recorder, I’ll have to play it back through my computer so I’ll ping you when I get it posted.
That is absolutely wonderful.
That's strange, mine is too.
“You can call us rednecks if you want. We’re not offended, ‘cause we know what we’re all about. We get up and go to work, we get up and go to church, and we get up and go to war when necessary.”
This was the clincher for me. Brought tears to my eyes.
Fabulous!
“I like country music because it’s about the things in life that really matter...”
Got that right!
I'm not a listener of Country music, but Jeff nailed it. American values come from the heartland. Their music is Country.
damn good - stupid monitor is getting a little fuzzy however
That’s strange, mine is too.
Same here...quite fuzzy.
A celebrity that “gets it”!
Wonderful post and story! Thank you!
Brilliant!
Here is the video of Jeff Foxworthy plus the very appropriate song right after sung by Martina McBride. Together they provided a great ending to the show.
On the right hand side, scroll down to video #11 where
is says “2007 CMT Music Awrds 11”.
http://www.cmt.com/loaded/player.jhtml?id=1557324
You can hear it at: http://www.cmt.com/loaded/player.jhtml?vid=143621&launchedFrom=loaded_index.jhtml
It follows a commercial.
Thanks - yours is better.
I LOVE country music. I loved it as a child riding in the pick-up truck with my Dad barefooted with my feet on the windshield drinking a coke and eating peanuts. His was a farm truck. Always dusty with dirt and feed and the smell of cow piles,oil and hay. I love the smell. I loved it listening to the Grand Ole Oprey at night on the radio sleeping at my grandmas on the screened in porch. Oh I listend to rock and roll as a teenager but I never quit country. Now when I listen to Country it does remined me of Home,Love,Country,Family,Honor,Military, God and Guns. All the things I love and cherish. Oh yea also beer, dancing,horses,bad men, bad women and the best rednecks I am and know. I love McBride. Go Foxworthy.
please ping me as well when you get it posted.
Wonder if he’d consider a Cabinet post under Prez. Thompson?
“Then he said the name of the song was “not ready to make nice”, which was fine with him because we’re not ready to care.”
LOL, Excellent.
Over the past five years...there has been a transformation of country music. Somewhere in the midst of this change....you can see people actually like neighbors and friends that you’d want to have in your neighborhood. The songs? Of the top twenty out there today....at least half are major songs which you will remember for years. They are touching on our sentiment and our heartaches....and chained to our times. I’m guessing that alot of people will want to see the video-clip of Jeff’s...and it might become a popular thing.
Thank you!
I absolutely loved this line:
We sing about God because we believe in Him. We are not trying to offend anybody, but the evidence that we have seen of Him in our small little lives trumps your opinion about whether or not He exists.
Rats:
“In order to offer a broad selection of full-length music videos on-demand and free of charge, CMT Loaded uses Windows Digital Rights Management (DRM) to protect videos from unauthorized re-distribution.
“Unfortunately, Microsoft’s Windows Media Player Plug-in for Macintosh does not support Windows DRM. If DRM support becomes available for Macintosh, CMT will develop a version of CMT Loaded that works on a Mac.”
LOL, great minds.
Wow! For a redneck, Foxworthy is a class act. Thank you so much for posting this.
Has anyone else heard the new song called “Ticks”? Only a country person could understand that song. It is funny. Tick picking was a nightly thing to be done before the bath before bedtime. Momma lined up all four of us kids and checked for ticks.
Heck, I’m all for a Fred Thompson run, but if it’s gonna be an entertainer, why not Foxworthy for President?
Sounds like he has more good character than most. Willie Nelson, for example, was deviant to begin with, and anything that contributed to that outcast mentality was OK if it furthered and featured him. Not to take away from Willie’s talent, but maybe even Hitler had a good voice too... to stretch things. Perhaps, I am too harsh but then so is Willie’s message of anything goes. Community cannot stand on that.
And just the kind of classy talk I have come to expect from Jeff Foxworthy.
No PC politics, just straight comedy and entertainment.
Why were the ditsy chits even included as in the running for a CMT award?
They made it clearly known they despised their former Country Music fans and wanted to be judged by a pop music audience.
How did that work out for the ditz chits?
Guest what! It is on the CMT channel at this very moment. On Cox it is channel 49.
It’s going to run more times:
DATE / TIME: April 22: 7:00PM
April 25: 8:00PM
CHANNEL: 49 [CMTVP]
DATE / TIME: April 20: 10:00PM
April 21: 4:30PM
April 22: 1:30PM, 7:00PM
April 25: 8:00PM
April 26: 1:30PM
April 28: 10:30PM
April 29: 4:00PM
CHANNEL: 726 [MTVHD]
DATE / TIME: April 21: 6:00PM, 9:00PM
May 4: 4:30PM
May 6: 9:00AM
Thanks I will watch.
thanks for the posting - I’ve looked for the transcript. Great Show - He did great on the chicks at the beginning too.
I’m staying at the Gaylord Opryland resort in Nashville. I highly recommed it. The resort has acres of gardens and waterfalls under a glass atrium. Today we rode the riverboat the General jackson up the Cumberland. As a yankee I don’t have an ear for country, but I would have enjoyed hearing JF’s speech.
If you ever thought you’d like to kick Kerry’s ass..
You might be a redneck..
If you ever laughted at Edwards, the Breck girl trying to be a man...
You might be a redneck..
If you ever thought it a shame that Ted Kennedy was the one to survive....
You might be a redneck..
If you ALWAYS knew that Clinton was a lying coke snorting sonuvabitch...
You might be a redneck..
Semper Fi
Cool Donna!
(But I don’t have cable either.)
I hope lots of other Freepers get to watch it during the replay times you so kindly posted.
Thanks very much for your effort and consideration..
Bump for later reading
Oh dear, LOL. At midnight run over to the neighbors and borrow their TV for a 1/2 hour!
MUST SEE this fantastic Jeff Foxworthy speech at the CMT Awards ..... what an AWESOME real American! Post #24, and the opening commercial I saw was "Army Strong" .. also terrific.
You need to use Explorer .. won't work on Firefox.
We are not trying to offend anybody, but the evidence that we have seen of Him in our small little lives trumps your opinion about whether or not He exists.<<<
Don’t let that get out!...We’ll all be banned!!!!!
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