Just 2 weeks before among country music’s most significant evenings of the year, the Country Music Association announced the CMAs would certainly happen inperson (with a few pre-recorded sections weaved in) as well as inside at the Music City Center in Nashville.
Prior to the honors, a long time manufacturer of the show, Robert Deaton, kept that guests would be distanced at eight feet apart and also seated with just one musician and also visitor per table. And in a statement to Rolling Stone simply 2 days before the show, the Country Music Association stated it had actually been” extremely diligent “with its screening procedure. “Every single individual has been examined, as well as many will certainly be
tested continuously throughout the week. This remains in addition to wearing PPE as well as certainly exercising social and also physical distancing,”the declaration read. Honor receives the age of the COVID-19 pandemic have actually definitely faced challenges, yet in the past couple of months, mostly online events like the BET Awards, the Emmys, as well as the VMAs have actually shown that the show needs to and also can take place, with the appropriate procedures and also adjustments in place.
In spite of an award season full of risk-free versions to follow, Wednesday night’s CMA Awards and its guests displayed a disappointing absence of concern for the pandemic. In photos from the big night on Nov. 11, attendees are shown celebrating definitely much less than eight(or 6, for that issue)feet apart in the audience, with no masks in sight. Instead, a few stars held strange face guards suggested to cover their mouths, which according to the FDA, do
not categorize as PPE. Could they not have given up a little lipstick spot as well as put on a correct face mask instead? And to make matters worse, celebrities like Carrie Underwood as well as Miranda Lambert proudly posed with their face guards not covering their noses or mouths, as well as in various other shots were seen without any equipment whatsoever, defeating the objective of also attempting to secure themselves as well as
others. The full absence of precautions is rude to the lots of frontline workers putting their lives on the line and sets an upsetting example for audiences in the house. Considering coronavirus-related hospitalizations simply struck an all-time high in the US as well as Tennessee specifically reported the highest possible everyday
increase of COVID-19 deaths to day on Wednesday, the absence of safety measures and issue for the infection is tone-deaf at best.
Whether the CMA Awards’guests ignored rigorous recommendations or the Country Music Association gave lax standards to start with, the full absence of safety measures is ill-mannered to the many frontline workers putting their lives on the line and sets an upsetting example for audiences at home. On top of that, numerous entertainers or those in their close circles– consisting of Lady A, Rascal Flatts, Florida Georgia Line, and also Lee Brice– examined positive for coronavirus before the program and also consequently terminated their acts last minute, but that did not trigger the CMAs to implement more stringent
procedures or postpone the event completely. After Lee and also Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard introduced their positive examinations previously this week, the Country Music Association stated in a declaration that while the information was”unbelievably frustrating, “it guaranteed them that their protocols were functioning. They proceeded,”Our procedure enabled us to take care of each situation quickly as well as before either musician ever entered our collection. Most notably, it avoided any person else from being revealed.”
When questions were elevated after Wednesday’s CMAs, the organization once again guaranteed to TVLine that” extra procedures of caution “were taken, including using PPE, social and also physical distancing, as well as tables spaced 8 feet apart without any more than four participants at any type of table.”In enhancement, guests were not enabled to mill regarding during commercial breaks, as well as apart from when they were resting at their assigned tables, audience participants were needed to use masks in the place,”they proceeded.
The photos, nevertheless, show or else. In future honor programs throughout the pandemic– the CMAs absolutely will not be the last– celebrities and event hosts alike should be much more accountable in not just taking protective measures versus COVID-19, yet additionally showing level of sensitivity in the direction of the lives impacted by the virus as well as pandemic around the world. Ahead, get a closer take a look at the behind-the-scenes of the CMA Awards.