I was at my parents doing some tending, and saw this. What a mindless programme. Boy, TV is sure depressing. All these really dreary production rules that have taken over. You could just see the producers going, 3,4,5, seconds on one person -- fade to a picture, anything but stick with the music. We have to mention the black guy, and have a segment about women, and we have to have Garth Brooks in case anyone gets too lost. Every person gets their ration of time depending on their importance: Kitty Wells gets 7 seconds and two pictures; Hank Williams gets 50 seconds, matched by Patsy Cline's 50 seconds. You could just see the accounting going on. And if one heard that the Ryman was the "mother church" of country music once more, I was sure gonna spit. A totally manufactured event with zero spontaneity. The best thing on the programme was the lunatic, bizarre appearance of Richard Nixon.

yours, Peter T.