I hate him. I love him. I can't stand him. I want him. I hope he suffers. I hope he doesn't get hurt. I won't buy his CD. I will download the new song. I won't go see him. I will still see him. Is he in love? Is it a contract? Did he lie all along? Did he take advantage of us? Is he really the man I thought he was?
If you are a skeptic, Keith Urban is either the biggest bastard you have ever encountered or a sad insecure shadow of the man he used to be, or something in the middle. He has been all of that for this writer. I have been around for a while. I figured out a long time before Nicole Kidman entered the picture that Keith Urban was not a barefoot lovelorn poet. He wasn't my savior. He was a human being. A talented, good looking man granted, but he was also his own person. He made a conscious choice to seduce the minivan mom. He and his people learned what sold country music and who was buying it. Thus, that guitar guy became sex on legs and frankly this early mid-life woman found that appealing. How many of you thought of Keith as your free pass? And he played it. Win the loyal bunnies and prove later that you are credible musician. Was it easy for him?
Did he sell his soul or just a package? Was it such a chore for him to meet all those women who had these fantasies about him? Some say it was. Some say he was told how he would be portrayed and he went along with it. Others say he liked his fans and that meeting all these women made a very insecure man more secure.
Keith played his game as an expert. The girlfriends were kept in the shadows. They attended the award shows and lived with him in Nashville and on the road. The man had a private life. Yet, he continued to meet the fans on his own. The shy and very talented man was giving something back to a large number of people. This worked for both Keith and the fans. More and more he got noticed. His fans got him noticed. He didn't have to pay anyone to promote him, he already paid for it.
Around 2004, the fans started to splinter. It wasn't because Keith was doing anything differently, but as he became more successful and the desire to gain more fans took over the cracks in the carefully constructed persona. Around this time was when Camp Urban started compiling the infamous list of the unbalanced. The internet and the rise of message boards also helped build this intense frenzy that was Keith Urban. As more diverse people became fans doubts as to if Keith was really real started to emerge. If you didn't believe the spin 100% you weren't a "real" fan. People were questioned about their loyalty. Loyalty to what? A group created persona?
With the emergence of the scam known as the sideshow the skeptics broke off. Most skeptics were labeled as such and were banned from the public message boards. Why the fear in someone’s opinion? Because it blew apart the whole myth that is Keith Urban. If he can be seen with this actress person then what else had he done to be famous? And that is where we are today.
I am as responsible for his greatest hits CD as any other Keith Urban fan. I also know that I was part of a plan that was put in place in some office in LA or New York or Nashville in 1999. What getting involved with the actress did was make all of us wonder who this guy was. Many were pissed because he wasn't who we believed him to be. The creep actually married her. He took this sideshow that far. He is still in that myth and that is what confuses so many of us. I do not think there is any love in this union. Nor do I think he has changed since rehab. I also believe in his talent. It has been hard to do that in the last 18 months, even the stage show is more packaged. One complaint is that Keith has taken the sex out of the show. I agree with that but I also was entertained. So, like so many of us, I made the choice to stay a fan of this guy. I don't like his personal life at all and I hate how they have used that to make him more famous. But I do like to see him play. I learned to listen to him play and not let myself be played. I think it is a lesson many of his fans should learn. I don't hate him. That would mean I let myself care and that really wouldn't be healthy. Keith Urban is a human being with a gift. There are a lot like him out there. Just be wise when you are being spoon fed - sometimes you need to spit as well as swallow.
If you are a skeptic, Keith Urban is either the biggest bastard you have ever encountered or a sad insecure shadow of the man he used to be, or something in the middle. He has been all of that for this writer. I have been around for a while. I figured out a long time before Nicole Kidman entered the picture that Keith Urban was not a barefoot lovelorn poet. He wasn't my savior. He was a human being. A talented, good looking man granted, but he was also his own person. He made a conscious choice to seduce the minivan mom. He and his people learned what sold country music and who was buying it. Thus, that guitar guy became sex on legs and frankly this early mid-life woman found that appealing. How many of you thought of Keith as your free pass? And he played it. Win the loyal bunnies and prove later that you are credible musician. Was it easy for him?
Did he sell his soul or just a package? Was it such a chore for him to meet all those women who had these fantasies about him? Some say it was. Some say he was told how he would be portrayed and he went along with it. Others say he liked his fans and that meeting all these women made a very insecure man more secure.
Keith played his game as an expert. The girlfriends were kept in the shadows. They attended the award shows and lived with him in Nashville and on the road. The man had a private life. Yet, he continued to meet the fans on his own. The shy and very talented man was giving something back to a large number of people. This worked for both Keith and the fans. More and more he got noticed. His fans got him noticed. He didn't have to pay anyone to promote him, he already paid for it.
Around 2004, the fans started to splinter. It wasn't because Keith was doing anything differently, but as he became more successful and the desire to gain more fans took over the cracks in the carefully constructed persona. Around this time was when Camp Urban started compiling the infamous list of the unbalanced. The internet and the rise of message boards also helped build this intense frenzy that was Keith Urban. As more diverse people became fans doubts as to if Keith was really real started to emerge. If you didn't believe the spin 100% you weren't a "real" fan. People were questioned about their loyalty. Loyalty to what? A group created persona?
With the emergence of the scam known as the sideshow the skeptics broke off. Most skeptics were labeled as such and were banned from the public message boards. Why the fear in someone’s opinion? Because it blew apart the whole myth that is Keith Urban. If he can be seen with this actress person then what else had he done to be famous? And that is where we are today.
I am as responsible for his greatest hits CD as any other Keith Urban fan. I also know that I was part of a plan that was put in place in some office in LA or New York or Nashville in 1999. What getting involved with the actress did was make all of us wonder who this guy was. Many were pissed because he wasn't who we believed him to be. The creep actually married her. He took this sideshow that far. He is still in that myth and that is what confuses so many of us. I do not think there is any love in this union. Nor do I think he has changed since rehab. I also believe in his talent. It has been hard to do that in the last 18 months, even the stage show is more packaged. One complaint is that Keith has taken the sex out of the show. I agree with that but I also was entertained. So, like so many of us, I made the choice to stay a fan of this guy. I don't like his personal life at all and I hate how they have used that to make him more famous. But I do like to see him play. I learned to listen to him play and not let myself be played. I think it is a lesson many of his fans should learn. I don't hate him. That would mean I let myself care and that really wouldn't be healthy. Keith Urban is a human being with a gift. There are a lot like him out there. Just be wise when you are being spoon fed - sometimes you need to spit as well as swallow.
22 comments:
OK...this is a blog I can believe in. I am exactly where you are. I am not too keen on the side show, but the talent is still there. I still love to see him perform. For me, there is no better entertainer, even now that the "sex" is gone from the performance.
I fortunately, can separate the side show from the entertainer. I know that some just can't do it.
I met Keith about 10 yr ago...he was just a young guy very hungry ... very focused on his music ... but I didn't see a barefoot poet then and so I didn't buy that image. I think that's helped me not get too sucked in through all this.
He is still a man who is incredibly talented ... and apparently very hungry for success. Hopefully, that hunger doesn't over shadow his need to create and desire to make music. Right now, it looks like it has. But I still have hope that he's gonna pull this out of the downhill slide and get his career back.
imahick said:
"But I still have hope that he's gonna pull this out of the downhill slide and get his career back"
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Only if you think a co-headlining tour with Carrie Underwood is getting his career back on track.
Take that with your morning coffee!
If promoters demand Keith tour with someone who can sell their own tickets to fill venues Keith hasn't been filling this year Carrie can do that. But if everyone leaves after Carrie performs (if she goes first) or come in late to miss Keith and see Carrie it's not going to help Keith's career.
He may lose even more concert goers if they get frustrated because 1. Carrie fans bought out the good seats and/or 2. Carrie fan club members get better pre-sale seat offers than Monkeyville members.
Maybe this is another Nic publicity scheme. If Nic actually finds a day or two to go out with Keith maybe Carrie's boy friend will see her and write a publicity piece on it.
So, I guess kidman didnt help with the music career, so he's turning to another blond, huh? Yeah no hint of desperation there, just team up with the latest and hottest country performer. Do they even know each other? See this is what happens when you join the hollywood social network, you make "business" friends. Im sure they'll speak of their long and deep friendship and admiration and all. I doubt if kidman was behind it, probably a urban hack deal... the revenue of the last cd and shoddy tour schedule probably not up to snuff. Can you imagine what kidmans reaction to urban teaming with a hotter and more popular performer? Also I guess this rules out urban's claim of starting a family next year, although i guess kidman gave him a couple more years, as her story was different, and it rules out the semi retirement down on the nashville ranch she wants to lay low at. Yeah so basicallly i think this could be the start of the ever more dividing lives and irreconcilable differences i beleive they are definately headed for.
I'm actually surprised that the old, bitter wench is letting him go out on the road with a young, hot talent like Carrie. Such temptation. I bet she is on the road A LOT with him during 08. Or that she has her watchers out there with him to keep him in line.
She can't go out on tour next year. She has four movies to film after she finishes Australia - if they ever finish that movie. Since Australia is so far behind she may still be in Germany filming in January.
I find it odd Keith starts a tour Jan 1. He's always gone home in Dec for Christmas and New Years and come back to the states in mid January or so. Maybe this is his excuse to get away from her and her family - since she probably won't let him spend much time with his own family.
Who starts a tour on New Years' Day? And who wants to go to a show the day after New Years' Eve?
Yeah, so much for their down-home country Christmas milking the goat at the ranch in TN.
Who starts a tour on New Years' Day? And who wants to go to a show the day after New Years' Eve?
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This tour starts Jan 31st. And I see this as a step back for Mr. Kidman
I hope Keith plays first so I can get up and leave after he plays.I can't stand Carrie Underwood.And I bet her fan club will get all the good seats because God knows Monkeyville doesn't give a fat rats ass about his fan club members getting decent seats.I wish I knew for sure if the pasty one was going to be there in Chicago or Nashville.I wan't to see him but if she's there it's not worth a 4-5 hour drive.
Even if Carrie can sing, no one who goes to see an energetic musician like Keith will want to waste 1/2 a concert sitting through Carrie.
So the latching on to a famous actress hasn't worked so well, time to latch on to a popular up and comer.
His choices are not looking good on his career.
What I think is going on, is that urban's management team made this move, obviously trying to get him back on track. It will be interesting of course to see how kidman reacts to this. Will she be snapping her fingers more often... will there be any sudden last minute cancellations, and flying back "home" to take care of the problem?
Now...."Love, Pain & the whole crazy Carnival Ride Tour,"? Another year of touring for a cd that was released a year and 3 months ago.? Again, its smacks of desperation for a floundering cd.... Why it absolutley smacks of a "kidmanesque" marathon on overindulgance. So, is she still filming in Oz? cant seem to get a clear answer to that. So, I guess the first dominoes have been sent on their way on a rushing and unfurling journey to its inevitable message...."irreconcilible differences".
Maclen,
Now lets be fair. Keith's albums are always spaced 2 years apart. The hits album is the first time he has released an album in less time than that. So touring 2 years on one album is the norm for him. Besides, since there is no new material on the hits album what's a boy to do? The only possible singles are the remake and the cover. I'm sure the record company is just hoping Love Pain + Hits = the sales of a normal album.
And "the Australian film" has not wrapped production. Not sure if she's still in US doing Margo promotion or if she's actually back in OZ working but she'll definitely be back in Oz by Monday for "a court appearance scheduled around filming".
I think I heard Keith will be working on a new album starting the beginning of next year? (Assuming an Oct or Nov release date if true that keeps with the schedule for an album every two years.) Last time he took 6 months off to write and record (yes among other things). If he's in TN recording and she's filming out of country maybe his friends can get to him and deprogram him.
Well cj, the specifics aside... since i have no interest in them!.. I definatly believe urban has stumbled beyond repair, I dont believe he will regain that first fame success, mainly because hes taken the sorry publicity model of kidmans, which is basically the same shallow, rehashed , by the numbers... showbiz Pr 101... the same life topics... magazine to magazine... love to have a kid... want to settle down from acting... divorce was... or is traumatic... not "happy" in marriage... but the fact is her life is her career, and her career is her life. And if urban is in her life, her career is about his life... and no matter how many awards appearances, premiere red carpet shows, tv show gigs, magazine fairy tales, urban's career will become as mediocre as hers in actual success.
One small difference between Keith and Nicole - Keith genuinely has talent. That talent is the only thing saving what little career he has at the moment. Do I think he is done? Maybe in 5 more minutes IF he doesn't separate Nic from his career. If he 1. stops talking about her 2. gets away from her and/or 3. stops listening to her and her pr people he might be able to turn it around. Unfortunately, if he doesn't want to it won't happen and he doesn't seem to want to.
Maclen, for a person who hasn't followed KU's career as much as others, you sure are a quick study.
Everything you've said about him in these replies is right on.
His career is sinking faster than the Titanic. Now he's gonna have what fans he has left sit through Carries show, who is about as exciting to watch as fly on a snails ass.
Its just basic perception of the tangable realities of the preformance in his career this past year, hesaweiner. I may not have knowledge of urbans career or music, but Ive seen many other hot and up and coming stars to believe that its not very hard to fizzle... Bigger and hotter "sensations" have come and gone. So its not that hard to predict that, as his success reached a peak, hooking up with a fading hollywood celeb. was not going to really shoot him into the stratosphere.... especially not with his addiction problems, or kidmans illusionary and industry subsidized popularity, or more correctly, her unpopularity. And certainly not after ending up in rehab only months after the so called fairy tale union... and cj, i agree, it seems urban has bought into her idea of a hollywood celebrity couple... and hes willing to overlook all her dubious and everchanging ideas of what a happy couple is. At this point I dont have too much confidence he can change anything about it.
The thought of sitting through a Candy Underpants concert just to see Keith is about as thrilling as cleaning toilets.f
ITA with you banbotox I would rather take my chances with the frozen bitch being there than have to sit through Candy Underpants.I guess I will try Nashville on the 30th at least Gary Allen should be good even if Hagatha does show up. At least he won't send anyone into a diabetic coma like Underwood.
Well first off I'm surprised that Nikkers is even letting Keith tour with the young pretty girl. How many babysitters do you think he'll have around him at all times?
I refuse to pay to see him regardless of who's opening for him at the moment. He's lost too much of my respect. I don't want to give him a dime of my money. He let Nicole come in and ruin everything he had going for him. His momentum in 05' was something that shouldn't have been messed with. Instead it came to a screeching hault. She got her pasty little hands into his career and life and now he's part of the Kidman curse.
Who knows if he can save his career. I think he needs to either ditch the wench or learn how to seperate her completley from his "work." It gets rediculous to hear that he dedicates songs to her at every show. Geeze, theres couples out there who are truly in love that don't try to convince the public by talking about it all the time.
I totally agree, don't believe the lies. Urban is now part of what i call kidmans "personal angst tour... and I wonder what this means to her enthusiasm for going to shows. I mean, will she want to appear as a third attraction where her bit is now relagated to only half of the show? Well, unless she made sure to have a condition of urban touring with underwood that underwood also acknowedge kidman in the audience!
By the way, half way through Nov., anyone have any idea how many dates kidman has toured, or even attended a gig with urban?
I don't read every review but I have not heard of her being at any shows in a long, long time. Although I could have just missed them? I'm still wondering what that pressing business was that he had to do back in Oct. when he had to cancel all those overseas dates? Does flying back and forth to be with his "wife" constitute something important enough to let all those fans down? I think not!
I came across this space by accident.
My! it's true...you can see the mote in someone else's eye and ignore the beam in your own.
My dad used say:" All you can expect from a pig is a grunt."
Who are any of us to judge these people.
Keith and Nicole are in love.
If you can't accept their word in that, too bad for you.
Keith shows that constantly by his sincere gratitude...for Nicole, for God, for family, for music. for fans and for opportunities. It shows in his countenance, and his behavior, not just his words.
Enjoy the music, or move on.
But stop the grunting, will you?
For Keith's sake!
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