weekly May 28, 2024, Issue 911
EP Raj Kapoor On ACMs
In his second year helming the show, ACM Awards Exec. Producer Raj Kapoor was able to build on familiarity and add a few surprises. CA: Congratulations on a very well-received 59th Academy of Country Music Awards. What feedback have you gotten in terms of viewership or other reactions? RK: Thank you. All I’ve heard is everyone at Amazon Prime Video was very happy and, unofficially, that we will again be happy with the numbers. [Ed. Note: Prime Video put last year’s ACM viewership at 7.7 million, not including streaming on Twitch, Amazon Music and Amazon Live.] The outpouring of love in texts, emails and Raj Kapoor calls that [Co-Exec. Producer] Patrick Menton and I have gotten has been great. Even the out-of-genre artists were saying it was one of the best shows they’ve been to. Noah Kahan could not say enough nice things. Dua Lipa told Patrick and I, “You made my dreams come true.” She even posted that on Instagram. Several of the performances have been released as singles, so I think we had some really great moments on the show. What did you learn last year that you applied to this show? Last year we did Entertainer of the Year packages and this year we extended that to four categories. What we’ve been asking artists for is more behind-the-scenes footage. Not to speak disparagingly about music videos, but that’s only one sort of note, and these artists are successful across so many other mediums. This show is live music and we wanted to offer more of that kind of excitement for the packages. I wanted everything to have more personality and having these huge images – whether you’re in the room or watching at home – makes it feel larger than life. Our use of IMAG screens is one of the most successful things we’ve done with this show. It gives us that concert-experience-meets-televisionawards-show look. We use a vertical format on the sides of the stage so the camera’s not only close-in on the performance, but when [Director] Glenn Weiss cuts wide, you’re still seeing great closeups of the artists. You get the spectacle of the lighting and special effects, but you’re not cutting away from the artist. It’s a really interesting blend. You not only had Reba McEntire as host, but you get her next year, too. What’s that experience been so far? (continued on page 7)
Retirement? Depends: Warner Music Nashville staff give outgoing Cumulus VP/Country Charlie Cook a proper send-off basket aimed at the aged. Pictured (l-r) are Kristen Williams, Cook, Tom Martens and James Marsh.
Family Tradition: Meet The Ringers Beasley/Boston Chief Engineer Kyra Ringer joined the company earlier this month after working as an independent contract engineer in New England. Previously she was Chief Engineer for Cumulus in Fort Walton Beach and Pensacola, FL. Her father, Kyra Ringer Tom Ringer Tom Ringer, is a nearly 50year radio veteran, the last 22 with Salem. (continued on page 3)
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