A Bone To Pick With Bobby

Katy Perry stated on American Idol, "With all due respect, I disagree with Bobby Bones." And just like that, after the olive branch to Taylor, it appeared a new rift could be beginning.

Three years ago, due to controversy on Twitter, I tuned into Bobby Bones for the first time ever. I wrote Nitpicky about Bobby Bones... about that experience which caused Bobby to hit me back and say, "Holy $#!+," which you can read by clicking here.

At that time, I was the Network Program Director for WAY-FM, and we were on fire in Nashville, hitting the highest heights in station history with cume through the roof, and my morning show was beating Bobby Bones, as Bobby had yet to bow down to the gatekeepers of Country, something he'd probably have to do if the political powers that be would ever let him thrive in the land of cowboy boots.

Just as that last article analogously utilized the 1980's rise in Chicago of Jonathon Brandmeier's climb to ratings domination in The Windy City to what would soon become the same fate of Bobby Bones in his now, hometown of Nashville, it didn't take, but about 90 more days for the show to outright explode.

To the Stratosphere

And it did! My morning show and others have been wondering what happened ever since.

Before I pick apart what Bobby did, let me state clearly what he didn't do. He never bowed to the gatekeepers; instead he remained true to his convictions that his team was good enough to do the job of winning, and led with those instincts, and if there's one thing I can tell you about gatekeepers; they may be old school, but they're not stupid. They know when it's time to join in, rather than keep fighting a locomotive that's about to plow you over.

And for those who don't abide, they are usually replaced hanging on 'white knuckled' to a past that in reality, left long ago.

Rick Dees made a living a long time by doing a style of radio that included fake characters and phone scams, but what didn't make it on the air on that show was WHO WAS RICK DEES? But at the same time, there were shows like Stern in New York, and Steve Dahl in Chicago creating a daily show based on the reality of their lives, and the lives of the people in the studio with them, and THEN also the lives of the people listening.

What people like the brilliant Kid Kraddick did was do a merge of the phone scam style, with the realities of the characters within the studio, added to that daily FOCUSED prep and targeted content, and from that template came people like Bert in Atlanta, Ace & TJ and so many others. Even Ryan Seacrest adopted and adapted to this style as he transitioned from PM Drive at KYSR to AM Drive at KIIS-FM taking the baton from Dees.

Botox Doesn't Count

But the Bobby Bones show was void of anything fake, no fake callers, no call-in topics from a tip sheet; but instead we lived through the death of the mother of Bobby's co-host Amy, and from that time of her mom's heart and fight, came a movement that my wife's hat and coffee mug reminds me of often, #PimpinJoy

When Amy's mother could have been sad and down and dark and depressed, what was shown was the LIGHT that radiates inside a human with heart, and with that there was no Phone Scam or Complete Sheet topic that would have made radio more interesting.

Last year as Father's Day passed, once again Twitter was drawing me back to the Bobby Bones show, I had tears as I watched Bobby on a video in Haiti with two children who were in the process of being adopted by co-host Amy.

What was mind blowing was that Bobby figured out a way behind the scenes to get clearance, permissions and found the exact village where the children were and on the weekend of Father's Day, he took time and created moments with these kids, who if everything went smoothly, would soon be children in his radio life on an almost daily basis.

No Child Left Behind

He did this without Amy knowing it. She knew nothing until it was revealed on their day back at work.

This moment was only elevated as Amy would have to fight with the system because for many weeks, perhaps months, it appeared that the adoption was not a sure thing. But there was a big problem for Bobby Bones audience. He used the reality of life to draw all of them in, and they were all in...

Amy asks Bobby why he did it. Why did he go spend time with her children to be, and Bobby never says this, but it is most apparent of all... "Because he LOVES her." It isn't that affair type love, it is that best friend type love that drew some of the best people in our lives so close to us all. But it is THAT ingredient that makes all of this so captivating. Bobby Bones Cares...immensely about people.

So, there he was on American Idol on ABC for the first time, on a season of a show that was supposed to be a joke, and Bobby's role would be that of mentor and there were many great surprises to this show. One of them was that the talent pool might have potentially been the best overall talent on any season of Idol; and another was how comfortable Bobby was in dealing with talent, and how quickly he'd get to their deepest fears or weaknesses, and how he was quick to speak positively into that specific part of their lives.

Bobby would remain consistent in that role of encourager so in the finale when Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan the Idol judges gave the talent harsh criticisms near the shows' final minutes, Bobby Bones in a segment where he was given a moment for his insights stated that the judges' words were too harsh and that he disagreed with their commentary.

To Steal A Quote from Ali G "RESTECP"

He was right to disagree. Any other statement would have not been true to his role and just like the gatekeepers, it didn't matter to him what they may have thought.

Katy Perry, said, "With all due respect, I disagree with Bobby Bones," and just like that another breakthrough, people were still opposing Bobby, but this time with respect.

There is no question that he has mine.