NASHVILLE, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Country music superstar Lee Ann Womack says she's not sure what the Country Music Association is thinking with its pop culture crossover for its awards show.
The CMA Awards will be handed out Nov. 15 in New York instead of Nashville and Billy Joel, Jon Bon Jovi and "The Sopranos" star James Gandolfini are among the country outsiders scheduled to appear. Womack is nominated for six awards this year.
"I think it's kind of weird sometimes how some of the powers that be in the country music business think that's cool," Womack told Sunday's Nashville Tennessean. "That really boggles my mind. I'm not sure what they're thinking."
Nashville Universal Music Group chief Luke Lewis -- who is Womack's boss as well as a member of the CMA TV committee -- says the bottom line is ratings.
"I actually love that Lee Ann Womack has the nerve to say that," he told the newspaper. "Sounds like something I'd say.
"But I'm a record executive. If it'll make more people watch the show, I'm all for that."
