Controversial song may grace Stadium of Fire

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    By Janae Willardson

    Toby Keith may violate a contract with BYU when he sings “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” at the Stadium of Fire on July 4.

    The American Freedom Festival”s Stadium of Fire has a contract through BYU concerning proper conduct inside the LaVell Edwards Stadium, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

    “We advise them (all performers) that this is a family-oriented show and they should uphold the standards of BYU,” said John Whittaker, Stadium of Fire producer.

    “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” contains lyrics in response to Sept. 11 events. Part of the song contains a three-letter obscenity word.

    When asked whether Keith would be singing this song at Stadium of Fire, Whittaker”s response was “most definitely.”

    According to the contract between the Freedom Festival and BYU, “AFF will use its best efforts to assure that its employees, agents and performers will respect the moral and ethical standards of BYU and the Church by presenting only high quality entertainment, routines, scripts, lyrics and actions in the best of taste and that no profanity, vulgarity, or obscene or suggestive language, stories, inferences or innuendos will be included.”

    “It is our understanding that Toby Keith is aware of the standards set and of the type of audience and that this is a family-oriented function,” said Carri Jenkins, assistant to the president for university communications.

    Whittaker said that Keith was hired before the song came out. Since the song has been released, the Freedom Festival has never reconsidered its decision to hire Keith.

    “We couldn”t find a more patriotic singer than Toby Keith,” Whittaker said.

    However, Marcy Yamaguchi, a senior from San Francisco majoring in elementary education who plans to attend the Stadium of Fire, feels differently.

    “It isn”t just about a three-letter word, it is the entire message and theme of the song that bothers me,” Yamaguchi said.

    Whittaker said that the Freedom Festival is more worried there will be a negative reaction from the audience if Toby does not sing ”The Angry American” song.

    Keith”s song has also been in the middle of a controversy with ABC.

    Sandy Friedman, executive vice president of entertainment music at Rogers and Cowan, which represents Keith, said ABC confirmed Keith”s appearance on ABC”s Fourth of July special “Voice Across America” until host Peter Jennings vetoed his appearance because of the “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” song.

    “Peter Jennings heard the song and vetoed it because of the song”s lyrical content,” said Freidman.

    He said Keith wrote the song three days after Sept. 11 and dedicated it to his father, who lost his eye serving his country.

    “It is the No. 1 song in country because fans identify with the feelings of anger,” Friedman said.

    Yamaguchi said feelings about Sept. 11 are personal and different for every American and cannot be summed up in a country song.

    Whittaker said that the Freedom Festival has talked to Keith in general about singing songs but has not specifically asked him to censor any part of a song.

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