CMAfest.com review

Going… Going… Gone! Popular Martina McBride Celebrity Auction Raises Big Bucks for YW

It was 93 degrees hot and sunny as fans gathered under a shady tent in the Family Zone for The 23rd annual YW Celebrity Auction with Martina McBride hosted by Jay Teter and featuring Blue County, Jimmy Wayne and Trent Willmon. This is McBride’s eighth year with the auction. Before McBride’s highly anticipated arrival, the big ticket item was a pair of jeans worn on stage and autographed by Keith Urban, which went for $4,000.

Jennifer Rhodes and Amanda Millen from Atlanta, Ga., who were seated in the third row said; “No, we’re not bidding on anything, or at least we’re not planning on it. We’re just here to see Martina.”

When McBride arrived, dressed in denim capris, a white button-up shirt and red, lace-up wedge sandals, she headed straight for the stage to greet her ecstatic fans. Ah, the positive power of celebrity. From the moment the star graced the stage to auction off her personal items, the bidding skyrocketed.

McBride introduced her first item; “We’re on this Timeless tour, and it’s going really great thanks to a lot of you! We did a show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City; the first time I’d ever played there, and I was very thrilled that we sold-out the show in New York City. Radio City gave me this plague that says; ‘Presented to Martina McBride in honor of your sold-out performance, February 18, 2006’.” The item sold for a whopping $5,000.

One unique item McBride brought along was herself, but in a slightly smaller version.

“The people from Mattel called me up and said; ‘You want to be a Barbie?’” McBride explained. “I said, ‘Sure I’ll be a Barbie! But can we talk about the measurements, make them a little more realistic.’”

Mattel told McBride “no” on the measurements, but allowed her to have a lot of input in the actual styling of the Barbie, including the outfit that the Barbie would wear.

“This is unbelievable,” Pat Shea, YW CEO, said about the auction. “Because of this event, women in Nashville have somewhere safe to go 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Martina McBride, Verizon and CMA make this happen. This is great and we thank all of our sponsors.”

Auction organizers, Melinda Czarnyszka, Chair and Christy Czarnyszka, Co-Chair were also thanked for all of their hard work.


For a further review on the events of this year's CMA fest, visit: http://www.cmafest.com/2006/