Heads-up and I meaaaaaaan heads UP!

The 2010 BMI Trailblazers Awards, which honored Donnie McClurkin and Andraé Crouch, will air on gmc (formerly Gospel Music Channel) THIS SUNDAY, February 21st, at 8pm ET/7pm CST.

If you need a reminder of all the performances that went down, click here to review my recap from the event.  Suffice it to say, you don’t wanna miss this.

If you don’t get gmc where you are… that really sucks.  But I’m sure SOMEONE will post the performances on YouTube, so chin up!  They that wait…

Who’s tuning in???

Aside from the actual taping of the Stellar Awards, folks eagerly anticipate the BMI Trailblazers Awards each year.   In fact, people often say that the BMI event features greater and more memorable performances than the Stellar Awards taping, though, this year… that MIGHT not be the case… I’m gonna call it a TIE!

In any case, BMI annually honors folks in gospel who’ve made significant contributions to the genre.  This year, Donnie McClurkin and Andraé Crouch were honored.  The celebration consists of a great lunch and some incredible tribute performances.  It went a lil’ something like this…

Before the honoring went down, Dorinda Clark-Cole came to the stage to perform her hit single “Take It Back,” which received a BMI Song Of The Year award (songwriter, Derrick Starks).  You already know that Dorinda brings it like none other and I was on my feet before I could even finish my salad.

Following that, we got a surprise performance from Jessica Reedy, who sang “God Has Smiled On Me” like a seasoned professional.  She really holds her own in this game and it’s great to see how welcoming the industry is of her.

The vocal production for the afternoon came from the incomparable Donald Lawrence and DeWayne Woods.  In the background– Tobi Darks, Dawn Jordan, San Franklin, Latrice Pace, Blanche McAllister and Anita Wilson.  YES!  The band– Joe Wilson on keys, Stanley Brown on organ, Kevin Stancil on bass, Jonathan DuBose on guitar, Marvin McQuitty on drums and Lloyd Barry on horns.  GOOD LORD!

The formal program began with the tribute performances to Donnie McClurkin, hosted by Byron Cage.  The background vocalists did a snippet of “That’s What I Believe” before Latice Crawford came to deliver her rendition of “I Call You Faithful.”  After that, Micah Stampley sang his heart out on “Speak To My Heart.”  McClurkin’s best friend and pastor, Marvin Winans, set the room ablaze with his performance of “Stand” (for which he also brought up BeBe Winans) before Yolanda Adams came to the stage to perform “We Fall Down.”

The McClurkin tribute performances were great, but I wish they had done some more songs for him– they could’ve dug a little deeper into the New York Restoration Choir days, pulled some more tracks from the Live In London album, or even focused a little more on songs that he’s written for other artists (like, “This Is The Gospel Of Jesus Christ” for Hezekiah Walker or “It Is To You” by Byron Cage).  Still, awesome job and I’m glad he was honored for his great contributions to the game.

After McClurkin accepted his award, it was on to the Andraé Crouch tribute, which was hosted by Yolanda Adams.  First, Donald Lawrence led the singers in a mindblowing medley of classic Crouch tunes including “Right Now” (led by Blanche McAllister), “Quiet Time,” “Soon And Very Soon”… it was just incredible.

Up next was the one and only Táta Vega, a longtime friend of, and singer with, Andraé Crouch.  She did an intro of “Speak Lord,” (which she recorded for The Color Purple decades ago) before transitioning into a soul-stirring performance of “Oh It Is Jesus.”  It was at THAT moment that the atmosphere of the entire room shifted from tribute to worship, and the event wasn’t the same again.

After that, Yolanda Adams couldn’t even regain her composure to introduce the next performance– BeBe & CeCe Winans singing “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power.”  They just came on stage and took us to new heights, followed by Mary Mary’s staggering performance of “We Are Not Ashamed.”

Finally, Marvin Winans returned to the stage and shared some great stories about how instrumental Crouch was to the career of The Winans, even down to changing their stage name from “The Testimonial Singers” to simply, “The Winans” (thank God!).  He wrapped his segment with a performance of “Jesus Is Lord,” for which he simply had to call the legendary Karen Clark Sheard to the stage!

Andraé Crouch accepted his award and shared how he had been recently diagnosed with diabetes.  His doctors wanted to amputate his toe after discovering a large hole in it, but he shared that he had been miraculously healed!  He asks for continued prayer from the industry… great speech.

Finally, Marvin Winans led an impromptu segment of EVERYONE singing some classic Crouch songs that weren’t even on the program.  He called up Shirley Caesar, J Moss, Marvin Sapp, Donnie McClurkin… there are no words!

That’s that, essentially.  Dunno how much of it will make the edited televised program, but look for it on February 21st on Gospel Music Channel.  I’ll remind you as the time comes closer!

Soooo… whatd’ya think?!

Okay, good news and bad news…

The bad news is that there won’t be any new posts on the site today.  The good news is that you can follow me on Twitter for up-to-the-minute tidbits and recaps of EVERYTHING I do during Stellar Weekend… and that’s gonna be quite a bit.

My wife and I already hit up two events and saw a bunch of folks last night.  Today, there’s the BMI Trailblazers luncheon, the Nominee luncheon, an advance listening suite for Lowell Pye, the Stellar Awards Pre-Show, the Bonnerfide Radio Launch Party… geeeez!

Then Saturday, there’s a Stellar Award Radio Station luncheon, the Notes On The Red fashion show, the Stellar Awards Red Carpet, the Stellar Awards taping, a Stellar Awards Post-Party and an afterparty hosted by Urban Soul Cafe.

I know I’m leaving stuff out cuz I can barely remember it all– suffice it to say, you don’t wanna miss a minute of it.  You’ll feel like you’re here in Nashville! LOL

See you on Twitter!

Word has it that Yolanda Adams and Byron Cage will be co-hosting BMI’s annual Trailblazers Awards this weekend in Nashville, during Stellar Awards weekend.

According to my buddy, Torrence Glenn at BET.com, the performers slated to honor Donnie McClurkin and Andraé Crouch at the event have also been announced.  They include Yolanda Adams, CeCe Winans, Micah Stampley, Latice Crawford, Marvin Winans, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Mary Mary, Tata Vega… WOWWWWZERS.

Can you tell that this luncheon is gonna be BANANAS?!  Tryna figure out if I’m gonna tweet from the event… I think I may be too distracted. LOL

Fortunately for all of you can’t attend, I think they’re taping it for TV again, so you can probably catch it later on Gospel Music Channel or something.

What do you think of the list of performers?

I love great music.  Even more, I love a great live performance.  You’ve GOT TO be able to sing to pull it off and, if you can’t, it shows.

This year, a lot of great live performances were captured and broadcast across the nation.  Then, folks uploaded ‘em to YouTube.

Here are my 5 FAVORITE televised performances of 2009, in order:

5.  Donnie McClurkin & Karen Clark Sheard – “Wait On The Lord” at the 2009 Stellar Awards
The first single from Donnie McClurkin’s anticipated project did not disappoint. Aside from being a soaring ballad with an encouraging message, it featured one of the greatest voices the gospel industry has ever heard– that of Karen Clark Sheard. The duo gave one of the most thrilling performances of this year’s Stellar Awards telecast, with Karen soaring into the rafters in a way that any music lover could appreciate (and die-hard KCS fans were simply drooling over).

4. Kirk Franklin, Myrna Summers, Milton Biggham – Tribute To Rev. Timothy Wright at the 2009 Stellar Awards
At the time, the late Rev. Timothy Wright’s health was on a roller coaster– good days followed by bad ones. Kirk Franklin produced a moving segment, blending some of his hits with classic songs from the incomparable “Godfather Of Gospel Music.” With featured appearances by Myrna Summers and Rev. Milton Biggham, Kirk’s set was an incredible tribute to an incredible man.

3.  Fantasia & Diane Barrino - “He’s Done Enough” on Bobby Jones Gospel
Everyone knows that Fantasia was ACTUALLY s’posed to have signed a gospel contract win she won American Idol. But 2009 finally brought a bunch of gospel performance opps for her and gospel consumers cannot get enough of her. In every case, her signature singin’ and squallin’ brought audiences to their feet and prompted one recurring question from gospel consumers – “when is FANTASIA gonna do a gospel album?!”

It kinda all began in the beginning of the year, when she was featured on BET’s Bobby Jones Gospel, with her mother, Diane Barrino. She ministered like a seasoned pro and gave a performance like only she can.  Even more, she took the topic of her salvation off the table (though, it shouldn’t have been there to begin with) and demonstrated a real relationship with Jesus Christ.

2. Jessica Reedy – “Brighter Day” on BET’s Sunday Best
In my opinion, it was the most incredible performance of the entire season of BET’s Sunday Best.  Jessica stepped from possible underdog to frontrunner with one sweet, flawless, jazzy arrangement of Kirk Franklin’s “Brighter Day.” Channeling the style and finesse of Anita Baker, Jessica utterly floored the judges, Kirk Franklin and the viewing nation.

Though she’s not signed to a record deal yet, she promised ME she’d do her best to re-record THIS cut for her debut album.

1. Kim Burrell – “Bless Me (Prayer Of Jabez)” at the 2009 BMI Trailblazers Of Gospel Awards
Each year, one of the greatest events during Stellar Awards weekend is the BMI Trailblazers of Gospel Awards, at which gospel greats are honored with an award and tribute performances that are second to none. The most gifted vocalists and musicians in the industry participate and, often, attendees can only describe how good the show was by shaking their head in disbelief.

Enter Gospel Music Channel, which secured the rights to nationally broadcast the event for the first time. And what a year to do so– Kim Burrell performed “Bless Me (Prayer Of Jabez)” in tribute to honoree Donald Lawrence. The rest can only be stated by watching the video. LOL

Of course, I couldn’t pinpoint all of the great performances… there were too many.  From Celebration Of Gospel, to the Stellar Awards, BMI Trailblazers Of Gospel Awards and Sunday Best, we saw some dynamic performances from some of the world’s most gifted musicians.

Which TV performances made your list of faves?

BMI has announced the recipients of its 2010 Trailblazers Awards– Donnie McClurkin and Andraé Crouch.

They will be honored at the organization’s 11th annual awards luncheon on Friday, January 15, 2010, during Stellar Awards weekend.  The luncheon has become one of THE most exciting events of the weekend (even more, some say, than the Stellar Awards taping itself) and its invite-only guest list has folks more than anxious to attend.

No word yet on the artists that will offer tribute performances, but… c’mon.  With the repertoires of Donnie McClurkin and Andraé Crouch, there’s plenty of great music to create an incredible performance set.

Who would YOU love to see covering some McClurkin or Crouch tunes?

BMI held its annual Christian Music Awards this past Saturday at their Nashville offices on Music Row.  Donald Lawrence was named Songwriter Of The Year for writing “Giants” (on the Tri-City Finale album) and “Livin’” (on the most recent Clark Sisters album).  CONGRATS!

Also, Marvin Sapp and Matthew Brownie won for Song Of The Year for “Never Would’ve Made It.”  Congrats to you, as well!

The BMI Trailblazers Awards take place during Stellar Awards weekend and they are always the hottest ticket in town (perhaps moreso than the Stellars!).  This year, I spoke to soooooooo many industry folks who said it featured some of the greatest performances they had ever seen in their LIVES.  EVER!

I was so excited for last night, when Gospel Music Channel aired the awards show, full of tributes for and from gospel’s finests.  But ummm… somewhat lackluster for me.  And it wasn’t cuz the performances weren’t brilliant– it was cuz they kept cutting off the people!

I get that we have to do commercial breaks and the editors had to contend with the dragging on of gospel vamps (some folks NEVER end a song).  But still… that’s the genre.  And many lovers of the genre appreciate, no… LOOK FORWARD TO the vamps!

Case in point: Kierra Sheard.  She sang “Jesus Is A Love Song” like it was her own song and, right when she was about to demolish the vamp “Je-sus is… a love song… love… song…,” they went to commercial and that was it.  So, we’ll never know how that ended.  And they kept doing it!

I get that there’s a limited amount of air time for the show, and that they have to capture as much as possible… but can’t y’all make it a three-hour program? LOL  I’m being unfair and unrealistic, and I realize that, but I’m just sayin’…

In spite of my frustration with that, the show was PHENOMENAL.  Karen Clark-Sheard sang “Couldn’t Tell It If I Tried” like it was the original recording from Finally Karen, Kim Burrell gave new life to “Prayer of Jabez (Bless Me)” and reminded everyone why she’s oft-imitated, but never matched.  And Lalah Hathaway… God gives gifts and favor as He sees fit, but I’m just a little jealous.  Like… we’re creating human beings with voices like THAT?!  Maaaaaan!!!

Other great performances came from Israel Houghton & Tommy Sims, BeBe Winans, Donnie McClurkin (with an impromptu mic-pass to Darwin Hobbs, who I believe to be severely underrated by consumers), and Twinkie Clark, who plaaaayed that B3 organ!

If you missed it, it’s airing again TONIGHT on Gospel Music Channel at 10pm EST.

Anyone else catch it?  WHAT DID YOU THINK?

The 2009 BMI Trailblazers Awards are FINALLY airing on Gospel Music Channel THIS SUNDAY, February 22nd at 8pm EST.

If you recall, I’ve talked about this awesome event for months.  It honored Twinkie Clark, Donald Lawrence and CeCe Winans, featuring tribute performances by Karen Clark-Sheard, Kierra Sheard, Lalah Hathaway, Tommy Sims, Kim Burrell, and several others.  The awards ceremony also honored Marvin Sapp, with a tribute performance by Donnie McClurkin.

For those of you who miss it (DON’T), Gospel Music Channel will be airing encore performances at 11pm EST that night (Sunday), and on Monday, the 23rd, at 10:30pm EST.

We WILL be discussing it in great detail on Monday, so play yourselves if you wanna. Watch it!

In honor of Black History Month, Gospel Music Channel has a truckload of programming lined up for the month of February.  I wanna highlight:

Say Amen Somebody – February 8th

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this incredible documentary before.  It’s one of the greatest.  Good music, good stories… don’t miss it.

I used to own it on VHS before my VCR ate the tape.  But then, God blessed me with the DVD! It features Thomas A. Dorsey, Willie Mae Ford Smith, the Barrett Sisters…  Learn this gospel music HISTORY.

BMI Trailblazers Awards – February 22nd at 8pm ET

It went down a couple of weeks ago at the Stellar Awards weekend, honoring Twinkie Clark, Donald Lawrence and CeCe Winans, featuring performances from Karen Clark Sheard, Kim Burrell, Lalah Hathaway… a BUNCH of other folks…  remember?  I KEEP talking to industry people who are saying it featured some of the best performances they have EVER seen.  You don’t wanna miss it.  They’re also gonna show the shows from 2007 (on February 1st) and 2008 (on February 8th), so set your DVRs now.

They’re also gonna re-air a bunch of Front Row Live performances and more episodes of Bobby Jones Next Generation.

Just go to their website, http://www.gospelmusicchannel.com/blackhistorymonth, for details!