***BREAKING NEWS***

The 52nd annual GRAMMY Awards are being held tonight, but the winners in the gospel categories were JUST ANNOUNCED at the pre-show.

My predictions were pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.  I was 5 for 7 in the gospel categories!!!

The winners in the gospel-related categories are highlighted in GREEN below (if I was wrong in my prediction, my earlier predictions are still there in yellow).

The winners are…

 Best Gospel Performance

“Free To Be Me” by Francesca Battistelli
Track from: Free To Be Me

“Jesus Is Love” by Heather Headley feat. Smokie Norful
Track from: Audience Of One

“I Believe” by Jonny Lang w/ Fisk Jubilee Singers
Track from: Oh Happy Day

“Wait On The Lord” by Donnie McClurkin feat. Karen Clark Sheard
Track from: We All Are One

“Born Again” by Third Day
Track from: Revelation

 Best Gospel Song

“Born Again” - Tai Anderson, David Carr, Mark Lee & Mac Powell, songwriters (Third Day)

“City On Our Knees” - Cary Barlowe, Toby McKeehan & Jaime Moore, songwriters (TobyMac)

“Every Prayer” - Dayna Caddell, Israel Houghton, Aaron Lindsey & Ricardo Sanchez, songwriters (Israel Houghton & Mary Mary)

“God In Me” - Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell & Warryn Campbell, songwriters (Mary Mary)

“The Motions” - Jason Houser, Sam Mizell & Matthew West, songwriters (Matthew West)

Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album

The Big Picture - Da’ T.R.U.T.H.

Crash - Decyfer Down

Innocence & Instinct - Red

Live Revelations - Third Day

The Dash - John Wells-The Tonic

Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album

Speaking Louder Than Before - Jeremy Camp

The Power Of One - Israel Houghton

The Long Fall Back To Earth - Jars Of Clay

Love Is On The Move - Leeland

Freedom - Mandisa

Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album

Jason Crabb - Jason Crabb

Dream On - Ernie Haase & Signature Sound

The Rock - Tracy Lawrence

In God’s Time - Barry Scott & Second Wind

Everyday - Triumphant Quest

Best Traditional Gospel Album

God Don’t Never Change - Ashley Cleveland

The Law Of Confession, Pt. 1 - Donald Lawrence & Co.

Oh Happy Day - Various Artists

The Journey Continues - The Williams Brothers

How I Got Over - Vickie Winans

Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album

Audience Of One - Heather Headley

Renewed - Sheri Jones-Moffett

Just James - J Moss

Smokie Norful LIVE - Smokie Norful

Bold Right Life - Kierra Sheard

Congrats to all of ya!

Aaaaand, just FYI– in a poll asking who YOU wanted to win for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album, you guys picked Kierra Sheard.  The full break-down:

Kierra Sheard - 41% (90 votes)
J Moss - 23% (51 votes)
Smokie Norful - 20% (44 votes)
Sheri Jones-Moffett - 10% (21 votes)
Heather Headley - 7% (15 votes)

Gospel Artists Nominated In Non-Gospel Categories:

I was 3 for 3 in these predictions!!!

Tonex was nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for his single “Blend” (Unspoken), but as I predicted, it went to India.Arie.

Ann Nesby’s “Sow Love” (The Lula Lee Project) was nominated in Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.  As I predicted, it went to Beyonce for “At Last.”

Robert Randolph & The Clark Sisters were nominated in the Best R&B Performance By Group/Duo with Vocals category for their performance of “Higher Ground” (Oh Happy Day), as were Ann Nesby & Calvin Richardson, but as I predicted, it went to Jamie Foxx and T-Pain for “Blame It.”

That’s the full deal, folks!  What do you think of the winners list???

Okay, buddies, it’s that time of year again.  The GRAMMY Awards telecast is this Sunday, January 31st at 8pm ET/PT on CBS.

With that, it’s time for my predictions.  These were REALLY tough and I changed ‘em numerous times over the course of the past two weeks.  I’m finally at peace about them (for today), so I’m posting them before I change my mind again. LOL

Before I give ‘em, I wanna make two disclaimers–

(1) My predictions do NOT necessarily reflect my preferences, nor do they reflect who I ACTUALLY voted for on the GRAMMY ballot this year.  They’re predictions… and nothing more.

(2) The winner is often based on popularity.  Plain and simple.  Now, NARAS (the voting body) has gotten much better about this, even making all of the nominated music available for online listening so that we can make educated votes, but it’s still an uphill climb.  My predictions are based on how I believe the majority voted and that requires consideration of who’s most popular within the entire music biz.

Without further delay, here goes…

 Best Gospel Performance

“Free To Be Me” by Francesca Battistelli
Track from: Free To Be Me

“Jesus Is Love” by Heather Headley feat. Smokie Norful
Track from: Audience Of One

“I Believe” by Jonny Lang w/ Fisk Jubilee Singers
Track from: Oh Happy Day

“Wait On The Lord” by Donnie McClurkin feat. Karen Clark Sheard
Track from: We All Are One

“Born Again” by Third Day
Track from: Revelation

This is a tough one, fresh out of the gate.  I’m thinking it’s gonna go to Heather Headley and Smokie Norful for a couple of reasons– folks adore “Jesus Is Love” and the song has carried mainstream significance for decades.  Similarly, Heather Headley carries mainstream voting power with her, despite the fact that it was a gospel project.  And, all that aside, their duet was quite good.

 Best Gospel Song

“Born Again” - Tai Anderson, David Carr, Mark Lee & Mac Powell, songwriters (Third Day)

“City On Our Knees” - Cary Barlowe, Toby McKeehan & Jaime Moore, songwriters (TobyMac)

“Every Prayer” - Dayna Caddell, Israel Houghton, Aaron Lindsey & Ricardo Sanchez, songwriters (Israel Houghton & Mary Mary)

“God In Me” - Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell & Warryn Campbell, songwriters (Mary Mary)

“The Motions” - Jason Houser, Sam Mizell & Matthew West, songwriters (Matthew West)

I’m betting on The Marys for this one.  The success and popularity of “God In Me” was like a runaway train– it was played everywhere, performed everywhere, talked about everywhere… and with good reason.  I expect this GRAMMY to be the culmination of over a year’s worth of rather deserved acclaim.

Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album

The Big Picture - Da’ T.R.U.T.H.

Crash - Decyfer Down

Innocence & Instinct - Red

Live Revelations - Third Day

The Dash - John Wells-The Tonic

As much as I enjoy Da’ T.R.U.T.H.’s project, I don’t think he’ll nab this one.  I’m actually torn on this, between Third Day and Decyfer Down… ultimately, I chose Third Day cuz they’re more of a household name.

Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album

Speaking Louder Than Before - Jeremy Camp

The Power Of One - Israel Houghton

The Long Fall Back To Earth - Jars Of Clay

Love Is On The Move - Leeland

Freedom - Mandisa

Another REALLY hard one for me… Jars Of Clay, Jeremy Camp and Israel are established artists with great music and big followings.  Mandisa and Leeland are newer, but just as popular in many circles, and also making some great music.  I have NO PEACE about this, but I’m predicting Mandisa.  She has a good project and her widespread exposure (added to her lingering American Idol popularity) may tip the scales in her favor here.

Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album

Jason Crabb - Jason Crabb

Dream On - Ernie Haase & Signature Sound

The Rock - Tracy Lawrence

In God’s Time - Barry Scott & Second Wind

Everyday - Triumphant Quest

I never have ANY clue when it comes to this category, cuz it’s just not my thing.  That said, I do know that Jason Crabb is one to watch right now, and I believe it’s because of this project.  That said, my money’s on Jason Crabb.

Best Traditional Gospel Album

God Don’t Never Change - Ashley Cleveland

The Law Of Confession, Pt. 1 - Donald Lawrence & Co.

Oh Happy Day - Various Artists

The Journey Continues - The Williams Brothers

How I Got Over - Vickie Winans

This is another tough call.  Donald Lawrence is simply incredible and he definitely deserves an award, in my opinion, but I fear that voters may not have agreed with his placement in the “traditional gospel” category… on that grounds, is it the best traditional project?  Maybe not… I predict the Oh Happy Day compilation.  It successfully brought together heavyweights in gospel and mainstream music to commemorate one of the most popular gospel songs in history.  It’s hard to ignore that.

Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album

Audience Of One - Heather Headley

Renewed - Sheri Jones-Moffett

Just James - J Moss

Smokie Norful LIVE - Smokie Norful

Bold Right Life - Kierra Sheard

First of all, shout-out to EMI Gospel for having 4 of 5 the artists in this category.  That said, I’m QUITE unsettled about this one.  Ultimately, I predict that Heather Headley will grab it– she has a nice voice, an album that lots of folks enjoyed, and popularity in the mainstream.  In my opinion, her album was not the best out of this group and I didn’t know that so many people would vote for it.  But I’m inclined to believe that if she got enough votes to get a nomination, she just may have gotten enough to get the win.

Gospel Artists Nominated In Non-Gospel Categories:

Tonex was nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for his single “Blend” (Unspoken), and he might win that, but I also see an India.Arie nod in the same category and she will probably nab the award.

Ann Nesby’s “Sow Love” (The Lula Lee Project) is nominated in Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance (dunno why), but I’m fairly certain that Beyonce’s rendition of “At Last” will win in that category.

Robert Randolph & The Clark Sisters are nominated in the Best R&B Performance By Group/Duo with Vocals category for their performance of “Higher Ground” (Oh Happy Day), as is Ann Nesby for a Bobby Womack collabo, but I kinda expect the win to go to Jamie Foxx and T-Pain for “Blame It”.

OKAY.  Those are my predictions for the 2010 GRAMMY Awards.  For the full list of nominees in all categories, visit the GRAMMY website here.

What do you think???

Sooo, if you follow me on Twitter, you know that the 25th annual Stellar Awards weekend was ACTION PACKED.

Throughout the week, I’m gonna try my best to give recaps of the events that I attended (there were SEVERAL), but before I do, I wanted to post the full list of winners at this year’s award show…

Artist Of The Year - Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship Choir, Souled Out (Verity)

Song Of The Year - “God In Me” by Mary Mary, The Sound (Columbia)

Male Vocalist Of The Year - Smokie Norful, Smokie Norful Live (EMI Gospel)

Female Vocalist Of The Year - Vickie Winans, How I Got Over (Destiny Joy)

Group/Duo Of The Year - Mary Mary, The Sound (Columbia)

New Artist Of The Year - Crystal Aikin, Crystal Aikin (Verity)

CD Of The Year - Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship Choir, Souled Out (Verity)

Choir Of The Year - Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship Choir, Souled Out (Verity)

Producer Of The Year - Donald Lawrence & Daniel Weatherspoon, The Law Of Confession Pt. 1 (Quietwater/Verity)

Contemporary Group/Duo Of The Year - Mary Mary, The Sound (Columbia)

Traditional Group/Duo Of The Year - Lee Williams & The Spiritual QCs, Fall On Me (MCG)

Contemporary Male Vocalist Of The Year - Smokie Norful, Smokie Norful Live (EMI Gospel)

Contemporary Female Vocalist Of The Year - Crystal Aikin, Crystal Aikin (Verity)

Traditional Male Vocalist Of The Year - Donnie McClurkin, We All Are One (Verity)

Traditional Female Vocalist Of The Year - Dottie Peoples, Do It! (DP Muzik Group)

Contemporary CD Of The Year - Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship Choir, Souled Out (Verity)

Traditional CD Of The Year - Shari Addison, Shari Addison (Verity)

Urban/Inspirational Single Of The Year - “God In Me” by Mary Mary, The Sound (Columbia)

Music Video Of The Year - “How I Got Over” by Vickie Winans, How I Got Over (Destiny Joy)

Contemporary Choir Of The Year - Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship Choir, Souled Out (Verity)

Traditional Choir Of The Year - Bishop Paul S. Morton & The FGBCF Mass Choir, Cry Your Last Year (Light)

Special Event CD Of The Year - The Clark Sisters, J. Moss & Kierra Sheard, Silky Soul Music - A Tribute To Maze (Barantera Music Group)

Instrumental CD Of The Year - Ben Tankard, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (Verity)

Rap/Hip-Hop Gospel CD Of The Year - Da’ T.R.U.T.H., The Big Picture (Cross Movement)

Children’s Performance Of The Year - Rev. Dr. Emory Andrews & Oxon Hill High School Choir, Amazing (Yrome)

Quartet Of The Year - Lee Williams & The Spiritual QCs, Fall On Me (MCG)

Praise & Worship CD Of The Year - Stephen Hurd, Times Of Refreshing (Integrity)

Recorded Music Package Of The Year - Denise Trotman for Donald Lawrence’s The Law Of Confession Pt. 1 (Quietwater/Verity)

Stellar Radio Awards:

Internet Radio | http://www.ishoutforjoy.com
Small Market | WEUP 1700 AM – Huntsville, AL
Medium Market | Hallelujah FM – Little Rock, AR
Large Market | WTLC 1310 AM – Indianapolis, IN
Major Market | WLIB 1190 AM – New York City, NY

Lonnie Hunter of Praise 103.9 in Philadelphia was awarded with the Announce Of The Year Award. And the Central South Distribution REACH Awards were awarded to Vickie Hill (Saginaw, MI), Willie Mae MacIver (Dallas, TX) and Michael A. Davis (Memphis, TN).

I was surprised only by about two of these wins– I thought that Praise & Worship CD Of The Year would go to Israel Houghton.  He really got shafted this year, because The Power Of One was one of the best albums to come out in 2009.  The fact that he was only nominated in three categories, one of which was for packaging… c’mon.  But, kudos to Stephen Hurd anyhow.

Second, I didn’t think Hezekiah Walker & LFC would walk away with Artist Of The Year.  I really figured it would go to Donald Lawrence.  Either way, I’m thrilled.  I have loved Pastor Walker for YEARS and I couldn’t be more excited for him… he definitely deserved to be recognized and that album is an absolute favorite from the past year.

So, that’s THAT.  If you get Gospel Music Channel, the show airs on February 28th at 8pm ET/7pm CST.  BUT, it will likely air in your region before that… I’ll post the local dates and times when the Stellars post it… I can’t type all of that! LOL

And check back here throughout the week for my recaps– I went a lot of places, chatted with a lot of folks, and I’ve got LOTS to tell you.  Deal?  DEAL!

In the meantime, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK of the winners!!!

You consider yourself a gospel music lover, eh? Then, SURELY, you have these five projects in your collection…

BeBe & CeCe Winans - Still
Jason Nelson - Place Of Worship
Tamela Mann - The Master Plan
The Clark Sisters - You Brought The Sunshine/Unworthy bundle pack
The Clark Sisters - Count It All Joy/He Gave Me Nothing To Lose bundle pack

If not, now’s the time to check ‘em out and BUY ‘em at Amazon.com.  They’re only $5 each.  Dunno how long the sale lasts, though, so act fast! 

Just click any album below to get started…

Oh, and lemme know which ones you’re getting!

Christmastime is SO here.

And to celebrate, I created a special PunditPlayer playlist with Christmas tunes on it.  It’s separate from the usual media player (so you can still rock out to Karen Clark Sheard’s new single when you wanna).

To access the Christmas playlist, click the link in the menu bar above (look up now).

It looks like this:

So far, I’ve added the following new Christmas tunes:

1.  The Clark Sisters - “Celebration” from The Clark Sisters’ Family Christmas

2. Brian Courtney Wilson - “This Christmas” from Peace, Love, Joy at Christmas

3. Trin-i-tee 5:7 - “Give Love On Christmas Day” from Peace, Love, Joy at Christmas

4. Deon Kipping & New Covenant - “The Gift” from The Gift

Take a listen, tell me what you think, and make sure you keep checkin’ back.  I’ll be adding more songs as Christmas approaches!

Whatd’ya think?

Heads-up, good folks… Anthony Evans’ recently recorded a Christmas special for TBN and it will air tomorrow, December 16th, at 10:30am Pacific time.  I think he’ll be singing songs from his Christmas project, What Christmas Means.

I have a feeling that this isn’t the initial airing, but I haven’t caught it yet.  It should be good, though, cuz Anthony Evans has one of those voices that sounds like it would fit well with Christmas tunes.  I may even stoke up the ol’ fireplace…

And don’t forget, later tomorrow night, the Clark Sisters’ Christmas special also airs on TBN at 9pm Pacific time.  No fireplace for that one… I’ll be stoking up the Leslie for the ol’ Hammond B3 organ.

A few weeks ago, I told you guys that the Clark Sisters were in town, taping their very own Christmas special for TBN.

Well, the airdate has been set for this coming Wednesday, December 16th, at 9pm PT.  The sisters will be performing songs from their latest Christmas project in a special 30-minute program.

Soooo…. 9pm PT is about 11pm, so I may have to DVR it and watch it the mornin’… but watch it, I shall!

Dunno how many of you know Kayla Parker by name or face, but I’m sure that you know of her music.  She passed in April of 2007, but the mark she left on the gospel industry is undeniable and more than noteworthy.

With musical influences ranging from Stevie Wonder to The Clark Sisters to Take 6, this singer/songwriter/producer/arranger from Detroit penned hit songs like “He’s Concerned” by CeCe Winans, “Now Are We” by Marvin Winans & the Perfected Praise Choir, and countless others.  Her vocal arrangements were beautifully complex (most recently, you can hear them on Vickie Winans’ Woman To Woman album).

There aren’t too many videos available of Kayla on YouTube, but this one blesses me… so I’m posting it to bless you.

I could go on about her, but you’ll learn more if you take a minute to visit her official website: http://www.kaylaparker.com.

Whatd’ya think?

The nominees for the 52nd annual GRAMMY Awards were announced last night during the GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live on CBS.  The awards telecast takes place on January 31, 2010 at 8pm ET/PT on CBS.

Like last year, I’m going to wait to give my predictions until a bit closer to the actual awards telecast.  Last time, I got 4 out of 7 of ‘em right, which wasn’t too bad.  I’m gunning to get ‘em all right this time.

 Until then, however, the nominees in the gospel-related categories are:

 Best Gospel Performance

“Free To Be Me” by Francesca Battistelli
Track from: Free To Be Me

“Jesus Is Love” by Heather Headley feat. Smokie Norful
Track from: Audience Of One

“I Believe” by Jonny Lang w/ Fisk Jubilee Singers
Track from: Oh Happy Day

“Wait On The Lord” by Donnie McClurkin feat. Karen Clark Sheard
Track from: We All Are One

“Born Again” by Third Day
Track from: Revelation

 Best Gospel Song

“Born Again” - Tai Anderson, David Carr, Mark Lee & Mac Powell, songwriters (Third Day)

“City On Our Knees” - Cary Barlowe, Toby McKeehan & Jaime Moore, songwriters (TobyMac)

“Every Prayer” - Dayna Caddell, Israel Houghton, Aaron Lindsey & Ricardo Sanchez, songwriters (Israel Houghton & Mary Mary)

“God In Me” - Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell & Warryn Campbell, songwriters (Mary Mary)

“The Motions” - Jason Houser, Sam Mizell & Matthew West, songwriters (Matthew West)

Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album

The Big Picture - Da’ T.R.U.T.H.

Crash - Decyfer Down

Innocence & Instinct - Red

Live Revelations - Third Day

The Dash - John Wells-The Tonic

Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album

Speaking Louder Than Before - Jeremy Camp

The Power Of One - Israel Houghton

The Long Fall Back To Earth - Jars Of Clay

Love Is On The Move - Leeland

Freedom - Mandisa

Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album

Jason Crabb - Jason Crabb

Dream On - Ernie Haase & Signature Sound

The Rock - Tracy Lawrence

In God’s Time - Barry Scott & Second Wind

Everyday - Triumphant Quest

Best Traditional Gospel Album

God Don’t Never Change - Ashley Cleveland

The Law Of Confession, Pt. 1 - Donald Lawrence & Co.

Oh Happy Day - Various Artists

The Journey Continues - The Williams Brothers

How I Got Over - Vickie Winans

Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album

Audience Of One - Heather Headley

Renewed - Sheri Jones-Moffett

Just James - J Moss

Smokie Norful LIVE - Smokie Norful

Bold Right Life - Kierra Sheard

Gospel Artists Nominated In Non-Gospel Categories:

Best Urban/Alternative Performance – Tonex - “Blend” (Unspoken)

Best R&B Performance By Group/Duo w/ Vocals —  Robert Randolph & The Clark Sisters - “Higher Ground” (Oh Happy Day)

*     *     *

Like I said, predictions coming later.  But in general, I’m SUPER DUPER pleased with these nominations.  I think they’re a fair and accurate representation of the songs, performances, albums and artists that did well in 2009.

I’m proud of all the nominees, but I’m particularly thrilled that Donnie McClurkin & Karen Clark Sheard were acknowledged for “Wait On The Lord,” and that “Every Prayer” (recorded by Israel Houghton & Mary Mary) got a nod.  Glad about J Moss and Da’ T.R.U.T.H. cuz they put out some really great music this year, and I LOVE that Sheri Jones-Moffett got her much-deserved nomination.

As an aside, I got a bunch of Twitter responses last night from people ready to boycott something cuz Mary Mary wasn’t nominated for best gospel album– it’s cuz they were nominated in that category last year. It’s all good!

For a complete list of nominees in all categories, click here.

Okay, folks… do you think of the nominees?

I think now would be a good time to check Travelocity or whatever travel site you use, get yourself a ticket to Detroit, and start packin’…

On Sunday, December 13th, J Moss is recording a live video (his first ever) with songs from his latest hit album, Just James.  The recording will also feature special guests Antwaun Stanley, 21:03, and the legendary Clark Sisters!

It’s all going down at Straight Gate International Church.  Doors open at 6pm and the event is totally FREE!

So, who’s going?