The nominees for the 26th annual Stellar Awards were announced on Saturday in Nashville, TN during a live telecast on gmc, hosted by Donnie McClurkin and featuring performances by Jessica Reedy, VaShawn Mitchell, Lucinda Moore, Joe Pace and more.

The show takes place on Saturday, January 15, 2011 in Nashville, TN. It will be hosted by Donnie McClurkin, alone, serving as the first time that the show has been hosted by only one person. Also, in honor of Albertina Walker, the “Female Vocalist of the Year” category will be forever named the “Albertina Walker Female Vocalist of the Year” award.

The following are the recipients of the special awards:

Donald Lawrence will receive the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award
Kirk Franklin will receive the Thomas Dorsey Most Notable Achievement Award
Vanessa Bell Armstrong will receive the Dr. Bobby Jones Legend Award

And the nominees are…

Artist of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Fred Hammond
James Fortune & FIYA
Marvin Sapp

Song of the Year
“Close to You” | BeBe Winans
“They That Wait” | Fred Hammond, Calvin Rodgers, Phillip Feaster, Ericka Warren, Michael Bethany and Dynna Wells
“Encore” | James Fortune, C. Fortune and T. Vaughn
“Best In Me” | Marvin Sapp

Choir of the Year
Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
James Hall & Voices of Citadel
Victory Cathedral Choir
Wilmington Chester Mass Choir

New Artist of the Year
Forever Jones
Kristina Halloway
Travis Greene
Victory Cathedral Choir

CD of the Year
Fred Hammond | Love Unstoppable
J. Moss | Just James
James Fortune & FIYA | Encore
Marvin Sapp | Here I Am

Producer of the Year
Aaron Lindsey for Here I Am
Donald Lawrence for The Experience
Fred Hammond for Love Unstoppable
James Fortune, Terrance Vaughn and Ayron Lewis for Encore

Female Vocalist of the Year
CeCe Winans
Karen Clark Sheard
Lucinda Moore
Tamela Mann

Male Vocalist of the Year
Byron Cage
Fred Hammond
J. Moss
Marvin Sapp

Group/Duo of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Forever Jones
James Fortune & FIYA
The Anointed Pace Sisters

Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year
Byron Cage
Fred Hammond
J. Moss
James Fortune

Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year
Alvin Darling
Darrell Hines
Marvin Sapp
Marvin Winans

Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year
CeCe Winans
Karen Clark Sheard
Lisa Page Brooks
Tamela Mann

Traditional Female Vocalist of the Year
Fredericka Faison
Lucinda Moore
Shirley Caesar
Vanessa Bell Armstrong

Traditional CD of the Year
James Hall & Voices of Citadel | Won’t It Be Wonderful
Marvin Sapp | Here I Am
Shirley Caesar | A City Called Heaven
Vanessa Bell Armstrong | The Experience

Contemporary CD of the Year
BeBe and CeCe Winans | Still
Fred Hammond | Love Unstoppable
J.Moss | Just James
James Fortune and FIYA | Encore

Contemporary Choir of the Year
God’s Little Soldiers International
Myron Butler & Levi
Youth for Christ
Youthful Praise featuring J.J. Hairston

Traditional Choir of the Year
Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
James Hall & Voices of Citadel
Victory Cathedral Choir
Wilmington Chester Mass Choir

Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Forever Jones
James Fortune and FIYA
Trin-i-tee 5:7

Traditional Group/Duo of the Year
James Greer & Company
The Anointed Pace Sisters
The Christian Angels
The Mighty Clouds of Joy

Quartet of the Year
Reverend F.C. Barnes & Company
The Christian Angels
The Golden Wings Quartet
The Mighty Clouds of Joy

Rap, Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year
DJ Official | Entermission
Everyday Process | Outtadisworld
Sho Baraka | Lions and Liars
Trip Lee | Between Two Worlds

Music Video of the Year
BeBe and CeCe Winans | “Close to You”
Kirk Whalum | “Make Me a Believer”
Shirley Caesar | “Playground In Heaven”
The Anointed Pace Sisters | “If I Be Lifted Up”

Urban Inspirational Performance of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans | “Still”
Forever Jones | “Get Ready”
James Fortune & FIYA | “Encore”
Marvin Sapp | “Here I Am”

Recorded Music Packaging of the Year
Cameron Hilson and Mark Neubauer for Get Ready
Denise Trotman for Here I Am
Derek Blanks and Ken Barboza for Still
Jeff Gilligan for Love Unstoppable

Praise and Worship CD of the Year
Darwin Hobbs | Darwin Hobbs Live: Champion
James Fortune & FIYA | Encore
Phil Tarver | Place of Worship
The Anointed Pace Sisters | Access Granted

Children’s Project of the Year
God’s Little Soldiers International | Soldier Story
Kingdom Kids Worldwide | Kingdom Kids Worldwide Volume 1
The Velasquez Family Singers | While We Still Have Time
Youth for Christ | Thanks In Advance

Special Event CD of the Year
BeBe and CeCe Winans | Still
Kirk Franklin | Are You Listening
Various Artists | CoCo Brother Live Presents Stand 2010
Various Artists | WOW Gospel 2010

What do you guys think of the nominees???

Y’Anna Crawley, winner of season 2 of BET’s Sunday Best, has debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart with her long-awaited project, The Promise.  Congratulations!!!

Also, Tamela Mann and Brian Courtney Wilson experienced some significant sales gains, jumping from #15 to #4, and from #10 to #5, respectively.

The rest of the top 10 looks like this…

#1 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#2 | Y’Anna Crawley – The Promise
#3 | WOW Gospel 2010
#4 | Tamela Mann – The Master Plan
#5 | Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#6 | VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant
#7 | Various Artists (from Fred Hammond) – Life In the Word
#8 | BeBe & CeCe Winans – Still
#9 | Hezekiah Walker & LFC – Souled Out
#10 | Forever Jones – Get Ready

Did you guys grab Y’Anna’s new project yet?  What do you think of it?

What do you think of the rest of the top 10???

VaShawn Mitchell has debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart with the new release of his latest album, Triumphant (EMI Gospel).  This sales week represents the highest week of his career.  Congrats!

Also, Brian Courtney Wilson jumped from #12 to #7 on the chart.  Great job!

The rest of the top 10 looks like this…

#1 | Marvin Sapp - Here I Am
#2 | VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant
#3 | WOW Gospel 2010
#4 | Various Artists (from Fred Hammond) - Life In the Word
#5 | Forever Jones - Get Ready
#6 | Hezekiah Walker & LFC - Souled Out
#7 | Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#8 | Fred Hammond – Love Unstoppable
#9 | Trip Lee - Between Two Worlds
#10 | BeBe & CeCe Winans - Still

What do you think???

Word has it that forever Jones, gospel’s new family band (and the group behind the hit single “He Wants It All”),  is giving away an iPad in a video contest.

I love this family. Peep their video explaining aaaalll about it, right here–

Anybody participating???

Life In the Word, the first project in the joint venture between Fred Hammond’s fHammond Family Entertainment and Universal Christian Music Group has debuted at #2 on the Billboard Gospel Albums chart. Fred’s 2009 release, Love Unstoppable, came in at #6 this week, so he’s got TWO albums in the Top 10.  Congrats!

Also, kudos to Lowell Pye for debuting at #10 on the chart, with his solo debut, Finally, which hit stores last Tuesday. Click here to listen to snippets and to buy it!

The rest of the top 10 shakes out to look a little something like this…

The full run-down of the top 10 looks like this…

#1 | Marvin Sapp - Here I Am
#2 | Various Artists – Life In the Word
#3 | WOW Gospel 2010
#4 | Hezekiah Walker & LFC - Souled Out
#5 | Trip Lee – Between Two Worlds
#6 | Fred Hammond - Love Unstoppable
#7 | Brian Courtney Wilson - Just Love
#8 | Forever Jones – Get Ready
#9 | BeBe & CeCe Winans - Still
#10 | Lowell Pye - Finally

To be honest, I haven’t grabbed Lowell’s project yet– anyone got it?  Anyone lovin’ it?

Tell me about!

For a second week, it seems that an artist has debuted in the top 10 of Billboard’s Gospel Albums charts that many probably were not expecting to land there.

This time, it’s the project Landmark, a new album from Jasper Williams & Salem Bible Church Mass Choir, which debuted at #6.  This traditional gospel project was given a solid rating by The Black Gospel Blog (one of my faves for its historical accuracy and broad coverage).

The full run-down of the top 10 looks like this…

#1 | Marvin Sapp - Here I Am
#2 | WOW Gospel 2010
#3 | Trip Lee - Between Two Worlds
#4 | Hezekiah Walker & LFC – Souled Out
#5 | Fred Hammond - Love Unstoppable
#6 | Jasper Williams & Salem Bible Church Mass Choir – Landmark
#7| Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#8 | BeBe & CeCe Winans – Still
#9 | Forever Jones - Get Ready
#10 | Donnie McClurkin - Playlist: The Very Best of Donnie McClurkin

Since his debut at #8 last week, gospel hip-hopper PRo has dropped to #22.  I’d probably blame that on a bunch of pre-sales, as well, without momentum beyond first week.  Either way, you guys have said good things about him… I think folks should check him out.

Ok, so who’s got good ol’ Jasper Williams’ project???

Talk to me!

Everything’s pretty much business as usual in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Gospel Albums charts, with the exception of two projects that I wasn’t really expecting to be there.

One is a compilation album from Donnie McClurkin.  It’s actually been on the charts for a while, but I don’t know how it managed to peek into the #10 spot. Not mad about it , though… welcome!

The other is Redemption, a new album from gospel hip-hop artist PRo (I did some googlin’), which debuted at #8.  The project features guest vocals from Lecrae and others.

The rest of the rundown looks like this…

#1 | Marvin Sapp - Here I Am
#2 | WOW Gospel 2010
#3 | Trip Lee - Between Two Worlds
#4 | Fred Hammond - Love Unstoppable
#5 | BeBe & CeCe Winans – Still
#6 | Hezekiah Walker & LFC – Souled Out
#7 | Forever Jones - Get Ready
#7 | PRo – Redemption
#9| Brian Courtney Wilson - Just Love
#10 | Donnie McClurkin - Playlist: The Very Best of Donnie McClurkin

Anyone have PRo’s album?  Heard of him? Like him?! Click here to listen to snippets of his album, Redemption.

Talk to me!

Nothing monumental to report, though Forever Jones, Fred Hammond and Brian Courtney Wilson all experienced sales increases that pushed them higher in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Gospel Albums charts.

In fact, Forever Jones had the greatest sales gain of any gospel album last week… g’head guys!

The full rundown looks like this…

#1 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#2 | WOW Gospel 2010
#3 | Trip Lee – Between Two Worlds
#4 | Fred Hammond – Love Unstoppable
#5 | Forever Jones – Get Ready
#6| Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#7 | Hezekiah Walker & LFC – Souled Out
#8 | BeBe & CeCe Winans – Still
#9 | DeWayne Woods – My Life’s Lyric
#10 | Juanita Bynum – More Passion

What I’m kinda hoping for is that something from Walter Hawkins’ catalogue will pop into the top 10 next week… I’ll be taking down the playlist I made for him this weekend– maybe you’ll make a coupla purchases???

What do you think of the charts this week?  Of the projects listed above, whose albums do you NOT have?

Make sure you tune in to TBN’s Praise The Lord at 9pm CST tonight to catch gospel’s new family band, Forever Jones, performing songs from their new record, including the hit single “He Wants It All.”

Also on the program will be former American Idol contestants Melinda Doolittle and Bo Bice, as well as southern gospel crooner Jason Crabb.

Who’s tunin’ in???