Well, well, well… I’m not one to say “I told ya so,” but… I did tell ya so.

Tony LeBron was selected as the winner of the 2009 Gospel Dream competition on Gospel Music Channel.  Judges Mitchell Solarek, Michelle Williams and J Moss chose the 34 year-old singer from among thousands of hopefuls.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see the finale because I’m in Cincinnati for GMWA.  I recorded it on my DVR and I’ll check it out when I get home.  In the meantime, here’s what I need from you guys… I need YOU to give ME the recap this time around.

How was Tony’s performance?  How were the performances from NeVar Massey and Robert Mauti?  Do you think Tony deserved to win this one?  Were the judges as hilarious as usual?  How was the performance from last year’s winner, Melinda Watts?  Did you like the song?  How’d she look?  GIMME ALL OF THAT!

Talk to me!

Oh wowwwwwwww.  Yesterday was insanely busy, but soooo much fun.

The Gospel Announcer’s Guild (GAG) held its annual luncheon and showcase at the Duke Energy Center.  The event, co-hosted by David Mann, featured a BUNCH of artists with new music either available now or coming soon.  Among them– Sheri Jones-Moffett, Melinda Watts, Tamela Mann, Bishop Paul Morton, New Direction, Philip Carter, Karima Kibble…

And let me say this real quick… that Bishop Paul Morton is a preaching and singin’ somebody.  I NEVER get tired of hearing him sing.  By the way, it’s his BIRTHDAY week, so there’s much celebrating going around.  In any case, he sang his new single, “Don’t Do It Without Me” (with son, PJ Morton on keys), and got the entire GAG Luncheon crowd HYPED.  I’ll do some feature stuff soon.  In the meantime, some pics are at the bottom of this post.

Donald Lawrence, Dorothy Norwood and Vashawn Mitchell were among several artists in the house to support… and a BUNCH of industry vets and execs were milling around including Jojo Pada, Neily Dickerson (The ND Co.), Torrence Glenn (BET.com), Vicki Mack-Lataillade (LillyMack/Central South/CCLI/etc.), Larry Blackwell (EMI), Mitchell Solarek (Maximum Artist), Tammy Taylor (One EnTiTy), Sheilah Belle (The Belle Report), Lisa Collins (Gospel Industry Round-Up), Kia Jarmon (Light Records) and soooo many more.

I tried to take a quick nap, but I didn’t quite make it.  My wife and I were invited to an intimate little dinner celebrating the release of Melinda Watts’ debut project, People Get Ready.  Special shout-out to her incredible team, with whom my wife and I have kinda fallen in love!

No rest for the weary… I had about 45 minutes to freshen up for the highly anticipated Donald Lawrence concert, sponsored in part by Verizon Wireless & How Sweet The Sound.

IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT!  Maaaaan… he’s like… becoming one of my absolute faves.  He and his singers ministered with songs from his latest project, The Law Of Confession Part 1, including the title track, “Let The Word Do The Work,” “The Blessing Is On You,” and the hit single “Back II Eden.”  He also dipped back a bit and performed “Healed,” “Giants,” ”The Blessing Of Abraham,” and brought Sheri Jones-Moffett to the stage to take us STRAIGHT in on “Encourage Yourself.”  It was better than I could ever recap.  GEEZ.

Sheri also performed her rising single, “Renewed,” from her debut solo album of the same name, due on August 11th.  Such a sweet spirit (and her family is THE BEST).

The whole shebang ended at about 2am and I was knocked OUT shortly thereafter.  Where’s my coffee?!

More recaps later!

Yesterday was the first full day of action-packed GMWA stuff.

I was bouncin’ around between the hotel lobby, the press office (shout out to Jojo Pada of IgnitionPR), the airport to pick up folks, and back to the convention center.

Last night, we went to the Youth & Young Adult Forum at the Hyatt in Downtown Cincinnati.  By the end of the week, I’ll be annoyed cuz the musicals start so LATE at night, but for now, I’m napping when I can and making it through!

There are so many events happening simultaneously, I can’t go to all of ‘em.  But at the Youth thingy, there were some GREAT performances from new and developing artists across the nation.  Special shout-out to Algernon, Bubby Fann and his group, and Melinda Watts, each of whom did a GREAT job.  It was an awesome time… I even got to catch-up with manager extraordinaire (and Gospel Dream judge) Mitchell Solarek.  SUPER cool guy.

Random sightings included Dorothy Norwood, Donald Lawrence, Albertina Walker, Vashawn Mitchell, Stephen Hurd, Kervy Brown, Earnest Pugh, Bishop Eric McDaniel… TONS of folks are here and more are continuously arriving.

I didn’t get to bed until around 3:00am (what in the WORLD?!), then back up at 6:30am to do it all again.  Whateva!  I’ll sleep next week.

More recaps tomorrow… and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter for ongoing ramblings about stuff.

I finally brought myself to watch the most recent episode recorded on my DVR, and I must admit that it was better this time around.  In my opinion, the guys brought it better than the ladies.

A quick recap…

NeVar Massey – “Bless The Lord” by Tye Tribbett:  I agreed with Mitchell Solarek– didn’t like the song selection AT ALL.  The song is my jam, but it’s not fit for a singing competition because it requires too much exhortation, not enough vocal demonstration.  You’re good, dude, so show us those chops!

Robert Mauti – “Change The World” by Eric Clapton:  I enjoyed his overall performance, despite the rough spots.  He added a bit too much “artificial soul.”  And, as a rule, can we all agree that if a song is wrought with the ad lib “baby,” it’s NOT fitting for a gospel singing competition?!  It’s my fave from Clapton, but I think they’re already singing that one on American Idol.

Tim Stylez – “Praise Him In Advance” by Marvin Sapp:  Tim is too churchy for his own good on this show.  They might’ve appreciated that last season, but we’re in a ”Wind Beneath My Wings” situation.  That said, he’s got a great heart and a nice voice.  He prolly shoulda gone for Sunday Best.

Tony LeBron – “The Power Of One” by Israel Houghton:  I know that he’s a favorite of the judges, but it’s a lot of broadway vibrato for me to handle sometimes.  He’s got a pure voice, a peaceful voice… and the fact that he’s bilingual and uses Spanish verses or bridges to spice it up is great.  He strikes me as a balladeer, but I wanna see him work a fast song.

Travis Lindseth - “You Are Everything” by Matthew West:  This actually started as one of the most authentic and moving performances of the evening.  But as the song grew, it became clear that he didn’t exactly know how to work the stage and it got a bit uncomfortable.  Vocally, he’s got a great tone, but not the best control.  That said, I kinda wanna hear him in 2 years.

In the end, the judges kept Tony and Robert, the ladies used their wildcard to keep NeVar.  I was kinda rooting for Tim cuz he’s such a pleasant kat… hopefully, this won’t deter him.

I wanna point out an unfortunate reality that explains why I think I’m perpetually disappointed at some point during each show…

Each contestant has RAW talent, some more than others, but none of them demonstrate experience in honing that talent.  Compare the finalists on American Idol or Sunday Best– they weren’t professionals, but they were POLISHED in a way that we don’t see on this season of Gospel Dream.  It’s frustrating that the caliber of singers isn’t high– the best vocalists on Gospel Dream would struggle in a competition against the Sunday Best hopefuls who were turned away in episode one.

That said, I’m interested to tune-in on Wednesday, when the remaining 6 semi-finalists go head-to-head.

What did you guys think?

Last Wednesday’s episode of Gospel Dream was really rough for me to watch.  Like… I zoned out a few times and when I got up to get a glass of water or something, I told my wife she did NOT have to pause the DVR on my account… I’d manage.

If you caught the episode, you know it was a Gospel Dream Boot Camp of sorts.  This concept is new to Gospel Dream, as it places it more in the realm of a Making The Band type of reality show instead of a bare-bones, perform-on-stage-every-week American Idol competition.

We saw image consulting, media preparation, voice lessons… all of which are necessary for the successful recording artist.  But I honestly don’t think Gospel Music Channel has fine-tuned things enough to masterfully weave in the “competition” part with the “reality show” part.  And I’m not saying that they can’t work on it.

But the problem now is– we’re going into the 3rd episode and I still remember only two finalists’ names.  Plus, I’m rather indifferent to who stays or who goes home.  I’ve not even had the OPPORTUNITY to fall in love with anyone’s voice yet.

Of the people I DID notice:

1. That dude, Travis, has too much attitude for me.  A Christian artist should be bold and confident in the things the Lord has called Him to be… but with a huge tablespoon of humility.  Maybe it’s just the editing, but we never see him with a smile or being pleasant.  I dunno who you’re mad at, but we ain’t done nothing TO you.

2. I think Tim Stylez is cool.

Regarding the judges:

Of course, Michelle Williams cheered me up when she asked one contestant why she wasn’t wearing heels, stating with seriousness: ”you cannot sacrifice fierceness to be comfortable.” HAAHAAHAA!

But then I was let down again when J Moss told one girl “everything about you is C+.”  Mitchell Solarek apparently didn’t like it either, cuz it led to a bit of an on-camera disagreement.  I’m sure that J was referring to her grade as an aspiring ARTIST, but no matter how fierce the competition, I just take issue with one Christian (J Moss) telling another Christian (ol’ girl) that EVERYTHING about her is C+.  Really?  Again, maybe it’s the edits, but we gotta be careful about the WAY we say things…

So that’s that.  And after ALL that, you know I’ll still be watching tomorrow night at 10pm ET/9pm CST, when the female contestants face off and artist Natalie Grant surprises them as a guest coach.  If you missed the Boot Camp episode, they’re re-airing it before the new one.

Okay, who else saw it and what did you think?

Ummm… I’ma have to see about this one, y’all.

Who else watched the season premiere of Gospel Dream on Gospel Music Channel on Wednesday night???

The first episode featured the judges– J Moss, Michelle Williams and Mitchell Solarek– whittling down 36 finalists to 10.

I was a bit annoyed from jump because co-host Mike Kasem began the showing by saying “THIS… is Gospel Dream” with the same inflection and pause as Ryan Seacrest’s notorious intro to each American Idol episode.  So, yeah, that’s embarrassing… why do we have to DO that?!

Plus, I only saw a coupla singers that really stood out immediately– Amber Davies, Tony LeBron… yeah.  That said, I’m eager to see more from each of the 10 finalists– auditions don’t always show their full ability, nor did we see the auditions of each of the finalists.

Now, I will say that I am THOROUGHLY enjoying the dynamic among the judges– Michelle Williams does a really great job (cuz she’s HILARIOUS), it’s good to see J doing his thing, and Mitchell balances the two of them out.

Favorite part of the show: the judges were deliberating on who the 10 finalists would be.  Mitchell made the point that one finalist had a great voice, but doesn’t really give you that ARTIST factor.  J Moss said “she’s a barette and a rubberband away from being a star… and some foundation.”

Bwahahahahahahaaaa!  I lost it!!!  Great stuff, folks…

Sooooooo, despite my murmuring, you know I’ma watch the next episode. It airs this coming Wednesday at 10pm ET (why so late, by the way?!), and is being called a boot camp of sorts.  There’s talk that it’ll feature last season’s winner, Melinda Watts.

Who else caught it?  What did you think?  Lemme know!

Hey folks, don’t forget to watch the premiere of Gospel Music Channel’s hit talent competition, Gospel Dream, tomorrow night at 10pm ET/9pm CST.

The program, now in its 4th season, will be hosted by Kimberley Locke (American Idol) and Mike Kasem (MTV’s Top 20 Video Countdown), with judging by J Moss, Michelle Williams and manager extraordinaire Mitchell Solarek.

The overarching theme for this season is “The Greatest Inspirational Songs Of All Time.”  Guess this means HOLY GHOST FIRE isn’t a part of the judging criteria this time around?

Who’s watching???  Who’s gonna find something else to do with their time???  And lemme know WHY, either way.

As for me and my house, we’re watchin’.

Holla at me!