Yesterday, BET’s Sunday Best transitioned from auditions to competition in the anticipated first-week of vocal throwdowns.  This week, 10 of the 20 finalists were commissioned to sing songs recorded by judges Donnie McClurkin and Yolanda Adams.

Before they got started, though, the show opened with a nice medley of “Are You Listening” (Kirk Franklin’s Haiti Relief song) and Donnie McClurkin’s “Ooh Child.”  The former featured vocal performances from McClurkin, Isaac Carree, Yolanda Adams, Kim Burrell and Tina Campbell. The performance also included the contestants singing BGVs.

The end of the show, albeit incredibly short, featured Y’Anna Crawley singing her new single, “Grandma’s Hands.”  She looked and sounded great, but I wish it hadn’t been cut short… even Y’Anna expressed some initial shock over it on her Twitter page.  Seems to me, they coulda cut out some of the choir oohin’ and aahin’ at the top of the show…

Oh, and I’d be lyin’ if I said I didn’t miss Erica Campbell at the judges’ table.  Yolanda’s doing a good job, but I miss the innate chemistry between Erica & Tina.

Okay, on to my competition commentaries:

Jonte Thomas – “Just A Prayer Away”
I loved the jazzy arrangement of this tune. It’s one of my faves from Yolanda, so I wouldn’t encourage anyone to touch it, but Jonte did it well. She’ll have to demonstrate more of her own unique style to stand against some of the other competitors, but she’s got the chops, for sure.

LeAndria Johnson – “In The Midst Of It All”
That woman is just dope and we all know it.  Not only did she demolish her vocal like a seasoned professional, she was believable and captivating because of her passion and delivery.  She’s a natural at this and she just flat-out SINGS.

Robert Hatcher - “What About The Children?”
He’s got a great, clear tone with an old-skool crooner richness to it. The performance was a little too ‘Barry Manilow‘ to me, but he’s got a great voice– I wanna hear more from him.  Hopefully, we’ll get to see more of his style come out on the next song he does.

Tawanna Tarvin – “I’ll Trust You”
In my opinion, it was a bad song choice.  And I don’t say that because she can’t do it, but because time restrictions made her draw the song to a climax before we knew it was coming.  Donnie finessed that song so that, by the time it reached its peak, we were drawn in and ready to go.  Tawanna’s arrangement (not her fault, in my opinion) did not allow for that build-up, so it felt kinda Broadway-ish.

Davon Fleming – “We Fall Down”
Dude is kinda fresh to me.  He needs to know when to blaze with the falsetto and when to leave it in the natural (so, he’ll also have to pay attention to the lower register so that he has control of his tricks down there, too), but I really like him.  And that says a lot because I don’t EVER want to hear anyone but Donnie McClurkin sing “We Fall Down” (I think few can do it well)– he’s got potential, for sure.

Quiana Pettigrew – “Great Is Your Mercy”
I think I wasn’t a fan of the arrangement. It had a bossa nova vibe to it, but it didn’t lend itself to showcasing her vocals well.  I’m sure she can do it, but the arrangement made it tough to work it.  The vocal was a bit unfocused and, though she can definitely sing, I don’t know that she knew what to do with the song.

Franklin Davis – “I Believe I Can Fly”
Again, wasn’t too thrilled with it, but I believe it was because of the urban/Caribbean arrangement that they put on the song.  It kinda distracted me from what he was doing, which is unfortunate because I can recall the odd musical arrangement better than I can recall his vocal performance.  That’s not good.

Funmi Oduyemi – “Open My Heart”
It was just not okay.  But it’s not her fault, exclusively.  We pulled a Nigerian singer to the States, expecting her to sing in a way that would appeal to the U.S. gospel industry and the musical palettes within it.  If it were an easy task, someone would have done it by now.  I think it’s a tall order and she just didn’t measure up on this one.  But she’s got a great spirit and demeanor– I really do want the best for her.  I just don’t think it’s in the U.S. gospel marketplace.

Durward Davis – “Victory Chant”
This was a hard song to sing in terms of showcasing one’s talent– it’s really a call-and-response praise & worship song, which wouldn’t be an obvious choice for a vocal competition.  That said, he did a VERY good job of delivering it… so much so that I wanted him to keep going!  I liked Durward’s performance a lot.  Definitely wanna see more.

Elder Goldwire McLendon – “The Battle Is The Lord’s”
Aaaaand I’m SOLD.  I don’t think I need to see this through– he’s my pick.  He’s who I want an album from.  Someone else can give one, too, but I want Elder McLendon’s ministry in the mix right now.  He’s got a Pop Winans kind of vibe to him that is endearing and familiar… I want him to be a part of the fabric of our industry.  I want him to impart into the younger generation.  I want him to… I enjoyed him.  Thoroughly.

And that’s THAT.  Okay, folks… lemme know what you thought of the show and lemme know what you think of my recap.  You think it’s baloney, don’t you?  No, wait… you wholeheartedly agree, don’t you?

Talk to me!

Did you all catch CeCe Winans hosting TBN’s Praise The Lord last night?!  WHEWWW!  Good show.

The performances were, of course, awesome.  Smokie Norful did some tracks from his latest album and did a great job.  When he opened the show, the sound folks didn’t have things together, so he and his singers were a bit out of sync with the track (arrgghhh), but they got it together.

BeBe Winans joined his sister to sing their new single, “Close To You,” and I’m growing more anxious for the tour each time I see them!  I’m cheesin’ even as I type this cuz it’s just soooo nostalgic.  And, by the way, BeBe is like… hilarious.  I loved their conversation.

Bishop Paul Morton also did a great job with “Cry Your Last Tear,” which he sang at Pop Winans’ homegoing service.  He was cuttin’ up on stage, too, on his interview.  I like him.

I think my fave part of the show, though, was to see Alvin Love, CeCe’s husband, talking about his role as husband and covering for a woman of God with such a great call on her life.  I always see him, but haven’t heard him as much, so it was great to get his perspective.  He said to CeCe: ”I understand your purpose, I understand what God has called you to do, and so I’m not intimidated by that… I do know who I am.  I’m a child of God and God has placed me here to be a covering for you.”

And what’s crazier, he later said “I got saved two years before I met you… I didn’t know anything about holiness.  I was straight from the world, and then… CeCe Winans!”

BOOM!  They’ll be married 25 years next month and you can tell that they’re still absolutely in love with one another.  Great stuff!  Prayin’ for y’all…

If you missed it last night, click here to catch it streaming from TBN’s website, in the Archives section.  It should be the first-listed episode.

What did you all think???

Over 2,000 people gathered at Perfecting Church last night to celebrate the life of David “Pop” Winans in a musical memorial service.  His homegoing service is today, after which he will be laid to rest.

I was traveling when I heard the news, but like so many others, I was devastated and saddened by our collective loss of such a great man of God.  He leaves a great legacy and will be sorely missed on this side of Heaven.

Let’s continue to pray for the Winans family, folks.

I am incredibly saddened to report that David “Pop” Winans passed away yesterday afternoon.  The entire gospel music industry mourns the loss of one of our greatest treasures.

Let’s pray for the Winans family during this time.

Word has it that David “Pop” Winans is finally on his way home after a SERIES of ailments.  Click here to see my earlier posts about his recent medical troubles.  God is an awesome healer!

Sheilah Belle (The Belle Report) is reporting that David “Pop” Winans suffered yet another heart attack on Wednesday, December 3, 2008.  If you recall the details of my earlier post, you’ll note that this attack is the latest in a series of afflictions that he has faced.

PRAY for him and the Winans family– healing, peace, grace and mercy, all in God’s sovereign will.

The Detroit News reports that, after two strokes, seizures and a heart attack suffered over the past two months, David “Pop” Winans, age 74, was released yesterday from Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI.  He’s in rehab and doing better by the day.  Awesome!  See the full article here.

I learned of his condition a couple of weeks ago, but kinda didn’t process it because I was at a homegoing service for someone else when I heard about it (see my post about Olivia McClurkin here).  And the reminder of our own mortality was more than I wanted to deal with at the time.  But now, I realize how sad I would’ve been had he not pulled through.  Of course, I would have mourned for the Winans family in their loss here on Earth.  But I mean that I would have been personally affected…

I was first exposed to Pop Winans on an oooooold Stellar Awards broadcast (maybe 1989 or 1990).  BeBe & CeCe sang “Lost Without You” (classic), then introduced their parents, who sang “I’m Going Through” from their self-entitled debut album.  You gotta love YouTube for having a clip of their performance:

 Like the entire Winans family, he has a sound that is truly unique.  He has contributed to my understanding of the passion with which a vocalist, especially a male vocalist, has to bring to the stage.  And he loves him some Jesus.  He’s an asset to the gospel music community and to the Body of Christ.

Let’s pray for a speedy and complete recovery!

It was fine.

It definitely had everyone you’d want to see on a program about gospel music in Detroit– the Clark Sisters, Kierra Sheard, J Moss, PAJAM, 21:03, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Fred Hammond, Mom & Pop Winans, and several others.  And many of them gave very gracious and informative interviews about their music ministry and the influence of the Detroit music scene– gospel and secular– on their craft.

But some of them… it just seemed like some folks wanted to take the opportunity to demand the respect that they feel they’re due.  Mind you, I’ve watched several other Hometown Gospel programs (Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta) and no other city has exhibited so much self-promotion.  Sure, the artists in other cities said stuff like “Chicago has such a rich gospel music heritage, especially because of people like Thomas A. Dorsey, Mahalia Jackson, Albertina Walker and others.”  The Detroit theme was more like “so now, all of you at home can finally see that DETROIT is where it’s AT!”  It was a bit off-putting.

All in all, though, it was a must-see for any gospel music lover.  There is some really excellent (and OLD) video footage of Fred Hammond with Commissioned, and some clips of Vanessa Bell Armstrong.  Check out the Gospel Music Channel for info on future airdates and times.  And make sure you catch the other cities, too.

One final point, for everyone in the gospel music industry and beyond:  the last name of the legendary family is Winans, with an ‘s‘ already on it.  That means that ANY PLURALIZATION OF THAT NAME (i.e., referring to more than one member of the family) cannot be ‘Winans’… cuz that’s the name already.

No, it must be WINANSES.  Feels weird to say it, I know… but it really is the only way.  Ok?

Winanses.