On the heels of being named New Artist of the Year at this year’s Stellar Awards, Sunday Best winner Y’Anna is returning to the scene with a brand new single, titled “Livin’ My Destiny.”
GospelPundit.com has your exclusive listen on the Pundit Player– click here to hear it!!!
On the heels of a riveting Stellar Awards performance with Kim Burrell, Le’Andria Johnson and Jessica Reedy, Martha Munizzi releases her ne single, the title track from her Stellar Award-nominated album, Make It Loud.
Wanna hear it? I know you do. 
Check it out on the Pundit Player by clicking here!!!
In case you’ve missed the 27th Annual Stellar Awards airing in your local market, don’t fret– the nationwide broadcast is going down THIS SATURDAY, February 11th, on gmc (check your local cable listings).
It airs at 7pm, 9pm and 11pm ET, so you kinda don’t have any excuse to miss it.
The show, hosted by Dorinda Clark Cole and Marvin Sapp, features performances from Kirk Franklin, Kim Burrell, James Fortune & FIYA, Fred Hammond, Lecrae and more.
Tune-in!
Today, Martha Munizzi released her latest music video, this one for “Make It Loud,” the title track of her latest Stellar-winning project.
Wanna see it? Sure you do. Check it out–
Over Stellar Awards weekend, Karen Clark Sheard announced the signing of the newest artist to her label, Karew Records– Jonathan Nelson!
After that, Jonathan tweeted and confirmed it, as did his twin bro, Jason Nelson. Jonathan was previously signed to Integrity Music, on which his latest album, Better Days, was released in 2010.
We can expect new music from Jonathan Nelson THIS YEAR.
Congrats Jonathan and Karew!
The 27th Annual Stellar Awards were held on Saturday, January 14, 2012 in Nashville, TN at the Grand Ole Opry House.
And here are this year’s winners (winners in bold and blue)!
Artist of the Year
Earnest Pugh
Kirk Franklin
Mary Mary
VaShawn Mitchell
Song of the Year
“Nobody Greater” | Darius Paulk
“Well Done” | Deitrick Haddon
“I Smile” | Kirk Franklin
“I Choose To Worship” | Wess Morgan
Male Vocalist of the Year
Earnest Pugh
Israel Houghton
Smokie Norful
VaShawn Mitchell
Female Vocalist of the Year
Beverly Crawford
Kim Burrell
Martha Munizzi
Yolanda Adams
Group/Duo of the Year
James Fortune & FIYA
Mary Mary
Rance Allen Group
Trin-i-tee 5:7
New Artist of the Year
Greater Mt. Calvary Church Choir
Preashea Hilliard
Todd Dulaney
Y’Anna
CD of the Year
James Fortune & FIYA – I Believe
Kirk Franklin – I Smile
Mary Mary – Something Big
VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant
Choir of the Year
Chicago Mass Choir
Mississippi Mass Choir
Ricky Dillard
Shekinah Glory Ministry
Producer of the Year
Aaron Lindsey, Tommy Sims & Israel Houghton for Love God. Love People.
Kirk Franklin for Hello Fear
VaShawn Mitchell, Daniel Weatherspoon & Rick Robinson for Triumphant
Warryn Campbell/Mary Mary for Something Big
Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year
James Fortune & FIYA
Mary Mary
Trin-i-tee 5:7
Traditional Group/Duo of the Year
Keith Wonderboy Johnson & Spiritual Voices
Rance Allen Group
The Soul Seekers
Contemporary Male of the Year
Deitrick Haddon
Earnest Pugh
Israel Houghton
VaShawn Mitchell
Traditional Male of the Year
Keith Wonderboy Johnson
John P Kee
Rance Allen
Smokie Norful
Contemporary Female of the Year
Kim Burrell
Preashea Hilliard
Y’Anna
Yolanda Adams
Traditional Female of the Year
Beverly Crawford
Evelyn Turrentine-Agee
LaShun Pace
Twinkie Clark
Contemporary CD of the Year
Deitrick Haddon | Church on the Moon
Kirk Franklin | Hello Fear
Mary Mary | Something Big
VaShawn Mitchell | Triumphant
Traditional CD of the Year
John P Kee | The Legacy Project
Mississippi Mass Choir | Then Sings My Soul
Ricky Dillard | Keep Living
Smokie Norful | How I Got Over…
Urban Inspirational Performance of the Year
Deitrick Haddon | “Well Done”
Kirk Franklin | “I Smile”
Mary Mary | “Walking”
VaShawn Mitchell | “Nobody Greater”
Music Video of the Year – Short Form
Martha Munizzi | “Excellent” (Martha Munizzi)
Christian Heuer | “Walking” (Mary Mary)
Canton Jones | “God” (Canton Jones)
VaShawn Mitchell | “Nobody Greater” (VaShawn Mitchell)
Music Video of the Year – Long Form
Deitrick Haddon | Church on the Moon
Jerry Parries | Bishop Morton Celebrates…
Mississippi Mass Choir | Then Sings My Soul
Ricky Dillard | Keep Living
Traditional Choir of the Year
Chicago Mass Choir
Greater Mt. Calvary Church Choir
Mississippi Mass Choir
Ricky Dillard
Contemporary Choir of the Year
Lonnie Hunter & Structure
Shekinah Glory Ministry
Instrumental Gospel CD of the Year
Harold Rayford | I Am the Instrument
Moses Tyson Jr | Music Remastered & Sacred Organ
Todd Ledbetter | Meditations: Hymsn in the Key of Jazz
Winston Stewart | Season
Special Event CD of the Year
Bishop Paul Morton | Still
John P Kee | The Legacy Project
Shekinah Glory Ministry | Refreshed By Fire
VaShawn Mitchell | My Songbook
Rap, Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year
Flame | Captured
Lecrae | Rehab
Lecrae | Rehab: The Overdose
Viktory | Birth of a Legacy
Children’s Project of the Year
Teen Pure N Heart | Pure N Heart Live
Santiago & Claude Deuce | My Destiny Place – My Imagination
The Velasquez Singers | Ten
T-Rep The Young Prayzr | Let’s Go
Quartet of the Year
Keith Wonderboy Johnson & Spiritual Voices
Rance Allen Group
The Soul Seekers
Recorded Music Packaging of the Year
Christina Jones for Dominionaire (Canton Jones)
Denise Trotman & Greg Gilligan for Hello Fear (Kirk Franklin)
Martha Munizzi for Make It Loud (Martha Munizzi)
Tanner Gary for Triumphant (VaShawn Mitchell)
Praise and Worship CD of the Year
Earnest Pugh | Earnestly Yours
Israel Houghton | Love God. Love People.
Shekinah Glory Ministry | Refreshed By Fire
VaShawn Mitchell | Triumphant
Spoken Word CD of the Year
Marco the Poet | Marco the Poet EP
Michael Diallo McLendon | The Diallo Experience
Selah | Look At You Loving Me
Trupoetry | Trupoetry
Radio Station of the Year Finalists:
Major Market (3M+)
WPZE 102.5 FM (Atlanta, GA)
WPRS 104.1 FM (Washington, DC)
KJLH 102.3 FM (Los Angeles, CA)
WGRB 1390 AM (Chicago, IL)
[list courtesy of GospelPundit.com]
Large Market (1-3M)
WHAL 95.7 FM/1460 AM (Memphis, TN)
WFMI 100.9 FM (VA-Norfolk-Newport, VA)
KCAO 600 AM (Baltimore, MD)
WMBM 1490 AM (Miami, FL)
Medium Market (500,000-1M)
WLOU 1350 AM (Louisville, KY)
WPRF 94.9 FM (New Orleans, LA)
WENO 760 AM (Nashville, TN)
[list courtesy of GospelPundit.com]
WPZK 102.5 (Little Rock, AR)
Small Market (under 500,000)
WDJL 1000 AM (Huntsville, AL)
WJNI 106.3 FM (Charleston, SC)
KOKA 980 AM (Shreveport, LA)
WIMG 1300 AM (Trenton, NJ)
The show was hosted by Marvin Sapp and Dorinda Clark Cole, and will begin airing in local markets on January 21, 2012 (visit the Stellar Awards website for Local Airdates). The program will also be broadcast on gmc on February 11, 2012 at 8pm ET.
You know it’s the place to be… it just is. Lol
Urban Soul Cafe returns to Stellar Awards weekend with its annual “Access Granted” event, featuring some of the greatest gospel artists in the game. It’s got three events over the course of the weekend!
During that time, Dorinda Clark Cole and the Rance Allen Group will be honored with Lifetime Achievement awards, while Kim Burrell is receiving an Artist of the Year award. Plus, you’ll get live appearances from just about every artist that comes to Nashville, including Marvin Sapp, Myron Butler, Canton Jones, Da’ T.R.U.T.H., Shirley Murdock and more.
For a complete list of events, visit http://urbansoulcafe.com.
The 13th annual BMI Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards, held during Stellar Awards weekend each year, will honor Kirk Franklin and Hezekiah Walker at this year’s event on Friday, January 13, 2012 in Nashville, TN.
No word yet on who is slated to perform, but we’re hoping Donald Lawrence will, as always, arrange the musical tribute.
The invite-only tribute luncheon has become one of the most well-attended, highly anticipated events of the weekend. In recent years, the event has been later broadcast on gmc.
If you signed up to receive GospelPundit Weekly, you know that I send exclusive content to you via email each week, posing some question or point of view. One of my recent editorials sparked such interesting conversation that I figured I would re-post it here to see what YOU have to say…
*****
“And The Nominees Are… Decided By Fans”
This past Saturday, the nominees for the 27th Annual Stellar Awards were announced during a live nominations concert, which took place in Nashville, TN and aired exclusively on gmc. Check them out here if you haven’t already seen them.
This year, it seems that the nominees were determined primarily by fan voting. Actually, the same vote count used to determine the nominees will be used in naming the winner in January.
Has the Stellar Awards become a people’s choice award? Yeah, kinda…
A confidential committee still monitors the entries before the public gets to vote, making sure that only eligible submissions go forward, etc. And the voting members still get to whittle a loooooong list of entries down to a more manageable ten or so potential nominees. But at the end of the day, you– the public– have actually chosen this year’s winners.
Is that good or bad? I don’t know. On one hand, I’ve heard people praise the idea that votes are no longer “for sale” through voting memberships, whereby if you simply pay dues, you get to decide who gets a Stellar Award. And they like the idea that the consumers– those most impacted– get to weigh-in. On the other hand, there’s something to be said about a recognition by your peers– those who understand the work you put into it and who are, supposedly, experts in the arena.
One thing is for certain– this is the first time in several years that I haven’t heard someone cry “foul play” in the nominations process… and that’s worth writing about.
*****
What do you think of the Stellar Awards nominations this year?
What do you think of the voting process?
Better, worse, like it, love it?
I will never forget my first real introduction to LaShun Pace’s solo artistry. I was watching the 1999 Stellar Awards and she won an award for her album, Just Because God Said It.
The music they played from her album as she walked to the stage was the album’s opener, “Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder),” a clever Christian remake of Maxwell’s mainstream tune.
I was so captivated by the tone and harmonies on it that I went and purchased it from my favorite Chicago music store, Dr. Wax. And I wore that CD out.
Tunes like the title track, her remake of Walter Hawkins’ “Be Grateful,” and the “Prophetic Medley,” showcased a soprano so soaring that she can reach the rafters, and vocals so strong that they can shake them once she gets up there.
My absolute favorite tune on the project is “Where I Am,” a heartfelt believer’s declaration of the joys of being saved and sanctified: “I can’t remember how it felt to be anywhere but where I am.”
Take a listen to snippets of it here:
