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???

Word has it that Marvin Sapp took home a BET Award last night– he won in the category for Best Gospel Artist.  I think we all called this one and could’ve seen it comin’ a mile away.  But I’m THRILLED for him!

Also nominated in the category were Vickie Winans, Kirk Franklin presents Artists United (for Haiti Relief song), Tamela Mann and The Anointed Pace Sisters.

By the way, did anyone catch the show???

An obvious highlight for the gospel industry was Kirk Franklin’s performance of “Are You Listening?” with Fred Hammond, Marvin Sapp, Kim Burrell, Yolanda Adams and Karen Clark Sheard.  Everyone was in great voice and looked great and all that.  I could’ve used a BIT more Karen Clark Sheard on the ad libs– but couldn’t we all?

But before all that happened, we had another dope-for-gospel type of moment. I was thrilled to hear Alicia Keys, in the middle of her medley of hits, introduce Kim Burrell, who joined Keys in singing “If I Ain’t Got You” (Burrell changed the lyrics to say ”if it ain’t you, Jesus… if I ain’t got you, Jesus…”).  It was an incredible moment– the audience went BANANAS as if they, too, were die-hard Kim fans since the days of her indie release of Try Me Again (y’know, with the short haircut on it).  I’m glad for where God’s taking her.

(An aside: El DeBarge wasn’t doing gospel, but that medley ministered to my VERY SOUL, so… yeah.  Just needed to say that cuz I grew up on DeBarge.)

OKAY, tell me what you thought of the show, if you caught it, and blah blah blah…

Go!

The hottest choir competition in the nation, Verizon Wireless’ How Sweet the Sound, is just about ready to begin its nationwide tour dates, hosted by Donald Lawrence and featuring performances from some of the sangin’-est choirs in the country and some of the top gospel artists in the game.

I attended one of the sold-out events last year and it was INCREDIBLE. I strongly urge you to attend one in your area, if you’re at all able to do so.  Tickets for the events go on sale on July 10th.

Details on dates, cities and performers are as follows:

Houston, TX
September 9, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans, Byron Cage

Jacksonville, FL
September 11, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans, James Fortune

Memphis, TN
September 14, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans, Dorinda Clark Cole

Philadelphia, PA
September 17, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans, Lonnie Hunter

Washington, DC
September 18, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans, Richard Smallwood, Maurette Brown Clark

Newark, NJ
September 22, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans, Kurt Carr

Cleveland, OH
September 24, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans, James Fortune

Detroit, MI
September 25, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans, Kurt Carr

Chicago, IL
September 27, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans, Dorinda Clark Cole

Charlotte, NC
September 30, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans, John P. Kee

Atlanta, GA
October 2, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans, Israel Houghton, Tamela Mann

St. Louis, MO
October 5, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans, Dwight Stone

Oakland, CA
October 9, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans, Byron Cage

Los Angeles, CA
October 11, 2010
Featuring CeCe Winans

Visit http://www.howsweetthesound.com for more updates and info.

Who’s attending???

MAJOR props to EMI Gospel family band Forever Jones for debuting at #3 with their first major project, Get Ready, on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart!  The single from their album, “He Wants It All,” continues to make headway at gospel radio.

Also, shout-out to James Hall, whose choir project made some SIGNIFICANT gains at retail this week, leaping from #16 to #5 on the chart.

The full gospel bizzzzness for the week…

#1 | Marvin Sapp - Here I Am
#2 | WOW Gospel 2010
#3 | Forever Jones – Get Ready
#4 | Hezekiah Walker & LFC – Souled Out
#5 | James Hall & VOC – Won’t It Be Wonderful
#6 | Fred Hammond – Love Unstoppable
#7 | Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#8 | Tamela Mann - The Master Plan
#9 | BeBe & CeCe Winans – Still
#10 | Juanita Bynum – More Passion

Which of the above projects do you NOT have yet?  And what are you waiting for???

Not much movement in the top 10 of Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart this week.  In fact, the biggest change was that Brian Courtney Wilson’s Just Love jumped from #10 to #8 (niiiice!).  Other than that, not much news to report.  But report, I shall…

Here’s how the top 10 rounds out…

#1 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#2 | WOW Gospel 2010
#3 | Juanita Bynum – More Passion
#4 | BeBe & CeCe Winans – Still
#5 | Karen Clark Sheard – All In One
#6 | James Fortune & FIYA – Encore
#7 | Fred Hammond – Love Unstoppable
#8| Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#9 | Earnest Pugh – Live: Rain On Us
#10 | Tamela Mann – The Master Plan

And that’s that!  Anyone picked up More Passion from Juanita Bynum since last week?

The nominees for the 10th annual BET Awards were announced yesterday.  The awards program recognizes the gospel genre in its Best Gospel Artist category.  This year, nods in that category go to:

Marvin Sapp
The Anointed Pace Sisters
Kirk Franklin Presents Artists United For Haiti
Tamela Mann
Vickie Winans

Happy about Marvin Sapp, thrilled for the Pace Sisters (project was slept on– read my review for more info), satisfied about Tamela Mann and Vickie Winans.  I dunno that the Haiti relief project should’ve been nominated.  Don’t get me wrong– I love everything that it is, was and ever stood for… I just dunno that it should be put in the Best Gospel Artist category.  Are we saying that, merely for being there, the participants are “the best” this year?

For me, this list is missing BeBe & CeCe Winans.  After a 15-year hiatus, gospel’s most famous duo returns with the highest album debut of 2009, sales that kept them at #1 on the gospel chart for MONTHS, plus media exposure that included a performance on Oprah… and they’re not even nominated?  What must one DO?!  I don’t get the nominations criteria.

I wouldn’t be the only one, of course, as nominations are doled out by a select and secret committee comprised of… well, we’re not really told who.  By the way, what’s with awards shows not telling us who’s doing all the awardin’?!

In any case, I’m predicting Marvin Sapp on this one.  And after a record-breaking debut across all genres of music a couple of months ago, I think he deserves it.

This year’s BET Awards will be hosted by Queen Latifah and will be broadcast live from L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium on Sunday, June 27th at 8pm ET/7pm CST on BET.

What do you think of the nominees???

For another week, the top 10 looks very… familiar at Billboard.

#1 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#2 | WOW Gospel 2010
#3 | BeBe & CeCe Winans – Still
#4 |Karen Clark Sheard - All In One
#5 | Fred Hammond – Love Unstoppable
#6 | James Fortune & FIYA – Encore
#7 | Earnest Pugh – Live: Rain On Us
#8| Tamela Mann – The Master Plan
#9| Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#10 | Donnie McClurkin – Playlist: The Very Best Of Donnie McClurkin

Glad to see Donnie McClurkin’s compilation project doing well, though a part of me is like “who DOESN’T have those songs by now?!”

And uhh… that’s about all I have to say about this.

Thoughts???

Not too many changes in the top 10 spots on the Gospel Albums chart at Billboard.

#1 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#2 | WOW Gospel 2010
#3 | BeBe & CeCe Winans – Still
#4 |Karen Clark Sheard - All In One
#5 | Fred Hammond – Love Unstoppable
#6 | James Fortune & FIYA – Encore
#7 | Earnest Pugh – Live: Rain On Us
#8 | Hezekiah Walker & LFC – Souled Out
#9| Tamela Mann - The Master Plan
#10 | Mary Mary – The Sound

Outside of the top 10, Lucinda Moore’s Blessed Broken & Given has debuted at #13, and Vickie Winans jumped from #44 to #18, and James Hall’s church choir, Voices of Citadel, jumped from #33 to #19 with their newest release– Won’t It Be Wonderful (full review of that one coming TODAY).

I’m assuming the top 10 will stay pretty much like this for a while– I don’t know of any major releases that could cause an upset and the numbers are fairly solid.

Talk to me– which of these albums do you not have, but are considering pickin’ up???

Not too much movement in the top 10 of Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart this week.

#1 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#2 | WOW Gospel 2010
#3 | Karen Clark Sheard - All In One
#4 | BeBe & CeCe Winans - Still
#5 | James Fortune & FIYA – Encore
#6 | Fred Hammond – Love Unstoppable
#7 | Earnest Pugh – Live: Rain On Us
#8 | Hezekiah Walker & LFC – Souled Out
#9 | Tamela Mann - The Master Plan
#10 | Brian Courtney Wilson - Just Love

Re-entries into the top 10 come from Earnest Pugh and Brian Courtney Wilson.  Smokie Norful’s Victory Cathedral Choir drops from #4 to #19 (y’all better buy that album and quit playin’… it’s dope).

Things will probably look similar to this for a minute… not too many new releases coming and, with a few exceptions, their numbers are pretty strong, with little change in sales percentage week-to-week.

Whatd’ya think???