Word has it that a couple of changes have been made to the initial artist line-up for BET’s Celebration Of Gospel, which will be taped this Saturday in Los Angeles.  Torrence Glenn, of BET.com, announced the changes on his blog yesterday.

It appears that Deborah Cox and Tamia are no longer appearing with Kelly Price, as originally stated (the three of them have an upcoming joint R&B album, The Queen Project)… Kelly will be going it alone.  I’m rather thrilled about that.

Sherri Shepherd, Robin Givens and Ernie Hudson are doing spoken word pieces, hopefully in one segment… no offense to them, but I’m just not big on spoken word.  Is that wrong?

Ledisi has been added to the roster of performing artists, and so has Yolanda Adams– both are absolutely spectacular to watch live, so I’m pretty impressed with BET!

BET has announced its roster for its annual gospel performance program, Celebration Of Gospel.  The show, which will be hosted by Steve Harvey, will take place in Los Angeles on December 12th and will air on Sunday, January 10, 2010.

If you’ll be in the L.A. area and wanna ATTEND the show, email BET at BETRSVP@bet.net or call ‘em at (202) 608-2617 for tickets.

As usual, the list is intended to represent a diverse group of singers– some tried-and-true gospel artists with some mainstream artists with a lil’ church on ‘em.  Did they succeed?  You be the judge…

Donnie McClurkin
Fred Hammond
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Shirley Caesar
Marvin Sapp
James Fortune & FIYA
Tye Tribbett & G.A.
The Rance Allen Group
Y’Anna Crawley
Dr. Bobby Jones & The Nashville Super Choir
P.S.A.L.M. Choir (from City of Refuge Church)
Deborah Cox, Kelly Price & Tamia (group members of the upcoming R&B album “The Queen Project”)
Fantasia Barrino and her mother, Diane Barrino Barber
Anthony Hamilton and his wife, Tarsha Hamilton

So, that’s that.  Now, who’s missing from the list for my taste?  Donald Lawrence, Israel Houghton, and J Moss.

Coko is a perfect example of an artist that should be on the roster– great gospel album(s) with mainstream appeal.  That’s just a no-brainer.

Also, Myron Butler & Levi have a new album coming out in 2010 and, though someone might say “they’re not as known among the BET audience,” I would disagree.  They are, in essence, the reincarnation of God’s Property, who put out one of the most successful gospel albums in history.  And that didn’t happen because of gospel consumers– it was the mainstream folks.  So, if BET’s audience doesn’t know who Myron Butler & Levi are, it’s because BET has failed to tell them.  But I bet they have the God’s Property album and I bet they’d care.

And what’s the deal with Kierra Sheard?  She can’t GET a booking in this industry.  BET snoozes on her repeatedly and it’s ridiculous.

I think, all in all, it’s gonna be one of those shows where I’ll be eager to watch one segment, then feel just fine missing the next segment to do something more exciting, like pour orange juice or balance my checkbook.

What do you good people think about the list?