Uh-oh.

The big season finale of BET’s Sunday Best has been postponed until next Sunday, September 11, 2011, after a wrong dial-in number was given for one of the contestants on the show last week.

No, for real.

According to the official update posted on The Gospel According to Torrence, BET also considered the fact that the East Coast suffered from significant power outages (due to Hurricane Irene).

Apparently, the text-to-vote and online voting is unaffected– those votes will still count.  BET will re-air last week’s episode this Sunday, September 4th, after which the phone voting will begin.

I’m sure this just adds ammunition to your little “we-hate-BET” guns, but let’s show a little grace on this one. A LITTLE.

In the meantime, you can check out my latest editorial, Sunday Best… Then What? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

VaShawn Mitchell premiered the first concept music video of his career yesterday. It’s fitting that it’s for the biggest song of his career to date– “Nobody Greater.”

I love that it’s set in NYC– one of the biggest cities in the world, full of huge buildings and sights– but still making the declaration that there’s nobody (and nothing) greater than God. And I love that it’s a gospel video that’s looking like… money… was put into it (and you know what I mean by that.)

Oh, and shout-out to Torrence Glenn of The Gospel According to Torrence, video-muggin’ in the background… I see you!

Check it out–

After much speculation and rumors of cancellation, BET’s popular gospel talent competition, Sunday Best, is returning for its 4th season!

From the looks of things, Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin and Mary Mary are already on tap to participate in hosting and judging again.  It should be a great season.

Auditions begin next Saturday, the 19th of February, in Dallas, TX at The Potter’s House.  Other audition cities are Los Angeles (3/5) and Atlanta (3/12).

Visit The Gospel According to Torrence for full details on how to audition!

I don’t want to discourage anyone from auditioning, but do make sure you read my editorial from last year, titled Before You Audition For Sunday Best… 10 Things.

Cool?  Cool!

Hey folks!  We’re keeping The Prayer List, our weekly pray-for-the-industry series, rolling this week with the addition of another industry laborer.

This week, we’re lifting up Torrence Glenn.

Many of you know Torrence as the calls-it-like-he-sees-it voice behind The Gospel According to Torrence, the gospel music blog at BET.com.  He’s also responsible for digital music content at BET.com (he coordinates all of the Listen Up! features on the site, which give you good people advance full-length streaming music before albums hit stores).  He wears many hats and I think we should lift him up.  Cool?

Lord, thank You for the life of Torrence Glenn. Thank You for gifting him and setting him in a place where his gifts can be used for Your glory each day. Thank You for expanded horizons and new opportunities.

Father, I pray that You be glorified by Torrence’s blog and by his work at BET.com. I pray that he will continue to be used by You to further the callings of so many gifted artists. I pray that You would bless him and reward his servant heart with more opportunities to do so.

God, please speak clearly to Torrence, by Your Spirit. Guide him and direct his paths by Your Will. In the areas of his life that need scultping, please sculpt them, as only You can do. In the areas of his life in which he already excels, stretch him further.

Father, please block any hindrance from his path. Anyone surrounding him that doesn’t encourage and edify him, Lord, I pray You would reveal and remove them. I pray that Torrence would feel, almost tangibly, the prayers of people petitioning You on his behalf, and that he would be blessed by the joy found in the unity of the Body of Christ.

Please continue to fashion him into the man You’ve created him to be, with the purpose You predestined. Continue to build his trust in You, Lord, by demonstrating Your faithfulness. Continue to show him how committed You are to every facet of his life. Continue to love on him. And, Lord, please continue to anoint him for the work You’ve called him to. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ok, fam! Let’s hear your prayers for Torrence! Post ‘em here, in the comment section.

THIS series is so good that GospelPundit is teaming up with two other new media heavyweights to cover it– GospelFlava.com and The Gospel According To Torrence at BET.com.  It’s THAT major.

I wanna introduce to some, and present to others, the one and only Jojo Pada, gospel’s publicist extraordinaire.  She is probably one of the BIGGEST personalities in the gospel music industry.  She knows everyone and everyone knows her.  Now 15 years into this biz, she is THE go-to person for PR (public relations) in this game and she has worked very hard to be where she is.  On a personal note– I was her intern at Verity many moons ago and she is one of the people that laid the foundation of my knowledge and know-how in this business.

FINALLY, she’s sharing her PR prowess with the masses– pay close attention, take notes, and be educated in this historic three-part series across multiple media platforms.

Your roadmap:

1.  Visit GospelFlava.com to read more about Jojo and what motivated her to write this editorial– http://www.gospelflava.com/articles/confessionspublicistpart1.html.

2.  Read the section below, in which Jojo shares 5 tips for becoming a great publicist.

3.  Hop over to The Gospel According To Torrence to read the conclusion of Jojo’s PR advice.  She’s giving 5 amazing tips for anyone who’s seeking help from a publicist– http://blogs.bet.com/ontv/thegospelaccordingto/2010/02/confessions-of-a-gospel-publicist-part-3/.

Make sure you visit all three websites to read everything Jojo’s got to say– it won’t make much sense if you don’t.  She wrapped up at GospelFlava by saying “I know that I’ve been called to be a publicist.  But have you?”

Let’s pick up there…

*     *     *

5 helpful hints if you want to be a publicist:

1.  Learn how to write.  I’m lucky – I actually went to college and got my degree in Public Relations.  I was taught how to write for newspapers and news releases; I was taught how to analyze media and media trends and I was taught how to pitch.  And I’ve had excellent training.  My first real job in the biz was with the legendary Terrie Williams.  Ms. Williams was probably the preeminent Black publicist for years.  In her heyday she was simultaneously handling Eddie Murphy, Johnnie Cochran and Janet Jackson.

The most important thing that was constantly drilled in my head was LEARN HOW TO WRITE.  Writing is our lifeline.  Bios, press materials, sales pages and creative copy – it’s all something PR people must know how to do.  If you want to work in Music PR, writing bios is probably the best thing to do. For me, when I write a bio, I take the time to interview the artist and listen to the CD over and over.  That gives me a hands-on, intimate sense of what the artist likes to talk about as it pertains to that particular project AND what the music really sounds like – both are essential items in being able to pitch the artist and the project to different media.

After I write a bio – I know exactly what the highpoints of the CD’s are, I know what things are important to the artists – I know how to craft what media should ask.

2.  Understand the story you’re pitching.  One of my strengths is knowing the right story for the right media outlet.  I love creating just the right pitch that works.  If a gospel client says to me, “I want to be in non-traditional gospel magazines,” I have to think of a way to make it work.  I wouldn’t pitch Black Enterprise with a new-CD-release pitch; I would find out if the client has a businesses or entrepreneurial ideas that would make sense for a magazine like Black Enterprise.

3.  Know your media (Part 2 of understanding the story).  Befriend your media compatriots.  Learn their dislikes, likes, when they like to be pitched, when their deadlines are, etc.– it will help make you a better publicist.  When I was doing celebrity events for the Motown Café, our job was to bring celebs in and get as much press surrounding their appearance at the restaurant.   A good friend Richard Corkery, was THE celebrity Photographer for the Daily News in New York City.  We all knew that if he came to one of your events and took pictures, there was a good likelihood the photo would run in the paper the next day.  One thing about him is he LOVES to drink Amstel Light.  The minute I saw him walk in to the restaurant, I’d have one ready for him.  I know it’s a little thing … but he’d always remembered that and made a point of coming to ALL my events.

And don’t just reach out to media people just for a pitch.  Actually care about their lives outside of “what can you write about this week.”

4.  Specialize. Create a niche for yourself that makes you the BEST in your area of specialty.  Publicity is contact and network-driven.  If you start in TV publicity and stay in that field, in a few years you will know all the key players, writers and media outlets.  Like in any profession, making a name for yourself is important to success.  Once you’ve established yourself as a knowledgeable, experienced publicist in that particular field, your reputation will spread – a publicist’s value is based in what other people (potential clients, press people, artists) think of you.

Also, create camaraderie with other publicists in your area of expertise.  So often, people try to pit PR people against each other but you never know when you’ll need to call upon other people for help on a particular project or you might even garner work from another publicist.  For example, veteran publicist Bill Carpenter (Capital Entertainment) provides links to different publicists (including me) on his website.

5.  Network with media and with other publicists.  I know I just said pick one field and stay there, but it doesn’t hurt to get to know and connect with publicists in different genres.  You can learn tips on strategies for media pitching, social networking campaigns, find out about upcoming events and TV specials.  Knowing what other publicists are doing can elevate your game.  Join PR societies and groups. One great example is run by another awesome veteran Publicist, Gwendolyn Quinn of GQ Media, who runs the PR listserv – a database to whom she sends all things germane to PR (job opportunities, upcoming events for clients, media stories, etc).

*     *     *

I LOVE THAT INFORMATION!  Kinda makes me wanna be a publicist. LOL

Okay, now head over to The Gospel According To Torrence RIGHT NOW for the conclusion of the matter (churchy!), where Jojo gives FREE advice to aspiring artists in search of a publicist.

And, leave a comment here to let me (and Jojo) know what you think of this advice!!!

Word has it that Yolanda Adams and Byron Cage will be co-hosting BMI’s annual Trailblazers Awards this weekend in Nashville, during Stellar Awards weekend.

According to my buddy, Torrence Glenn at BET.com, the performers slated to honor Donnie McClurkin and Andraé Crouch at the event have also been announced.  They include Yolanda Adams, CeCe Winans, Micah Stampley, Latice Crawford, Marvin Winans, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Mary Mary, Tata Vega… WOWWWWZERS.

Can you tell that this luncheon is gonna be BANANAS?!  Tryna figure out if I’m gonna tweet from the event… I think I may be too distracted. LOL

Fortunately for all of you can’t attend, I think they’re taping it for TV again, so you can probably catch it later on Gospel Music Channel or something.

What do you think of the list of performers?

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!

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!

You can listen to Coko’s new album, The Winner In Me, in full at BET.com now.

You’ve read my album review and you’ve heard me hypin’  it for a minute.  Thanks to Torrence Glenn, you can now listen to the whole thing, then BUY it, directly from the Listen Up! section of BET.com.

Click here:  http://www.bet.com/Music/NewMusic/Listen+Up/listenup_coko

Lemme know what you think of it!

As promised, over the next few days, I’m recapping my gospel-filled weekend in NYC.  For today, let’s chat about the Summer Stage gospel concert at Central Park.

It’s an annual event in NYC’s huuuge Central Park.  I tend to enjoy outdoor concerts cuz I like the feeling of hearing the music from far away, then walking up closer and being the middle of all that energy.

And though it was really raining like crazy for a time, this concert didn’t disappoint.  The audience clearly had a great time and the music was on point.  Ruben Studdard opened the show with several songs, including some popular Luther Vandross tunes.  It wasn’t exactly gospel, but he was singing ’em and doing a good job.

Byron Cage took to the stage next.  His set included some of his classics, but also showcased a new single from his upcoming project.  Dance-able and fun… good job and I’m lookin’ forward to the album!

Bishop Hezekiah Walker also made a cameo appearance on stage.  It’s always great to see him!

We had to leave for the McDonald’s GospelFest once Smokie Norful started his set, so I missed some of him (though what I DID hear was incredible!).   And the tweets from fellow blogger Torrence Glenn of BET.com suggested that Tye Tribbett was energetic and dynamic, as usual!

Some pics for ya (scroll over each one for captions):

And, of course, a special word to all of you guys from Melinda Watts: