Celebration of Gospel - The Highlights

Good evening, all!

I hope you all got a chance to see the Celebration of Gospel 2009 on BET last night. This year's show was more grounded than last year, if only because while they did incorporate non-Gospel artists in it, this year there were much more Gospel singers participating and more songs than spoken word interludes. Even host Steve Harvey wasn't as prominent this year as last year. Maybe the comments he made about one of the artists' dresses last year put him in the semi-dog house.

This year's highlights included the following:

* A duet of "Jesus is Love" featuring Heather Headley and Smokie Norful. Heather just came out with her first Gospel CD this month, but the way she ministered the song with Smokie shows you that the girl grew up in the church! A pleasant surprise, indeed.

* A group song featuring Kirk Franklin, Rance Allen, and two of the four original members of Men of Standard, Issac Carree & Lowell Pye. They did a big band version of "Little Boy" from The Fight of My Life. That was just TOO smooth, and had lyrics that a LOT of the listeners needed to hear.

** Probably the highlight of the broadcast was the appearance of Hezekiah Walker and Love Fellowship, with special guests Marvin Sapp & DJ Rogers singing "God Favored Me" from Souled Out. After a year of constant accusations & rumors surrounding him, Hezekiah came out with this song as an answer to his critics & an encouragement to his followers. There were very few dry eyes in the audience when this song was done!

That's it for now. I'll probably have more to say on this tremendous show later on this week. Heck, this might take the entire week! Until tomorrow, be blessed!

A little News...

Good evening! Here's a little bit of news on the gospel front:

*First of all, my man Tonex will be releasing a new CD for the first time in five years! If you're not familiar with him, think of the artist Prince. Now imagine if he incorporated his Jehovah's Witness beliefs in his song lyrics, and put it to a funky beat, be it rock, pop or R&B based. Then multiply that times two. There you have it - Tonex. He has encountered some opposition from more traditional gospel lovers, and part of the reason he may not have recorded any projects is that he may have been taking time to recoup from some personal issues [financial problems, divorce, a spat with his record label similar to what Prince went through]. But now his new CD, entitled "Unspoken", is scheduled to come out in mid-March. That will be one interesting listen!

** The auditions for Sunday Best resume tomorrow in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency from 9-11 am. [Only two hours?] They will then conclude in Washington DC next Saturday, January 31st, again from 9-11am at the BET Studios. How they're planning to audition everyone that shows up in two hours is beyond me, but it should make for some interesting tryouts!

***Rizen, one of the most well-known female gospel trios, has signed to Verity Gospel, and will be releasing a new CD sometime in August of this year. It's been a little bit since their second project, "Rizen 2" came out, and to a certain extent they haven't gotten the recognition that some other female groups have obtained. Their style is more like the gospel quartets than the contemporary sound that other female groups have gone towards. But here's hoping that with a new label might come new support for their project, and as a result, more exposure for this deserving group.

Well, that's it for now. God bless, and have a good evening.

P.S. - Two days until Celebration of Gospel! :)

Celebration of Gospel - Three Days and counting!!

Good evening, folks! It's good to have you back here for a little bit of news on the gospel front.

This Sunday will be special on BET [Black Entertainment Television], because the much awaited Celebration of Gospel will be on!

This will be a chance to experience some of the top contemporary and traditional gospel artists, along with some spoken word segments. The exciting thing about this show is that it's one of the rare chances during the year for gospel artists to sing with their counterparts in R&B. A lot of the R&B artists that are currently popular actually got started in the church choir, like John Legend, Mario [cousin of the famous Winans family], and Heather Headley, among others. Before they became famous, folks like Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, Sam Cooke & Aretha Franklin got their start in the church, and have made some gospel tracks since then. So you never know who might show up unexpectedly....

Have a blessed evening!

BET's Celebration of Gospel 2009

Happy Saturday, ya'll! Hope today finds you relaxing and enjoying the outdoors - unless you're back east, in which case I hope you're in front of a nice warm fire!

On January 25th, BET [Black Entertainment Television] will host it's annual Celebration of Gospel special. Each year some of the most well-known artists from the world of Gospel team up with folks from R&B and television to present two hours of all types of Gospel music. This year's line up includes the following artists:

Kirk Franklin
Hezekiah Walker
Donnie Mcclurkin
Heather Headley
LL Cool J
Kurt Carr
Mary Mary
21:03
Smokie Norful
Pastor Shirley Ceasar
Vickie Winans
Trinitee 5:7
Muyiwa and Riversongz
Dr. Bobby Jones [host of "Bobby Jones Gospel" and "Bobby Jones Next Generation" on the Gospel Music Channel]

The show will be hosted by comedian Steve Harvey, and other artists will appear during the broadcast. This is a good introduction to some of today's style of Gospel. Me, I'll be looking for my niece and her boyfried, who were able to attend this year - hi, Gabrielle! :)

For more details on the show, as well as information on the host and artists, go here.

Have a blessed day!