In my opinion, Donnie McClurkin did a good job serving as host for the evening. I really didn’t expect anything different. In addition to hearing about the 2011 Stellar Award nominees, we got see a concert that featured a couple of different artists from the gospel industry. 

The performances from Vashawn Mitchell, Joe Pace and Lucinda Moore were all good. However, in my opinion, Jessica Reedy delivered the performance of the night. Her performance of God Has Smiled on Me was so unique and inspiring. She is definitely bringing a special sound to gospel music. 

Another highlight from the evening was a tribute to the late Gospel legend Albertina Walker. Don Jackson offered some very kind words regarding the life and legacy of this gospel pioneer.

Here is a list of the nominees for the 2011 Stellar Awards.

Artist of the Year
James Fortune & FIYA 
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Marvin Sapp
Fred Hammond 

Female Vocalist of the Year
Karen Clark Sheard
CeCe Winans
Lucinda Moore
Tamela Mann

Male Vocalist of the Year
J. Moss
Byron Cage
Fred Hammond
Marvin Sapp

Song of the Year
Best In Me, Marvin Sapp
Close to You, BeBe Winans
Encore, James Fortune, C. Fortune and T. Vaughn
They That Wait,  Fred Hammond, Calvin Rodgers, Phillip Feaster, Ericka Warren, Michael Bethany and Dynna Wells

Choir of the Year
James Hall & Voices of Citadel
Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
Victory Cathedral Choir
Wilmington Chester Mass Choir

New Artist of the Year
Forever Jones
Kristina Halloway
Travis Greene
Victory Cathedral Choir

Traditional CD of the Year
Won’t It Be Wonderful, James Hall & Voices of Citadel
Here I Am, Marvin Sapp
A City Called Heaven, Marvin Sapp
The Experience,Vanessa Bell Armstrong

Contemporary CD of the Year
Still, BeBe and CeCe Winans
Love Unstoppable, Fred Hammond 
Just James, J.Moss  
Encore, James Fortune and FIYA 

Producer of the Year
James Fortune, Terrance Vaughn and Ayron Lewis, Encore
Aaron Lindsey, Here I Am
Donald Lawrence, The Experience
Fred Hammond, Love Unstoppable

Group/Duo of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Forever Jones
James Fortune & FIYA
The Anointed Pace Sisters

Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year
Byron Cage
Fred Hammond
J. Moss
James Fortune

Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year
Alvin Darling
Darrell Hines
Marvin Sapp
Marvin Winans

Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year
CeCe Winans
Karen Clark Sheard
Lisa Page Brooks
Tamela Mann

Traditional Female Vocalist of the Year
Fredericka Faison
Lucinda Moore
Shirley Caesar
Vanessa Bell Armstrong

Contemporary Choir of the Year
God’s Little Soldiers International
Myron Butler & Levi
Youth for Christ
Youthful Praise featuring J.J. Hairston

Traditional Choir of the Year
Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
James Hall & Voices of Citadel
Victory Cathedral Choir
Wilmington Chester Mass Choir

Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Forever Jones
James Fortune & FIYA
Trin-i-tee 5:7

Traditional Group/Duo of the Year
James Greer & Company
The Anointed Pace Sisters
The Christian Angels
The Mighty Clouds of Joy

Quartet of the Year
Reverend F.C. Barnes & Company
The Christian Angels
The Golden Wings Quartet
The Mighty Clouds of Joy

Rap, Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year
Entermission, DJ Official 
Outtadisworld, Everyday Process
Lions and Liars, Sho Baraka
Between Two Worlds, Trip Lee

Music Video of the Year
Close to You, BeBe and CeCe Winans 
Make Me a Believer, Kirk Whalum 
Playground In Heaven, Shirley Caesar 
If I Be Lifted Up, The Anointed Pace Sisters

Urban Inspirational Performance of the Year
Still, BeBe & CeCe Winans
Get Ready,Forever Jones 
Encore, James Fortune & FIYA
Here I Am, Marvin Sapp

Recorded Music Packaging of the Year
Cameron Hilson and Mark Neubauer for Get Ready
Denise Trotman for Here I Am
Derek Blanks and Ken Barboza for Still
Jeff Gilligan for Love Unstoppable

Praise and Worship CD of the Year
Darwin Hobbs Live: Champion, Darwin Hobbs
Encore, James Fortune & FIYA  
Place of Worship, Phil Tarver
Access Granted, The Anointed Pace Sisters 

Special Event CD of the Year
Still, BeBe and CeCe Winans
Are You Listening, Kirk Franklin
CoCo Brother Live Presents Stand 2010, Various Artists 
WOW Gospel 2010, Various Artists 

Children’s Project of the Year
Soldier Story, God’s Little Soldiers International 
Kingdom Kids Worldwide Volume 1, Kingdom Kids Worldwide
While We Still Have Time, The Velasquez Family Singers
Thanks In Advance, Youth for Christ

Many CeCe Winans fans will love the fact that she has released a new CD. For Always: The Best of CeCe Winans is a collection of some of her great music that we have all come to love.

This 10 track CD includes:

1. More
2. Alright
3. More Than I Wanted
4. Alabaster Box
5. I Surrender All
6. Waging War
7. For Always
8. Hallelujah  Praise
9. Pray
10. Everlasting Love

For Always: The Best of CeCe Winanas is available on Amazon.com and iTunes. Grab your copy today.

With Churched, CNN reporter Soledad O’Brien looks to examine how churches positively impact surrounding communities.

The documentary also follows three stories of struggle within the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in New Jersey. These stories include dealing with financial struggles and going to college. There is even a story that examines one member of the congregation that has AIDS and how they look to the church for support.

The documentary will air on CNN on October 14.

If you view the documentary, you see an appearance by Cece Winans. She will be shown singing at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens.

I’m looking forward to seeing this show. Soledad O’Brien and CNN have produced some high quality work with the previous documentaries in the series.

Are you going watch the documentary? Post a comment and let me know what you think.

There are only a few Gospel/Christian artists that are currently on the Walk of Fame. BeBe and CeCe will join Rev. James Cleveland, Amy Grant and Mahalia Jackson.

Other 2011 recepients include Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, The Muppetts, Tina Fey, and Will i. Am. The dates of the induction ceremonies have not been announced yet. Recepients have up to five years to schedule their ceremony from the date of selection. I will post an announcement as soon as I hear about BeBe and CeCe’s ceremony.

This is great news. I am very happy for BeBe and CeCe. Who do you think will be the next Gospel/Christian artist to get selected? My short list would include Kirk Franklin and Michael W. Smith.

Post a comment and let me know our thoughts.

Let me know what you think about the video.

I must say that the finale left me scratching my head a little bit. The two contestants sang a duet to New Edition’s “Can You Stand the Rain” that was arranged by Donald Lawrence. The arrangement/performance was nice, but it wasn’t gospel. Somebody please tell me why this song was part of the show. For Sunday Best to be a gospel show, there have been quite a few R&B performances this season.

Gospel music gets such little air time, I just don’t understand why the producers would use the little air time that gospel gets and have an R&B song performed. Just because Donald Lawrence arranges a song, that doesn’t make it gospel. Call me crazy, but I tune into a gospel music show to listen to gospel music. If I want to listen to R&B, I know where to find it.

Let me make one additional point about the duet. Just because two people can each sing well, that doesn’t mean that they should be doing a duet together. I’m sure you’ve seen a duet where it looks like the two singers are about to try to see which one can out sing the other. If you watched the show, there was a point in the song where Y’Anna start riffing and running and Jessica didn’t want any part of that. I can’t blame her at all. Their styles are too different. A Karen Clark-Sheard and Y’Anna Crawley duet would be a good idea. A Kiki Sheard and Y’Anna Crawley duet would be a good idea. A Jessica Reedy and Y’Anna Crawley duet is not such a good idea, especially when the song is “Can You Stand the Rain.”

The two contestants each gave good individual performances. Watching Jessica Reedy live must be a completely different experience than watching her on TV. She sang “I Surrender All”. The performance left BeBe Winans almost in tears and it left Erica Campbell speechless. Although I thought her performance was good, I didn’t have anywhere near the same emotional response that they did.

We also got to see the beginning of the BeBe and CeCe Winans reunion. There is a lot I can say about that, so I’ll save my comments for another post that is coming soon.

When people think of the words Sunday Best they think of someone who can walk in your church and sing the roof off. That is one of the big reasons why America voted in favor of Y’Anna Crawley. If the name of the show would have been America’s Next Gospel Star Jessica Reedy probably would have stood a better chance. I’m not completely sure why, but there are a lot of people already saying that they will not be watching season 3 of Sunday Best.

There is no dobut that Y’Anna Crawley is a derserving winner. She finished the show with her new single “The Promise” and it sounds pretty good. I’m not sure how much success Y’Anna and Jessica will have as gospel artists. I pray that they both achieve great success and do big things both in and outside of gospel.  I can’t wait to hear each of their albums when they come out.

As I listened to the songs, one thought kept running through my mind. This is good stuff. This is one of those projects that speaks to every part of your spirit. "We Welcome You (Holy Father)" is one of those song that can help you enter in the presence of the Lord.  "Forever" is just a great song of declaration. It is a great song that just reinforces our relationship with God.

Should you buy it?
If you are a Cece Winans fan, yes. You won’t be disappointed. This is a solid album. Will it go down as one of the greatest albums of all time? No. If you are on a tight budget, I would suggest previewing the songs and possibly downloading a few tracks.