The nominees for the 2011 BET Awards have been announced. Here are the nominees for the “Best Gospel Artist” category:

BeBe & CeCe Winans
Mary Mary
Deitrick Haddon
Karen Clark-Sheard
Byron Cage

Each of these artists have had a fine year. If someone other than Mary Mary or BeBe & CeCe Winans wins, I will be surprised. Who would you chose to win?

Post a comment below and let me know what you think about the video.

The 26th Annual Stellar took place this past Saturday and judging from many accounts it was a wonderful occasion.

If you were not able to see the show live in Nashville you will be able to catch it on TV in the upcoming months. GMC is set to air the Stellar Awards on Saturday, March 5 at 8 PM EST. Local stations will begin airing the program beginning January 22nd. You can go to www.TheStellarAwards.com for local listings. The 2011 station listings are not posted yet, but I’m sure that they will be available soon.

Marvin Sapp was the big winner of the night grabbing a total of 4 awards. That didn’t surprise me. In my opinion, the biggest surprise of awards is the fact that “Close to You” was named Song of the Year. It is a nice song, but I just can’t believe it beat out “Encore” and “The Best in Me”.

Here are the rest of the results:

James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award
Donald Lawrence

Thomas A. Dorsey Most Notable Achievement Award
Kirk Franklin

Ambassador Bobby Jones Legend Award
Vanessa Bell Armstrong

Artist of the Year
Marvin Sapp

CD of the Year
Marvin Sapp-Here I Am

Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year
Forever Jones

Song of the Year
BeBe Winans- Close to You

Male Vocalist of the Year
Byron Cage

Female Vocalist of the Year
Karen Clark-Sheard

Group Duo of the Year
James Fortune & FIYA

Traditional Group/Duo of the Year
The Mighty Clouds of Joy

Praise and Worship CD of the Year
Darwin Hobbs-Darwin Hobbs Live: Champion

New Artist of the Year
Kristina Halloway

Choir of the Year
Wilmington Chester Mass Choir

Producer of the Year
Aaron Lindsey-Here I Am

Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year
James Fortune

Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year
Marvin Sapp

Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year
CeCe Winans

Traditional Female Vocalist of the Year
Lucinda Moore

Contemporary CD of the Year
James Fortune and FIYA- Encore

Traditional CD of the Year
Marvin Sapp- Here I Am

Urban/ Inspirational Single / Performance of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans-Still

Music Video of the Year
BeBe and CeCe Winans-Close to You

Contemporary Choir of the Year
Myron Butler & Levi

Traditional Choir of the Year
Wilmington Chester Mass Choir

Special Event CD of the Year
Various Artists-CoCo Brother Live Presents Stand 2010

Rap/Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year
Trip Lee-Between Two Worlds

Recorded Music Package of the Year
Derek Blanks and Ken Barboza-Still

Children’s Project of the Year
Kingdom Kids Worldwide, Kingdom Kids Worldwide Volume 1

Quartet of the Year
The Christian Angels

What do you think about the results? Post a comment below and let me know.

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

Musical Celebration
Date: Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Time: 7:00 PM PST
Location: The Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA
Admission is FREE

Homegoing (Funeral) Service
Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Time: 11:00 AM EST
Location: The Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA

Many well know Gospel artists will gather together to pay their final respects to Bishop Walter Hawkins. The musical celebration is titled, The Man, The Music, The Ministry: A Musical Salute to Bishop Walter Hawkins.

The artist that are confirmed to sing at the musical celebration consists of Yolanda Adams, Mary Mary, and Donnie McClurkin. Additional artists that will sing also include Lynette Hawkins, Ledisi, Karen Clark Sheard, Daryl Coley and Doug Williams of the Williams Brothers.

Bishop Hawkins’ former wife, Tramaine Hawkins, will make a special appearance. His brother Edwin Hawkins will be one of the music directors for the evening. Edwin Hawkins will be joined by Donald Lawrence, Kurt Carr and Richard Smallwood.

Instead of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Walter Hawkins Memorial Foundation. Cards, letters and donations may be mailed to: Love Center Ministries, 10440 International Blvd, Oakland, CA 94603.

It is clear that Bishop Hawkins will be laid to rest in grand fashion. I hope they record the musical celebration and make it available to those who couldn’t attend sometime in the future. Bishop Hawkins was a blessing to millions of people. I’m sure many will be blessed by celebration of his homegoing.

What are your thoughts about Bishop Hawkins’ homegoing service? Do you plan to attend?

1. Anthony Brown and Group Therapy sing at AIM 2010.
Group Therapy is definitely not the name that I would choose for my choir. I’m sure there is some type of meaning behind it. Regardless of their name, this group sings an outstanding rendition of God Wants A Yes by James Hall.

2. Karen Clark Sheard sings Blessings at AIM 2010.

3. This woman shares about an encounter she recently had with Jesus.

4. The Official single to Incredible by 21:03

What do you think about the videos?

It wasn’t announced on air, but Marvin Sapp won the award for Best Gospel Artist. Nominees in the category included Tamela Mann, Vicki Winans, The Annointed Pace Sisters and Kirk Franklin presents Artists United (Are You Listening).

I must admit that I am a little disappointed, because I’m probably one of the few people that watches awards shows to actually see people receive awards. I know that most people watch for the performances.

Alicia Keys performed a medley featuring a number of the songs that she made popular. The big shock came is when she started singing If I Ain’t Got You and Kim Burrell came out and joined her on stage. Kim gave us what I call the Christian version of this song by replacing the word “baby” with “Jesus”.

In true Kim Burrell fashion, she delivered an outstanding vocal performance. The crowd definitely responded positively to Kim’s presence.

The main Gospel music moment came when Kirk Franklin performed Are You Listening: A Song 4 Haiti. Marvin Sapp, Fred Hammond, Yolanda Adams, Kim Burrell and Karen Clark-Sheard joined him on stage to perform the song.

I would argue that during this song, five of the top 20 singers in the theater were all on stage together. I thought their performance was great. Karen Clark-Sheard was absolutely amazing with the ad-libs. Even Prince seemed to love by her singing.

If you missed the performance you can view it below.

Did you see the BET Awards? Post a comment and share your opinion.

The cast of Meet the Browns also appeared on the show. David and Tamela Mann talked about their careers, their marriage and more.

Take a look at the video and let me know what you think.

After all of the contestants performed, Lala Hathaway closed the show with Against All Odds by Phil Collins. She gave a very exciting performance. It would have been tough for anyone to follow the quality singing that went down tonight.

The theme of this episode was Gospel cinema. The remaining five contestants were required to sing Gospel songs that were featured in movies.

Here are my observations:

Tiffany Carlin-Laird
Although she tripped coming on to the stage, she gave a very solid performance of Joyful, Joyful from Sister Act 2. There was a slight bit of hoarseness in her voice, but she pushed through it. Tina Campbell thought that Tiffany wasn’t really into the song. Donnie McClurkin and Yolanda Adams thought she did well. I thought she did OK. I definitely wouldn’t classify her performance as memorable.

Durward Davis
I always cringe a little bit when people try to sing Whitney Houston songs on singing competitions. Let’s face it, most people don’t have the chops to pull it off. However, Durward Davis is not like most people. He absolutely crushed I Believe in You and Me from The Preacher’s Wife. His performance was absolutely phenomenal!

Martha Buries
The judges really seemed to like her performance of Will You Be There by Michael Jackson from Free Willy. I thought she gave a very strong performance. I just didn’t like it as much as the judges did. Right now the bar is set pretty high. I don’t think she reached it.

Elder Goldwire McLendon
Even though he forgot some of the words to He’s All Over Me from The Preacher’s Wife, it didn’t matter. His performance was extremely energetic. It even included some dancing. Elder McLendon’s appeal is so unique, it must be from God.

LeAndria Johnson
My vocabulary is just not good enough to write about how phenomenal she is week after week. She gave an outstanding performance of Maybe God is Trying to Tell You Something from The Color Purple. All of the judges absolutely loved it!

In the end, Martha Buries and Tiffany Carlin-Laird were eliminated. I don’t claim to be a prophet, but for the last couple of weeks I’ve know that the final three would be Durward Davis, LeAndria Johnson and Elder Goldwire McLendon.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Durward is amazing. In any other year he probably would win the competition. However, LeAndria and Elder McLendon are just too special.

Next week should be very interesting. I’m looking forward to hearing some great singing.

Did you see episode 9? What did you think about it?

In case you didn’t know, Karen Clark Sheard and her husband Pastor Drew Sheard recently launched a new record label, Karew Records. All in One is the label’s first release and they are starting off with a bang!

With this album, Karen Clark Sheard is giving us a completely new sound. This music doesn’t sound like anything that you’ve ever heard from The Clark Sisters. It is even a lot more different than anything she’s ever done before as a solo artist.

This album features some high quality production work. Prayed Up, Hold On and Crazy Praise are perfect examples of the new Karen Clark Sheard sound. Karen’s son J. Drew Sheard was involved in some of the production on this album. When you combine the work he did on All in One with the his efforts on James Fortune’s Encore album, I’m pretty confident that you’ll be seeing his name and hearing his work on many more albums in the near future.

What You Won’t Get
If you need to hear traditional church music, you won’t get it with this album. This album really isn’t for choir directors or the church soloists. You’ll need to look to another album for your A & B selections. I’m not saying these are bad things. That’s just my opinion.

I know there are some of you who love to hear Karen Clark Sheard show off her crazy vocal abilities and once again solidify her place as one of the baddest voices on the planet. If you fall into that category, then you might be a little disappointed when you listen to this album. All in One doesn’t include a ballad where Karen just blows us away vocally. Don’t get me wrong; her vocal performances in the songs that are on this album are very good.

What You Will Get
Good music. You’ll get to see how an artist almost reinvents herself. If you enjoy a contemporary Gospel sound, then you will love All in One. Go grab you copy of All in One by Karen Clark Sheard on Amazon.com or iTunes.