The top 10 nominees are in, and the ballot for the top 5 is in this month’s issue of Singing News. Who do you think will make it into the top 5?  read more »

Well, the results are in, and the top 10 in each category have been announced. Here are my picks: Favorite Artist of the Year Booth Brothers Ernie Haase & Signature Sound Gold City Greater Vision Inspirations Legacy Five Parker, Ivan Perrys Triumphant Qt Wolfe, Gerald Trust me, with these guys on the road full-time, and given their nominations in 10(!) categories, these guys could very well be the next SG supergroup. Keep an eye on 'em.  read more »

Singing News has posted the top 5 nominees in the 2008 Fan Awards. I am posting the top 10, displaying the top 5 winners in bold, so that it can be clearly seen who did and did not advance to the final five. Let’s save guessing the winners until the final ballot comes out; enough could change in two months that it could substantially impact the choice of winners.  read more »

My picks for the Top 5 this year, in no particular order (excluding Song Of The Year, which remains at 10 nominees): Favorite Artist of the Year Booth Brothers Gold City Greater Vision Legacy Five Triumphant Qt Mixed Group Collingsworth Family Diplomats Hoppers Isaacs Perrys Male Quartet Brian Free & Assurance Dove Brothers Gaither Vocal Band Gold City Kingdom Heirs Trio Booth Brothers Greater Vision Karen Peck & New River Mark Trammell Trio Soloist Crabb, Jason Ford, Larry Lowry, Mark Mote, Gordon Parker, Ivan Male Singer Booth, Michael Booth Brothers Fowler, Scott Legacy Five Free, Brian Brian Free & Assurance Rice, Arthur Kingdom Heirs Wolfe, Gerald Greater Vision Female Singer Easter, Sheri Jeff & Sheri Easter Gooch, Karen Peck Karen Peck & New River Hopper, Kim Hop  read more »

Last year this time, I was writing about the Southern Gospel GMA Week showcase. This year, instead of a traditional showcase, they decided to use the night to host the 4th annual SGMG Harmony Honors. The awards were described as being "objective" in that there is no balloting or nomination process. Instead, the awards are given to artists who, over the past year, have won a number of industry awards and/or have had top sales of product and digital downloads. Other than the top ten songs of the year, there were no real categories that I could see.

In the Southern Gospel realm, this was definitely a star-studded night. I sat up front in the industry section, and many major artists were there. Some received awards, some performed and some were just cheering on friends. Doyle Lawson gave one of my favourite acceptance speeches of the night. I guess he receives some criticism for playing both secular and gospel bluegrass music. He pointed out something that I've always stated: If you sing a gospel song in a secular environment, that might be the only Gospel some people ever hear. He said this is how God called him to minister, and until God tells him otherwise, this is what he's going to do. Amen!  read more »