Stellar Awards Update

24th ANNUAL STELLAR GOSPEL AWARDS TALENT UPDATE: Dorinda Clark Cole added as co-host, plus a host of other entertainers to present awards.

The updated talent roster for the 24th Annual Stellar Awards was released recently with some additions to the show.

Evangelist/Singer and multiple Stellar nominee Dorinda Clark Cole is now on board as a co-host, Actress/Activist Sheryl Lee Ralph will be a presenter and show organizers have also added a special tribute to recording artist Rev. Timothy Wright who was critically injured in car accident earlier this year.

The full list of 2009 Stellar Award presenters and performers to date are as follows:

Co-Hosts
Dorinda Clark Cole
Donnie McClurkin
Sinbad

James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award
Darryl Coley

Thomas Dorsey Most Notable Achievement Award
Vickie Winans

Dr. Bobby Jones Legends Award
Rance Allen Group

Special Tribute
Rev. Timothy Wright

Performers
Da’ Truth
Kirk Franklin
Jessica Greene
Dietrick Haddon
Heather Headley
Terrell Hunt
Lee Williams and the Spiritual QCs
Mary Mary
Donnie McClurkin
Melody
The Murrills
Jai Reed
Tye Tribbett
Dionne Warwick

Presenters
21:03
Eddie Baltrip
Vanessa Bell Armstrong
Regina Belle
Clifton Davis

DeLeon
James Fortune
Donald Lawrence
JD Lawrence
Jonathan Nelson
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Marvin Sapp
Sherri Shepherd

Gospel music fans have a chance to win a weekend get-away to attend the Stellars courtesy of Rushmoredrive.com, the official search engine for the event.

The 24th Annual Stellar Awards will be held at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville , TN on Saturday, January 17. Minister Byron Cage, a former co-host of the Stellars and Chicago songbird Angela Spivey have been tapped to host red carpet festivities, which will be followed by the annual nominees dinner on Friday, January 16.

SOURCE: By Mona Austin on EURWEB.com

Israel Houghton to Release Solo ‘Power of One’ Album in March

Award-winning worship leader and artist Israel Houghton will be releasing a new solo album next year that features guest vocals from leading Christian artists including tobyMac, Martin Smith of delirious?, Mary Mary and Chevelle Franklin.

“This is the first time I’ve entered into a project with no premeditation,” says Houghton, whose last album, A Deeper Level, was awarded a Grammy this year following its 2007 release.

“In the past I’d go into a project saying we need this kind of song here and that kind there – worrying if it would sell or if the Church would accept it,” he noted in his announcement of the new project. “This time it was fun to go into creating a record with no rules and just do what was in our hearts.”

Houghton called the experience behind producing Power of One “a very cathartic” one.

For his newest album, which releases Mar. 24, 2009, Houghton invited some of his friends representing very different musical genres to join him. Noted rapper tobyMac is featured in the rock song “You Found Me,” while the gospel ballad “Every Prayer” features popular duo Mary Mary. Well-known reggae vocalist Chevelle Franklin joins Houghton on the Bob Marley-influenced “Surely Goodness.” Franklin also joins Houghton and delirious? frontman Martin Smith on the worshipful British-rocker “Sing (Redemption’s Song).”

“[T]he album features the youthful and musically masterful energy that has made Israel among the most highly influential tastemakers across a variety of musical genres,” promoters of the new album say.

Also notable in Houghton’s upcoming album is the challenge it presents to people of faith “to be as impassioned and Christ-like in their earthly walk as humanly possible.”

“If you look at our albums thematically, the early ones were about the church and what God is doing,” said Israel regarding the past albums he released with his group, New Breed.

“On the most recent records, our message has shifted into more social and global concerns, focusing on identity and the purpose of God in everyone’s life,” he added.

Houghton says it was two and a half years ago – when he was asked to write a song for a mainstream artist – that he began to understand the connection between worship and justice.

Now, he says, “I strongly believe that those of us who consider ourselves worshippers need to have a heart for social justice.”

“‘Power of One’ is the song we wrote specifically around that thought for this album,” he added.

As a singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer, Houghton has written or co-written 11 CCLI Top 500 favorites, creating a canon of songs that have become standards in houses of faith around the globe. He is also a worship leader at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston, the largest church in America.

The Power of One will be Houghton’s eighth album – his seventh with Integrity Media.

SOURCE: Written by Kevin P. Donovan
Christian Post Reporter , ChristianPost.com

CeCe Winans, Twinkie Clark, Donald Lawrence receive Trailblazers Award

BMI will honor gospel greats Twinkie Clark, Donald Lawrence and CeCe Winans (pictured) at its 10th Annual Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards Luncheon on Friday, Jan. 16, 2009.

The invitation-only ceremony will take place at Rocketown (401 6th Avenue South) in Nashville, and will host gospel music’s premier songwriters, recording artists and music industry executives, as well as the genre’s legends.

Elbernita “Twinkie” Clark has enthralled listeners for decades, both through her acclaimed solo work and leadership of gospel’s royal family, The Clark Sisters. A skilled musician dubbed “Queen of the B3 Hammond Organ,” Clark also wields aerobatic vocals only matched by her sublime knack for composition. Clark boasts two Grammys, and in addition to penning staples for The Clark Sisters, she has composed songs for artists including Rev. James Cleveland, Al Green, Donald Lawrence and the Tri-City Singers, Esther Smith, James Moss, Dave Hollister, Xscape, and Mary J. Blige. Legendary BMI gospel songwriter Twinkie Clark was recently recognized alongside her sisters at the 2007 Stellar Awards, where the influential group received the award for Most Noted Achievement.

As a producer, BMI songwriter, choir director, and singer, Donald Lawrence’s influence on contemporary gospel music is unparalleled. His starkly original work with the multiple award-winning Tri-City Singers first revealed a rare and innovative artist capable of musical brilliance and authentic Christian praise, while his work as a producer emboldened projects by gospel icons including fellow honoree Twinkie Clark, Kirk Franklin, and Karen Clark Sheard. The recipient of numerous BMI Christian and Stellar Awards, Lawrence has also penned songs for The Clark Sisters, the Tri-City Singers, his own well-received solo projects, and more. His growing catalog includes 2007 BMI Christian Award-winning “Blessing of Abraham” and “Encourage Yourself,” both recorded by Lawrence with the Tri-City Singers.

CeCe Winans’ career has generated a trove of top-shelf industry accolades comprising numerous Grammy, Stellar, and Dove Awards. Her work with her brother in duo BeBe & CeCe Winans expanded the boundaries of gospel music and welcomed new listeners into its fold, while her solo projects reintroduced an artist comfortable with evolution and the spotlight. A BMI songwriter for more than 20 years, Winans has created a thick catalog of compositions including BMI Christian Award-winning song “Say a Prayer,” “Addictive Love,” “Well Alright,” “Pray,” and many more. Gold- and platinum-selling albums bejewel her résumé, and her latest effort Thy Will Be Done promises more acclaim.

Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI) is an American performing right organization that represents more than 375,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music and more than 6.5 million works. BMI’s latest financial results, $901 million for its 2008 fiscal year, are the highest performing right collections for any copyright organization in the world. BMI has represented the most popular and beloved music from around the world for over 65 years. The U.S. corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.

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