The national Gospel competition “HowSweet The Sound” presented by VerizonWireless, was touted as the “AmericanIdol” for church choirs, with a strongfocus on celebrating the Gospelcommunity.

The program featured hosts DonaldLawrence and Lisa Kimmey Winans, withjudges including Marvin Sapp, CeCeWinans, James Fortune, Dorinda ClarkCole and many more. Tickets were only$5 and $7!!

The competition concluded at the JoeLouis Arena in Detroit on Nov. 7 wherechoirs from 11 U.S. cities vied for the titleof “The Best Church Choir in America”and $25,000 in cash and prizes. The2009 National Finale Winner: AtlantaWest Pentecostal Church Choir (AtlantaWest Pentecostal Church Choir)

More than 100,000 people attendedthe regional competitions across the

right l-r Judges - ByronCage, Dorinda ClarkCole, Marvin Sapp;below, Winning choir,Atlanta West PentecostalChurch

Verizon’s HowSweetthe

SoundAttractsover

100,000attendees!

HowSweetthe

Sound

country, enjoying nights of greatmusic and community spirit.

The winners from eachregional competition selected tocompete in the Detroit finaleinclude:

· Houston – ResurrectionBaptist Church Mass Choir fromResurrection Baptist Church

· St. Louis – FaithCelebration Choir from FaithBaptist Church · Washington, D.C. – The

Remnant Concert Choir from Mt.Ararat Baptist Church

· Newark– MarbleCommunity Gospel Choir fromMarble Collegiate Church

· Philadelphia – AnointedVoices of Ford Memorial Templefrom Ford Memorial Temple

· Detroit – Selected of Godfrom Praise Tabernacle

· Chicago – EvangelCelebration Choir from EvangelWorld Outreach Center

· Atlanta – Atlanta WestPentecostal Church Choir fromAtlanta West PentecostalChurch

· Memphis– GreaterCommunity Temple Voices fromGreater Community TempleVoices COGIC

· Los Angeles – City ofRefuge P.S.A.L.M.S. Choir fromCity of Refuge

· Oakland – Angelic Voices ofDeliverance Center Choir fromEast Oakland Faith DeliveranceCenter gt

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Stellars Preps for 25th

Year Amid ControversyMembers of Gospel

Industry Voice ConcernBy E. J. Gaines

On October 29,2009, Central City

Productions (CCP),

the company

responsible for

producing the Stellar

Awards, and the

Stellar Awards

Gospel Music

Academy (SAGMA),

the official voting

body of the Stellar

Awards, announced

the nominees for the

2010 Stellar

Awards—its 25th

anniversary awards

show.

Alleging gross

misconduct by CCP

and SAGMA because

of several artists who

made the nominee

list, and some who

did not, a large

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majority of the gospel community took to social

networking sites and blogs to publicly denounce

the voting process and, ultimately, the Stellar

Awards.

My heart broke as I watched artists, execs,

tastemakers and consumers within the gospel

community mock and ridicule the organization that

has sought to recognize excellence in gospel music for

the past 25 years. Days later, I wrote and posted an

open letter/petition to CCP and SAGMA. In the

letter, I attempted to summarize three key issues that

I saw recurring among the gospel community’s

outcry—a ne ed f o r en f or cement o f cur r ent r u le s

and ac countab i l i t y o f SAGMA; an in-dep th

r e v iew o f SAGMA’s vot ing membership cri t eria;

and a mor e fai l -pr oof publ i c vot ing sys t em.

Since that time, I’ve experienced kudos and

condemnation for writing the letter. Still, my passion

for the health of the gospel music industry is

paramount to our respective feelings about this issue.

Many have misinterpreted the letter, seeing it as a

representation of some battle between major artists

and independent artists. Others have received it as a

personal attack on their own nominations.

Fortunately, the majority of the gospel community

understood the letter as an attempt to foster a

respectful and edifying dialogue about the state of our

only awards show.

In the coming weeks, I believe we will hear an

official response from Central City Productions that

will answer many of the questions that have been

asked. At that time, the gospel community will be met

with the challenge of accepting those answers—if

they find them acceptable—or pushing for a

continued dialogue in order to make the system better.

In either case, I will continue to labor for the

industry that I love. And, in the meantime, I’ll be

sitting in the audience along with every other fan for

the taping of the 2010 Stellar Awards to celebrate 25

years of gospel excellence. gt

“Ever since I was ayoung kid growing upin Chicago, I’velooked forward towatching the biggestevent in gospelmusic—the StellarAwards—ontelevision each year.For much of my life, itwas the onlyopportunity I had tosee my favorite gospelartists in one location,at one time,performing myfavorite songs of theyear.

Over the years, the Lordhas granted meopportunities to grow froman aficionado to an activelaborer within the gospelmusic industry—in both thecreative and businessaspects, with major andindependent artists. In thattime, I’ve also learned thatno awards program iswithout its flaws, asdissatisfaction with theStellar Awards, and itsvoting process, have risenfrom mere whispers tomajor rumblings within thegospel music industry.

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gospel

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Studies have shown a strong

correlation between good health

and staying mentally engaged,

socially connected and physically

active. As health disparities

among African Americans

continue to grow, more avenues

of health are being pusued.

Kathy Taylor, associate vice

president for Exploritas, an

educational travel agency, sees

her mission as promoting

educational travel as a means to

a healthy lifestyle – especially

among aging Americans.

Taylor explained, “In the

African American community,

education is highly valued as a

means out of poverty.” She

joined Exploritas in 2007 to

oversee the African American

outreach initiative, and has since

also headed up the community

outreach and volunteer initiatives,

as well as charter programs.

Charged with expanding the

Exploritas small but loyal African

American participant base, Taylor

has reached out to communities

across the U.S. to introduce the

‘tis the season to travel!Enjoyment & Education!

Holy LandPilgrimages to

Israel and Egypt

Planned for 2010 & 2011 -

Special Offers forChurches

‘tis the season to travel!

Holy LandPilgrimages to

Israel and Egypt

Planned for 2010 & 2011 -

Special Offers forChurches

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| gospel to

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benefits of educational travel to this

particular community. Exploritas has

seen a significant increase in African

Americans who are taking advantage of

the many

adventures for

lifelong learning

that are

representative

and inclusive of

the Black

American

experience.

“It’s been

exciting — from

creating our own

URL to

developing new

programs that

appeal to African

Americans.”

Exploritas offers

year-round travel

program with

special appeal to the African American

traveler; such programs have included

the Life and Works of Richard Wright in

Natchez, Mississippi; the Many Colors

of Paris; and more recently the “Taste of

Martha’s Vineyard” event featuring

Ambassador Andrew Young and other

upcoming programs such as

Understanding Obama’s Hawaii.

The Black History Month series,

initiated in 2008, has provided a unique

opportunity to highlight destinations that

persons of all ethnicities have visited to

learn about African American history.

The 2009 Black History program will

include a genealogical seminar on

tracing ones African ancestors using

DNA which will be held in Atlanta,

Boston, Philadelphia and Washington,

DC.

“I am especially proud of the

2010/2011 special program into the

Holy Land (Israel

and Egypt) which

we have created as

a specially priced

program for the

church community,”

Ms. Taylor added.

Churches

throughout the USA

are offered a free

trip incentive when

a group of eleven

takes advantage of

the travel

opportunity. The

twelve-day

program, In the

Footsteps of Jesus,

is currently being

offered in

November 2010, and March 2011.

Recently, Taylor served as emcee on

behalf of Exploritas for the Lincoln Town

Hall series in Boston — part of the

official Lincoln bicentennial celebration

— which highlighted the role education

played in the lives of Abraham Lincoln

and Frederick Douglass and

encourages people of all ages

to rededicate themselves to personal,

community and national educational

goals. This project is being presented

in Atlanta and other cities during the

month of December (2009). gt For more information on Taylor’s

initiative at Exploritas, visit

www.exploritas.org/globaldiscoveries.

Roland HairstonPastors