The Oscars are long over, March Madness is coming to an abrupt close, and the upcoming NFL Draft seems like a snooze given the fact that no one will be playing ball this fall. What's left to obsess over? The 2011 GMA Dove Awards, of course!
That's right, the Gospel Music Association's annual honoring of Christian music's best is just around the corner--Wednesday, April 20, taking place at Atlanta's historic Fox Theater. NRT will be reporting live from backstage at the event and the Doves will be broadcast Easter Sunday, April 24, at 7 p.m. (6 p.m. Central) on cable's Gospel Music Channel (gmc).
This series of predictions and preferences only was going to be a three-part series, but we've added this fourth bonus week so our contributors--NRT Founder Kevin McNeese, Senior Editor Marcus Hathcock, and writers Kevin Davis and Sarah Fine--each can tackle a category that was not covered in the previous installments.
This week, each writer takes on a category, solo. We're looking at Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year, Special Event Album of the Year, Producer of the Year, and Short Form Video of the Year.
As always, feel free to weigh in on your picks by submitting a comment below.
RAP/HIP HOP ALBUM OF THE YEAR
by Kevin McNeese
Who Should Win: Group 1 Crew - Outta Space Love
Many John Reuben fans were thrilled to finally see him get a nomination in this category after 10+ years, but it’s Group 1 Crew’s
Outta Space Love, that captured my attention more than any other album in this category. It’s more Hip Hop than Rap, but still fits the category.
Who Will Win: Lecrae - Rehab
Lacrae’s
Rehab was brilliant that caught massive mainstream attention as well. And after seeing him command the stage at this year's Rock N Worship Roadshow, I don’t see him losing in this category.
SPECIAL EVENT ALBUM OF THE YEAR
by Marcus Hathcock
Who Should Win: Various – Rock of Ages
Some good stuff here, including the surprisingly great worship tune remakes on
Rock of Ages, a VeggieTales album for girls, and my pick for the best Praise/Worship Album of the Year, Passion's
Awakening. The reason I pick
Rock of Ages over
Awakening is because of the title of the category. It's for special events, leading me to believe it's for singular occurrences or projects.
Rock of Ages is a fantastic reimagining of worship songs, in a way that hasn't been done before.
Who Will Win: Passion – Awakening
It's no problem to see Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band and Co. add another Dove to their collection with this impressive project. It's hard to imagine
Rock of Ages--which, by comparison, has little name recognition—stealing this one.
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
by Kevin Davis
Who Should Win: Jason Ingram and Rusty Varenkamp
Perfect list of nominees. On the basis of nominated albums by Tenth Avenue North, Sanctus Real, Satellites & Sirens and Meredith Andrews, 2010 was an amazing year for Jason and Rusty. They also produced an excellent album by Bebo Norman.
Who Will Win: Jason Ingram and Rusty Varenkamp
Jason was nominated for 11 total Dove Awards, also based on his prolific songwriting. Jason co-wrote nominated songs “Lead Me” by Sanctus Real and “Greatness Of Our God” by Hillsong LIVE.
SHORT FORM VIDEO OF THE YEAR
by Sarah Fine
Who Should Win: David Crowder Band - “SMS (Shine)”
As an avid music video fan, and as someone who loves the dramatic progression of a story, I must say, there is some pretty great competition in this category this year. You’ve got the beautiful story of overcoming adversity told in Fireflight's “For Those Who Wait,” and the message of losing yourself in Matthew West’s “My Own Little World.” All these amazing videos aside, I think we have a clear frontrunner for the Dove this year. Blazing past 1,000,000 views on YouTube and garnering coverage on the Today Show, the 700,000-piece LITE-BRITE®-designed music video by David Crowder Band--which took over 2,000 man-hours to complete--definitely deserves the award this year. If not for its creative merits, it should win for its technical merits for sure.
Who Will Win: David Crowder Band - “SMS (Shine)”
There is a lot of talk about Trip Lee’s “Invasion (Hero)” music video winning the award this year--and for good reason; the direction of the story is brilliant--but I really do think David Crowder Band’s creativity and craftsmanship on this video will garner then the win this year.
