Stellar Award Nominations Announced

By Ta-Tanisha Thomas

Root Magazine, your source to the gospel music vibe and beyond, was front and center for the first-ever live broadcast of the “Stellar Awards Nomination Concert and Announcements,” which was held in Nashville at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Hosted by ten-time Stellar Award and three-time Grammy award winning Gospel legend, Donnie McClurkin, the special one-hour telecast of this year’s event aired on Gospel Music Channel. Central City Productions recently inked an exclusive agreement to air the 2011 Stellar Awards on GMC, which will tape on Saturday, January 15, and broadcast on Sunday, March 6 at 8 p.m.

Audiences in the sanctuary and those watching from the comfort of their homes were treated to performances by Bishop Neal Roberson, Lucinda Moore, VaShawn Mitchell, Jessica Reedy and Joe Pace. Ambassador Dr. Bobby Jones announced special honors that will be conferred upon Kirk Franklin, who will receive the Thomas A. Dorsey Most Notable Achievement Award; Vanessa Bell Armstrong who will be give the Ambassador Dr. Bobby Jones Legend Award; and Donald Lawrence, slated to be honored with the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, The Female Vocalist of the Year award will be officially named The Albertina Walker Female Vocalist of the Year award, a special honorarium to the late Gospel great, Albertina Walker.

Nominations in 27 categories were announced, with James Fortune & Fiya leading this year’s nominees with eight nods. BeBe & CeCe Winans, Fred Hammond and Marvin Sapp are close behind with seven nominations each. The Stellar Awards is the premier event to recognize and celebrate the achievements of industry artists that uplift the Spirit of Gospel music, Root Magazine will provide our readers with exclusive behind-the-scenes access to next year’s Awards.

The list of nominees for the 2011 Stellar Awards are shown below:

http://www.thestellarawards.com/soul.html