40th Annual Dove Awards

So, I felt like this followed up well on the heels of American Idol, my first "Rants" blog. Seeing as there were at least two former American Idol contestants nominated for a Dove Award, it seemed like a logical progression.

For those who don't know what the Dove Awards are, they are presented each year (since 1969) by the Gospel Music Association of America. Essentially, it's a Christian Grammy. This is especially meaningful to those in the Contemporary Christian music industry, seeing as they get little love from the Grammy's.

My sons, Tyler and Kyle, would be thrilled to know, if only they would understand, that their FAVORITE song EVER won a Dove Award for Rock/Contemporary Song of the Year - "Washed by the Water" by NeedtoBreathe. (If you ask Ty and Kyle, it's called "Even When the Rain Falls", after the first line of the chorus.) They would be so happy ... they can sing the ENTIRE song, and stomp/clap the rhythm while singing.

My only major issues are with the Female Vocalist of the Year award and the New Artist of the Year award. I'm beginning to believe the the Female Vocalist award ought to be renamed the "Natalie Grant Will Win ... AGAIN" award. I like her stuff, but there were others out there who might have been more deserving (Francesca Battistelli, anyone?).

The other award that I have issue with is the New Artist award. Tenth Avenue North won ... and primarily on the strength of their incredible new song. However, there were others that I would have preferred to see win, most prominently Francesca Battistelli and Chris Sligh. Those two are amazing.

Also ... I would have liked to see Mandisa win something in the Gospel track of the awards. I thought that all three of her songs this year, from her debut album, "Mandisa" were excellent. While I'm not much of a gospel affficionado, I do like her stuff. It's actually fairly mainstream in it's presentation.

So ... not much to say today, obviously. But I'm thinking that at least someone might find it interesting that the Dove Awards happened ... and almost no one noticed. Yahoo! got Steven Curtis Chapman on their front page on Friday, however. He won Artist of the Year, and this after the loss of his adopted daughter Maria (from China) nearly a year ago now.