On we roll with the program… Casting Crowns are up here now and Mark was talking about how there’s no “next level”… we need to live as though we’ve already arrived…

Next up is David Crowder Band fielding lots of questions about their performance and it seems that they put the whole production together with staple guns and glue in the parking lot…

Now is The Hoppers with Karen Peck and New River and i think that’s going to wrap things up for the night… i’m pretty sure it’s gonna do it for me… hope you all enjoyed the coverage and i’ll catch you later

peace… love.. bdg…

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well, the awards have all been handed out and we’re watching what seems like a very rousing and amazing Southern Gospel, bluegrassy, revival jam going on over on the main stage but it seems that the XM radio station didn’t want to stay with the program and my audio stream is dead… i don’t know or really care who’s on stage right now, but we’re still here…

okay, now here’s Switchfoot… definitely recommending catching their upcoming tour if you can… The Music Builds Tour gives back proceeds to Habitat for Humanity and it definitely promises to be one of the best tours of the year…

the guests are coming fast and furious now and they’re backed up at the opening… the “idol” trio of Sligh, Stacy and Mandisa spent a bit of time up on stage and now Toby is up there with some crazy shoes that i can’t manage to get a picture of… i could describe them to you, but not without revealing my geeky sneak background… okay, there we go… i managed to get a shot of them… Toby, by the way, hauled in four statues…

Point of Grace is with us now and i think the notion that it will be an early night has completely gone out the window… Chris Tomlin is up now and he’s talking about how he didn’t want to be the “punk” that messed up the greatest song of all time, meaning Amazing Grace…

peace… love… bdg…

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Sandi Patti and Mark Lowry are onstage right now getting ready for the Artist of the Year award… Michael Jr. and Ben Utech are backstage… MJ is way funnier than Mark Lowry… but i’m interested in seeing who wins this…

and the winner is… TOBYMAC

Q: Has anyone told you [Michael Jr.] that you look like Kirk Franklin?

A: Only people who don’t have many black friends.

peace… love… bdg…

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Israel Houghton is back here now, but he’s gotta be upstaged right now, but the Michael W Smith tribute… which has started out with Amy Grant and Michael on stage together with Amy reflecting on Michael’s career… i think she’s taking some credit for his success, but who knows… she mentioned that she hired him to play piano for her tour, for “a little bit of money and a deli tray”…

Amy’s singing Thy Word while Michael’s playing piano and now joining them on stage… Phil Stacey, Chris Sligh and Mandisa… it’s kind of like American Idol: Smitty Night… Phil’s starting off with “Place in This World“… and now it’s time for Mr. Sligh… he’s talking about how old he is because he used to have cassette tapes… um… moving on… He’s singing “Secret Ambition” which is well received… and now, Mandisa says, they were good, but she wants a little more soul…. “Crown Him With Many Crowns” which was originally done with Anointed… oh, and Mandisa doesn’t get it all by herself… they’re all singing…

now they’re all singing “Worthy is the Lamb” or “Holy Holy” and most of us are ignoring the comedianne who’s backstage right now… even though i wouldn’t say it’s a great performance… it’s a pretty nice moment…

peace… love… bdg…

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Michael Jr. and Ben Utech have come on stage to introduce the nominees for Song of the Year… Toby was just backstage with the hosts, but he hasn’t won anything yet… Michael Jr is very, very funny…

and the winner is…. CASTING CROWNS, EAST TO WEST…

oh well… Switchfoot is up on the mainstage now singing their new song from the soundtrack of Prince Caspian… the song is called “This Is Home” and they also sang it the other night at the concert… it’s a pretty good tune… they’re also showing the new Third Day video, but that may have just been for us, i’m not sure…

Rob Beckley from Pillar and Krystal Meyers and someone else are up to announce the nominees for Short form Video of the year…

and the winner is… TOBYMAC… Boomin’

peace… love… bdg…

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Trin-i-tee 5:7 has come backstage to chatter a bit… they look great… and they’ve got Don Fransisco and Steve Archer announcing the inductees into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame… now Toby has come out on stage to talk about Larry Norman, who passed away this past year… and now, Point of Grace is singing How You Live (Turn Up the Music) with Cidy Morgan playing piano and a few, uh interpretive dancers doing their thing in the background…

Marvin Sapp is on his way back here and apparently his song was called “Never Would’ve Made It” not “I Made It” as i previously reported… my bad… comercial break and there’s only about a half hour left, so i’m gonna get me some more sweat tea before it’s all gone…

peace… love… bdg…

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Marvin Sapp is singing “I Made It” and he’s doing a great job, but i don’t think anyone is going to top Trin-i-tee 5:7… Steven Curtis Chapman and Paul Baloche are back here now talking about Compassionart and the process of putting together the album…

oh, i missed the nominees for Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year, but i can see now that Israel Houghton is headed up to accept the award… uh… i mean…

and the winner is… ISRAEL HOUGHTON

okay, David Crowder*Band has taken the main stage and that’s definitely a two-earbud situation… my apologies to SCC and Paul, but they’re performing “Everything Glorious” and they’ve made a music video out of the performance… they’ve had people bringing out pits and pieces of a happy sunshine scene throughout the song and now the whole backdrop has become a pretty little hill with a sun hanging from the rafters… that was hot…

peace… love… bdg…

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Chris Tomlin is introducing a video link to a comercial for Compassionart… and back here, we get to talk to Natalie Grant… i don’t think i like that dress of hers… and i think someone here has some bad gas… oh, on the main stage is Smitty and Paul Baloche, and Israel Houghton and Chris Tomlin and Steven Curtis Chapman and Christy Nockels doing a song for Compassionart…

This is pretty much a toss-up because Natalie is always a good talker and this performance is pretty interesting… Oh, the dress has pockets… anyway…

extended comercial break… they’re not moving things along very smoothly this time around…

peace… love… bdg…

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Casting Crowns has taken the stage to perform East to West which gives me more time to pay attention to Wynonna… i think she’s pretty awesome actually… i’m sure that it comes experience, but she really handles herself well and she seems entirely authentic…

Natalie Grant is doing the little mini-interview with the hosts and Brandon Heath has just stepped up to the mic back here… i’m very happy to see him take home this award… he’s a good guy and i enjoyed my interview with him earlier this week… oh yeah, it was only yesterday…

The Clark Sisters have taken the main stage for a performance and i’ve been listening to Brandon…

Donnie McClurken and Jaci Velasquez have come forward to announce the nominees for the group of the year…

and the winner is… CASTING CROWNS…

no surprise there…

peace… love… bdg…

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Up next is Trin-i-tee 5:7 with a style that none of ya’ll have ever seen before… Zydeco… that’s right, look it up… and in the words of Adam Sandler in the classic college film, Billy Madison… “[they] gonna sets it on fiya”… Queen Wynonna has come backstage to talk about gospel and such… Trin-i-tee 5:7 absolutely blew the roof, doors, windows and anything else you can think of off the hinges with an absolutely AMAZING performance…

comercial break whilst we talk to Wynonna…

Mark Shultz and Brian Free have taken the main stage to present the award for Natalie Grant of… i mean, Female Vocalist of the Year… Wynonna seems a bit cantankerous with these questions… i’ve never seen Mark Schultz in a suit before… he must be nervous…

and the winner is… NATALIE GRANT

Q: Wynonna, what is your reaction to Natalie winning the Female Vocalist of the Year award?

A: Did she win? Well, I wanna curse, but I can’t do that here.

peace… love… bdg…

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