Lumination’s 2014 Dove Awards preview: Best Artist

In less than a week, the 45th annual Dove Awards will be taking place in Allen Arena. With Lumination’s final installment of our Dove Awards preview series, I will be breaking down the Best Artist category. This year’s nominees for Best Artist are: Casting Crowns 2 Hillsong United 5 Lecrae 4 Mandisa 5 NEEDTOBREATHE 3 Switchfoot 4 The lineup is full of heavy hitters in the world of Christian music. All of the artists up for this award earned nominations in multiple categories. The Casting Crowns notched two nominations, NEEDTOBREATHE earned three, Switchfoot and Lecrae received four each and Mandisa and Hillsong United lead the pack with five. Hillsong United have to be considered the favorite in this category. Their smash hit “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)” earned nominations in the categories of Song of the Year, Worship Song of the Year, Contemporary Christian Performance of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year, and it is the favorite to take home most of them. “Oceans” and the band in general have been everywhere this year, so I would not be surprised if they ended up going home with a wheelbarrow full of trophies. Switchfoot, NEEDTOBREATHE and Casting Crowns are always formidable foes when it comes to Chrsitian music awards, but I do not think they can stop the momentum Hillsong has built up. Mandisa is another strong opponent. Her song “Overcomer” was nominated for four awards as well. Keep her in mind as a potential dark horse candidate if she begins to pick up awards throughout the show. However, I think the true threat to Hillsong’s night of...

The Dove Awards make Lipscomb their home for 2013 show

One of the biggest weeks in Contemporary Christian and Gospel music will be coming back home to Music City. After spending the last two years in Atlanta, the 44th annual Dove Awards will be back in Nashville, Tennessee on Oct. 15. The taping of the awards will be on the grounds of Lipscomb University in Allen Arena. The news regarding return of the Dove Awards broke March 19 on the Gospel Music Association website. Along with the move back to Nashville, the taping has been moved into the month of October where sales in Christian music are on the rise. The event has previously been held in the month of April. With moving back to Music City, GMA also announced that they have added a film category to the list of categories this year. This primarily comes from the rise in Christian filming production companies and quality films that have been released over the past few years. Last year, Jason Crabb, Laura Story, Lecrae, NEEDTOBREATHE, Switchfoot and Chris Tomlin were among the winners. The hosts, performers and nominees will be announced on Aug. 22, 2013. To be apart of the voting process, become a member and apply on the GMA website by March 30. For more information on the Dove Awards and other GMA Events, go to...