- I liked that Karen Peck Gooch was recognized for her songwriting abilities as well as vocal this year. She had several great cuts on Revival.
- I was pleased to see Amber Thompson nominated in overall female vocalist.
- So good to see Hope Bowling pick up two nominations including one for alto!
- I was a little surprised to see Tim Riley nominated for favorite bass, just because he hasn't traveled for much of the year. I think it speaks to how much fan support he has, his ability and the legacy he has in the industry. (I think the same was true for Tracy Stuffle a few years ago.)
- I was a little surprised not to see Melissa Brady's name. With her singing full-time now and her having several songwriting cuts lately, I think her name deserved to be somewhere in there.
- I would have liked to have seen 11th Hour's album Picture This nominated. To me, it was one of the top projects of the year.
- I was a little surprised to see the Kingdom Heirs' "The Joys of Heaven" with the song nomination when "I'll Know I'm Home" was the song that had the most chart success for them.
It's interesting that the reigning lead and baritone are now in the same category (Ronnie Booth and Jim Brady), so baritone is one category that will definitely change.
At what point does a group stop being eligible for a new category? This is not a criticism of nominations, just a question as to whether this is outlined somewhere. I do feel like many of the nominations for trio and group have been around a while.
For male and female vocalist, there were only three changes total in the nominations from last year. And for favorite artist there were only two changes. As much as I like surprises, it does speak to the stability of artists and the industry for the nominations to be as consistent as they are. And to be honest, there are several soloists and quartets that I had not heard of before.
So what do you think? Any surprises, snubs or thoughts on nomination differences from years past?
Simply my $0.02, here is my Singing News awards ballot (since I don’t subscribe to the magazine and can’t vote “for real”:
ReplyDeleteArtist: Booth Brothers
Traditional Quartet: Kingsmen
Mixed Group: Collingsworth Family
Trio: Greater Vision
Soloist: Mark Bishop
Male Singer: Mark Trammell
Female Singer: Amber Nelon Thompson
Young Artist: Trey Ivey (though I believe at least one of the Erwins should be nominated here)
Tenor: Chris Jenkins
Lead: Ronnie Booth
Baritone: Mike LeFevre
Bass: Jeff Chapman/Matt Fouch
Soprano: Amber Nelon Thompson
Alto: Susan Whisnant
Musician: Kim Collingsworth
Band: Primitive Quartet Band
Songwriter: Rodney Griffin
Album: Battle Cry/Kingsmen OR Still/Booth Brothers
Small Market DJ: Phil Tittle
Medium Market DJ: Lottie Squires
Large Market DJ: Ron Foster
Non-Performing Songwriter: Dianne Wilkinson
New Traditional Quartet: Adoration Quartet (why are Liberty & Paul’s Journey even on this list?)
New Mixed Group: The Erwins
New Trio: Jim Brady Trio
New Soloist: Pat Barker
Song: Christ is Still the King/Legacy Five
^ That list was copied/pasted from my comment on another site, and you can see that I share your question on what qualifies a group or artist to be eligible in the "new" categories. Liberty Quartet has traveled since 1996... I think the eligibility requirements for all categories need to be spelled out and adhered to. And while I'm with you on admiring how revered and loved Tim Riley is, there's no way he should be up for the bass singer award this year. Also, the exclusion of the Taylors and the Erwins in all but a single category each is absurd.
ReplyDelete