Not all award shows are terrible with the nominees. Actually, this is another place where I think country music excels above and beyond all other genres. The Country Music Association Awards seem to be the exception to the industry. Rather than getting it right once in every 100, they seem to get it wrong just once or twice in every 100 nominations. The same can be said about CMT's (Country Music Television) Awards. For whatever reason, country seems to get it right.
And then there's the Dove Awards. Yeah, the "Christian Grammys," as they have been dubbed by more than a few people. And I would tend to agree, because they tend to be just as bad with the nominations. Look, I get that the Gospel Music Association (GMA) runs the thing and their members get to vote. But that's the problem. From the looks of those nominees, the members are clearly dominated by a majority who only listen to one or two types of music. In some cases, that's not a bad thing. Certainly, an artist the likes of Casting Crowns or Third Day deserve to get nominated and probably win a few awards each year...they put out quality music. But Adult Contemporary is simply not the only music out there, GMA members. You've gotten better over the years...multiple nominations for mainstream successes like Switchfoot and Relient K are well-deserved and noted as definite pluses. But, as with every other year, I find problems with your nominations. Right off the bat: Song Of The Year. Nothing inherently bad, even if I'm not a fan of some of the songs. But, honestly, why nominate Casting Crowns twice? I realize that both Lifesong and Voice Of Truth are excellent songs, and certainly both deserve consideration...but you honestly couldn't find another song from one other band to put in there and give one more band some big recognition? How about Relient K's Who I Am Hates Who I've Been? Or maybe David Crowder Band's Here Is Our King. Or, you could've gone extreme and nominated 4th Avenue Jones' Stereo (I know, hip hop in the Song Of The Year category just seems so...blasphemous, but seriously, think about it a bit).
Speaking of David Crowder Band and hip hop, these are my other two major issues with the awards this year. I am truly happy to see DCB get multiple nominations in the Rock/Contemporary categories. A Collision was one of the best discs released in 2005 (#2 on my personal list), and Here Is Our King was and is an infectious lead single. But...no nominations in the worship categories? Seriously? DCB is a worship band, by nature of their songs. They specifically write worship songs! They, along with Chris Tomlin and others, make the Passion conferences into such a huge success every year. They will once again be leading worship at DC/LA this year, which they did in 2003 as well (And, from someone who went in '03 and will hopefully be joining his youth group as well this year, as a leader this time...they put on a simply amazing worship set each meeting). And they don't even get nominated for the worship categories? Come on! They should be running away with those worship categories (Were it not for the competition from the aforementioned Chris Tomlin, of course), and instead they get shafted. Speaking of which, where is Deepspace 5 in the hip hop categories? Unique, Just Like Everyone Else was one of the most critically acclaimed discs in any genre in 2005 (#1 on my personal list in '05, and #1 and in the top 5 of many others out there...just look around a bit, you'll find them), and it gets no recognition whatsoever? Look, I like the nods for Grits and 4th Avenue Jones and I even don't mind the DJ Maj nod. But without DS5, it's not a hip hop category. I could go on and pick apart the rest of the awards, but I won't. Once again, the GMA has dissapointed.