That’s classy.

So let’s do something entirely different and post our guesses as to the final winners in each category. Mine are below. (Just to be perfectly clear, this isn’t the same as the list of who I voted for in each category!)

Favorite Artist of the Year
Booth Brothers
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Inspirations
Legacy Five
Triumphant Qt

Male Quartet
Brian Free & Assurance
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Inspirations
Legacy Five
Triumphant Qt

Mixed Group
Collingsworth Family
Hoppers
Isaacs
McKameys
Perrys

Trio
Booth Brothers
Greater Vision
Jeff & Sheri Easter
Mark Trammell Trio
Whisnants

Soloist
Bishop, Mark
Parker, Ivan
Parsons, Squire
Paschal, Janet
Ritchie, Charlotte

Male Singer
Booth, Ronnie     Booth Brothers
Fowler, Scott     Legacy Five
Parker, Ivan     Soloist
Rice, Arthur     Kingdom Heirs
Wolfe, Gerald Greater Vision

Female Singer
Easter, Sheri     Jeff & Sheri Easter
Gooch, Karen Peck     Karen Peck & New River
Greene, TaRanda     Greenes
Hopper, Kim     Hoppers
Stuffle, Libbi Perrys

Horizon Individual
Barker, Pat     Dixie Echoes
Crist, Breana     Crist Family
Easter, Morgan     Jeff & Sheri Easter
Kitson, Jacob Greater Vision
Taliaferro, Bruce     Gold City

Horizon Group
Austins Bridge
Ball Brothers
Crabb Revival
Crist Family
Soul’d Out Qt

Young Artist
Collingsworth, Brooklyn     Collingsworth Family
Easter, Morgan     Jeff & Sheri Easter
Habedank, Joseph Perrys
Kitson, Jacob     Greater Vision
Thompson, Amber     Nelons

Tenor
Booth, Michael     Booth Brothers
Free, Brian     Brian Free & Assurance
Haase, Ernie     Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Phillips, Eric     Mark Trammell Trio
Sutton, David Triumphant Qt

Lead
Booth, Ronnie Booth Brothers
Dove, McCray     Dove Brothers
Inman, Clayton     Triumphant Qt
Shivers, Bill     Brian Free & Assurance
Wolfe, Gerald     Greater Vision

Baritone
Brady, Jim     Booth Brothers
French, Steve     Kingdom Heirs
Griffin, Rodney     Greater Vision
Inman, Scott     Triumphant Qt
Trammell, Mark Mark Trammell Trio

Bass
Bennett, Eric Triumphant Qt
Duncan, Tim     Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Dustin, Glenn     Legacy Five
Holcomb, Mike     Inspirations
McCune, Aaron     Gold City

Soprano
Fortner, Connie     McKameys
Gooch, Karen Peck     Karen Peck & New River
Greene, TaRanda     Greenes
Hopper, Kim Hoppers
Talley, Lauren     Talley Trio

Alto
Easter, Sheri     Jeff & Sheri Easter
Hopper, Connie     Hoppers
Stuffle, Libbi Perrys
Talley, Debra     Talley Trio
Woodard, Carol     McKameys

Musician
Collingsworth, Kim     Collingsworth Family
Mote, Gordon
Parton, Tim     Legacy Five
Stice, Jeff Triumphant Qt
Webb, Roy

Songwriter
Bishop, Mark
Brady, Jim
Griffin, Rodney
Hinson, Ronny
Wilkinson, Dianne

Album
Everyday     Triumphant Qt
God’s Been Good     Legacy Five
Not Alone     Greater Vision
Room For More Booth Brothers
When God Ran     Kingsmen

Song
Hello After Goodbye     Legacy Five
I Know It Was The Blood     Perrys
I Want To Know That You Know     Greater Vision
I Want To Thank You     Karen Peck & New River
Jesus Made A Believer Out Of Me     Kingdom Heirs
Loving The Lamb     Mark Trammell Trio
The Old White Flag Triumphant Qt
The Rose     Inspirations
What Salvation’s Done For Me     Booth Brothers
When God Ran     Kingsmen

The design has been under development for months (and perhaps even a year), and it looks like the design time was worth it.

One interesting thing—to be precise, the word “currently”—jumped out to me when I was browsing the Fan Awards page. It says: “Currenly,[sic] only active subscribers of the Singing News Magazine are allowed to vote.” Could that mean some other method might be under consideration?

This means, of course, that the nominations will be determined by the subscribers to the print magazine.

They did confirm that the ballots for top 10 and top 5 would be posted online, so those rounds will be open to all their readership.

[UPDATE, 3/5/09] Singing News has listened to the readers and made the ballot available. Thank you to Singing News, and to all who contacted them suggesting that it be done.

I also notice that a couple of major advertisers are out. Several of the big ones are still there—Daywind, Crossroads, Dixie Echoes, McKameys. But Gaither is down to two pages instead of four, and the Inspirations, Greater Vision, and Legacy Five have all cancelled their ads (or put them on hold). (A number of smaller ads are also out.)

This could explain the size difference, but it still comes as a surprise.

Every time I checked—until this morning—www.southerngospel.com redirected you to www.singingnews.com. Today, there’s a new site design, using content from Singing News writers.

Could this design be coming soon on the Singing News domain as well?

It’s a little odd that possibly 2007’s most popular song (”I Can Pray”) was disqualified on a technicality, but the winning song (”Look For Me”) is a song that the Kingsmen introduced 35 years ago and the winning group (Booth Brothers) recorded some seven years ago.

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not suggesting a conspiracy; I know Singing News bases its rules on radio airplay. As I understand, “I Can Pray” was apparently singled at the wrong time to be qualified. But should rules that produce a result this incongruous perhaps be reconsidered?

(Keep suggestions constructive. The past is past; focus on the future.)

Although I notice that Brian Franklin’s YouTube account does have two other videos, I believe this is a first for Singing News–the first time they uploaded a YouTube video to accompany a news story.

I am in contact with enough of the nominees that I am reluctant to post my specific votes. But I will note that except voting for the Perrys in five categories, I spread out my votes fairly widely: Signature Sound (3), Mark Trammell Trio (2), Kingdom Heirs (2), Greater Vision (2, including Favorite Artist), and one each to the Hoppers, Collingsworth Family, Mark Bishop, Soul’d Out, Dixie Echoes, and Kyla Rowland.

Things to watch this year:

• Favorite Pianist: Since it’s been Roger Bennett’s award for years, it’s wide-open this year. Jeff Stice is the only previous winner on the ballot, but any of the five could feasibly win. Both of my favorite pianists (Kim Collingsworth and Stewart Varnado) are in the top 5, and I’d be delighted if either won.
• Favorite Artist: The Booth Brothers were the only trio nominated last year, and won. This year, there are two trios and three quartets. Could having two trios in the top 5 change the dynamics a little?
• Member Changes: Will either Jason Waldroup or Jonathan Wilburn take home farewell awards? My take: Jason Waldroup stands a better chance than Jonathan Wilburn, since Bruce Taliaferro has had more time to make his own mark with Gold City and to start building his name ID as Gold City’s lead singer.
• Will Greater Vision’s tenor change help or hurt them in the Favorite Artist and Favorite Trio categories?

Let’s wait to post our final guesses as to who will win until we’re closer to the Fan Awards, for the decidedly prosaic reason that the post will be easier to find to compare our guesses with the results.

Let’s save guessing the winners until the final ballot comes out; enough could change in two months that it could substantially impact the choice of winners.

Favorite Artist of the Year
Booth Brothers
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Gold City
Greater Vision
Inspirations
Legacy Five
Parker, Ivan
Perrys
Triumphant Qt
Wolfe, Gerald

Mixed Group
Browns
Collingsworth Family
Diplomats
Freemans
Hayes Family
Hoppers
Isaacs
Lesters
McKameys
Perrys

Male Quartet
Brian Free & Assurance
Dove Brothers
Down East Boys
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Gaither Vocal Band
Gold City
Inspirations
Kingdom Heirs
Legacy Five
Triumphant Quartet

Trio
Booth Brothers
Greater Vision
Greenes
Jeff & Sheri Easter
Karen Peck & New River
Mark Trammell Trio
Pfeifers
Poet Voices
Talley Trio
Whisnants

Soloist
Bishop, Mark
Combs, Michael
Crabb, Jason
Ford, Larry
Lee, Cricket
Lowry, Mark
Mote, Gordon
Parker, Ivan
Parsons, Squire
Paschal, Janet

Male Singer
Bishop, Mark Soloist
Booth, Michael Booth Brothers
Booth, Ronnie Booth Brothers
Dibler, Matt Inspirations
Fowler, Scott Legacy Five
Free, Brian Brian Free & Assurance
Holcomb, Mike Inspirations
Parker, Ivan Soloist
Rice, Arthur Kingdom Heirs
Wolfe, Gerald Greater Vision

Female Singer
Bean, Peg McKamey McKameys
Easter, Sheri Jeff & Sheri Easter
Gooch, Karen Peck Karen Peck & New River
Hopper, Kim Hoppers
Paschal, Janet Soloist
Stuffle, Libbi Perrys
Talley, Debra Talley Trio
Talley, Lauren Talley Trio
Whisnant, Susan Whisnants
Woodard, Carol McKameys

Horizon Individual
Barker, Pat Dixie Echoes
Browder, Matthew Browders
Crist, Breana Crist Family
Crist, Jackie Crist Family
King, Sharron Kay Soloist
Kitson, Jacob Tribute Qt
LeFevre, Jordan LeFevre Qt
Lile, Jeremy Brian Free & Assurance
Paschal, Daryl Down East Boys
Rivers, Justin Austins Bridge

Horizon Group
Aaron & Amanda Crabb
Austins Bridge
Browders
Crabb Revival
Crist Family
Old Paths
Shiloh
Soul’d Out Qt
Spoken 4 Qt
Tribute Qt

Young Artist
Fortner, Eli McKameys
Free, Ricky Brian Free & Assurance
Habedank, Joseph Perrys
Holt, Matthew Perrys
McGlamery, Devin Karen Peck & New River
Penhollow, Terah Crabb Crabb Revival
Simpson, Josh Gold City
Sweatman, Dustin Mark Trammell Trio
Thompson, Amber Nelons
Trammell, Nick Perrys

Tenor
Booth, Michael Booth Brothers
Free, Brian Brian Free & Assurance
Haase, Ernie Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Hodges, Billy Kingdom Heirs
Ladd, Steve Gold City
Martin, Jerry Dove Brothers
Seamans, Frank Legacy Five
Sutton, David Triumphant Quartet
Waldroup, Jason Greater Vision
Watkins, Archie Inspirations

Lead
Booth, Ronnie Booth Brothers
Dibler, Matt Inspirations
Dove, McCray Dove Brothers
Fowler, Scott Legacy Five
Habedank, Joseph Perrys
Inman, Clayton Triumphant Quartet
Rice, Arthur Kingdom Heirs
Shivers, Bill Brian Free & Assurance
Wilburn, Jonathan Gold City
Wolfe, Gerald Greater Vision

Baritone
Anderson, Doug Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Brady, Jim Booth Brothers
Campbell, Melton Inspirations
Dove, Eric Dove Brothers
French, Steve Kingdom Heirs
Griffin, Rodney Greater Vision
Howard, Scott Legacy Five
Inman, Scott Triumphant Quartet
Selph, Derrick Brian Free & Assurance
Trammell, Mark Mark Trammell Trio

Bass
Bennett, Eric Triumphant Quartet
Chapman, Jeff Kingdom Heirs
Duncan, Tim Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Dustin, Glenn Legacy Five
Hester, David Dove Brothers
Holcomb, Mike Inspirations
Lile, Jeremy Brian Free & Assurance
McCune, Aaron Gold City
Reese, Ray Dean Kingsmen
Stuffle, Tracy Perrys

Soprano
Brown, Jessica Browns
Crabb, Amanda Aaron & Amanda Crabb
Fortner, Connie McKameys
Gooch, Karen Peck Karen Peck & New River
Greene, TaRanda Greenes
Hopper, Kim Hoppers
Isaacs, Sonya Isaacs
Ritchie, Charlotte Jeff & Sheri Easter
Starkel, Tami Crist Crist Family
Talley, Lauren Talley Trio

Alto
Bean, Peg McKamey McKameys
Brown, Michaela Browns
Easter, Sheri Jeff & Sheri Easter
Hopper, Connie Hoppers
Jackson, Susan Peck Karen Peck & New River
Penhollow, Terah Crabb Crabb Revival
Stuffle, Libbi Perrys
Talley, Debra Talley Trio
Whisnant, Susan Whisnants
Woodard, Carol McKameys

Musician
Collingsworth, Kim Collingsworth Family
Cook, Martin Inspirations
Fortner, Roger McKameys
Free, Ricky Brian Free & Assurance
Holt, Matthew Perrys
Murphy, Dennis Kingdom Heirs
Ollis, Eric Whisnants
Parton, Tim Legacy Five
Stice, Jeff Triumphant Qt
Varnado, Stewart Dixie Echoes

Songwriter
Atkinson, Ricky
Bishop, Mark
Brady, Jim
Crabb, Gerald
Cross, Phil
Griffin, Rodney
Hinson, Ronny
Inman, Scott
Rowland, Kyla
Wilkinson, Dianne

Album
Carry On Booth Brothers
Everyday People Greater Vision
Know So Salvation Legacy Five
Look No Further Perrys
Never The Same Dove Brothers
Once Upon A Cross Mark Trammell Trio
Real Faith Brian Free & Assurance
Things Are Different Now Inspirations
True To The Call Kingdom Heirs
You Gotta Love It Triumphant Qt