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?

• I CAN PRAY Nathan Markee Asheville Music Publishing Chris White Music Dove Brothers Sonlite Records
• I’VE BEEN CHANGED Earl Galloway Jeff Steele Christian Taylor Music OSMR Songs Sunset Gallery Music Legacy Five Daywind Records/Daywind Music Group
• LAST NIGHT Marcia Henry Christian Taylor Music Marcia Henry Music Karen Peck Gooch & New River Daywind Records/Daywind Music Group
• NO DOUBT SALVATION Jeff Weeks Pisgah Ridge Music Palmetto State Quartet Sonlite Records
• THE ROCK’S BETWEEN A HARD PLACE AND YOU Dianne Wilkinson Niles Borop Music Kingdom Heirs Sonlite Records

Oddly enough, none of these were Singing News #1s in 2008, but “I Can Pray” was #1 in June/August 2007  and “Last Night” was #1 in October 2007. “The Rock’s Between the Hard Place and You” peaked at #7 in December 2007.

This suggests that, at least according to BMI’s measuring methods, singles have more staying power on Southern Gospel radio than the SN chart reflects.

Interesting food for thought: I find the winners (and, for that matter, the nominees) in the Traditional song and album categories to be rather interesting. If I was to suggest nominees for a “traditional” category, it would include albums and songs from groups like the Chuck Wagon Gang, the Dixie Echoes, the Dixie Melody Boys, the Melody Boys Quartet, the Inspirations, and possibly certain table projects from groups like Greater Vision and the Kingdom Heirs. I define traditional Southern Gospel is basically music that sticks to the classic arranging styles and instrumentation from the 20s through, say, the mid-70s, before influences from other styles of music brought in more heavily instrumented tracks.

Much as I love groups like the Perrys, Legacy Five, Triumphant, Greater Vision, and the Dove Brothers, I classify their recording style as middle-of-the-road. Though some tracks are still based on the classic styles, the instrumentation for a number of tracks on each project brings in orchestrated elements that would have classified as song as “Inspirational” in the ’80s.

If a group would have been called “Southern Gospel up to the mid-70s or so, I classify them as traditional. If their big ballads and other tracks bring in more elements from ’80s Inspirational music (Bill Gaither Trio, Steve Green, etc.), then I classify them as middle-of-the-road. And if their music (at least the tracks) would have been classified as 80s or 90s CCM / Adult Contemporary, then I classify them as progressive.

While this is not articulated as well as it could be with weeks of drafts, perhaps it will help illuminate why someone like Chris Unthank and I can talk past each other in the comments section, going around in circles because we define our terms differently.

So how would you define traditional? progressive? and middle-of-the-road?

While the Singing News Fan Awards ballot is the only one I pay close attention to, it only takes 3-5 minutes to vote in most of the other online polls, so I usually slip over and do it. I did find a number of categories on this one where the nominees were so obscure that I was not all that familiar with any of the nominees, even with as closely as I follow Southern Gospel.

• Favorite Male Quartet – Dove Brothers
• Favorite Mixed Quartet – Perrys
• Favorite Trio – Karen Peck & New River
• Favorite Duet – Aaron & Amanda Crabb (It really should be “duo.”)
• Favorite Soloist – Ivan Parker
• Favorite Male Vocalist – Jason Crabb (Soloist)
• Favorite Female Vocalist – Karen Peck Gooch (Karen Peck & New River)
• Favorite Band – Singing Echoes
• Favorite Musician – Jeff Stice (Triumphant Quartet)
• Favorite Song – God Will Pass By (as recorded and performed by Greater Vision)
• Favorite Album – My Favorite Place (Greater Vision)
• Favorite DVD – Pensacola LIVE (Dixie Echoes)
• Favorite Lead – Gerald Wolfe (Greater Vision)
• Favorite Baritone – Scott Inman (Triumphant Quartet)
• Favorite Bass – Lynn Epperson (Singing Echoes)
• Favorite Alto – Kelly Nelon Clark (Nelons)
• Favorite Tenor – Michael Booth (Booth Brothers)
• Favorite Soprano – Kim Hopper (Hoppers)
• Young Excelling Individual – Eric Dawson (Heirline)
• New Excelling Artist – Premier Quartet
• ‘Naomi Sego’ Living Legend Award – Lou Wills Hildreth
• Faith Award: Judy Brannin (This is a lifetime achievment award, comparable to the Singing News’ Norcross-Templeton award.)

For an awards presentation based on an online poll, it seems to be a pretty accurate snapshot of current fan favorite groups. There don’t seem to be too many instances where an artist’s e-blast to their supporters unduly influenced the final choices.

Favorite Artist of the Year
Booth Brothers
Brian Free & Assurance
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Gooch, Karen Peck
Inspirations
Legacy Five
Parker, Ivan
Perrys
Triumphant Qt
Wolfe, Gerald

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

Mixed Group
Beene Family
Browns
Chuck Wagon Gang
Collingsworth Family
Diplomats
Hoppers
Isaacs
Lesters
McKameys
Perrys

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

Soloist
Bishop, Mark
Combs, Michael
Crabb, Jason
Ford, Larry
King, Sharron Kay
Mitchel, Jon
Parker, Ivan
Parsons, Squire
Paschal, Janet
Ritchie, Charlotte

Male Singer
Bishop, Mark     Soloist
Booth, Michael     Booth Brothers
Booth, Ronnie     Booth Brothers
Brady, Jim     Booth Brothers
Campbell, Melton     Inspirations
Fowler, Scott     Legacy Five
Free, Brian     Brian Free & Assurance
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
Greene, TaRanda     Greenes
Hopper, Kim     Hoppers
Paschal, Janet     Soloist
Stuffle, Libbi     Perrys
Talley, Debra     Talley Trio
Talley, Lauren     Talley Trio
Whisnant, Susan     Whisnants
Horizon Individual
Alvey, Brian     Tribute Qt
Barker, Pat     Dixie Echoes
Crist, Breana     Crist Family
Crist, Jackie     Crist Family
Easter, Morgan     Jeff & Sheri Easter
Hitchcock, Toby     Austins Bridge
Kitson, Jacob     Greater Vision
Mitchel Jon     Soloist
Springfield, Andy     Kingdom Heirs
Taliaferro, Bruce     Gold City

Horizon Group
Akins
Austins Bridge
Ball Brothers
Calvary’s Voice
Cross 4 Crowns
Crabb Revival
Crist Family
New Desire
Soul’d Out Qt
Voice Won

Young Artist
Brown, Michaela     Browns
Collingsworth, Brooklyn     Collingsworth Family
Easter, Morgan     Jeff & Sheri Easter
Elliott, Bryan     Perrys
Fortner, Eli     McKameys
Habedank, Joseph     Perrys
Kitson, Jacob     Greater Vision
Rivers, Justin     Austins Bridge
Smith, Zach     Crabb Revival
Thompson, Amber     Nelons

Tenor
Booth, Michael     Booth Brothers
Free, Brian     Brian Free & Assurance
Haase, Ernie     Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Hodges, Billy     Kingdom Heirs
Kitson, Jacob     Greater Vision
Martin, Jerry     Dove Brothers
Phillips, Eric     Mark Trammell Trio
Seamans, Frank     Legacy Five
Sutton, David     Triumphant Qt
Watkins, Archie     Inspirations

Lead
Booth, Ronnie     Booth Brothers
Carden, Ricky     Down East Boys
Dove, McCray     Dove Brothers
Fowler, Scott     Legacy Five
Habedank, Joseph     Perrys
Inman, Clayton     Triumphant Qt
Rice, Arthur     Kingdom Heirs
Seaton, Ryan     Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
Shivers, Bill     Brian Free & Assurance
Wolfe, Gerald     Greater Vision

Baritone
Brady, Jim     Booth Brothers
Campbell, Melton     Inspirations
Dove, Eric     Dove Brothers
French, Steve     Kingdom Heirs
Griffin, Rodney     Greater Vision
Howard, Scott     Legacy Five
Hutson, Bryan     Kingsmen
Inman, Scott     Triumphant Qt
Selph, Derrick     Brian Free & Assurance
Trammell, Mark     Mark Trammell Trio

Bass
Bennett, Eric     Triumphant Qt
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
Collingsworth, Brooklyn     Collingsworth Family
Crabb, Amanda     Aaron & Amanda Crabb
Fortner, Connie     McKameys
Gooch, Karen Peck     Karen Peck & New River
Greene, TaRanda     Greenes
Hopper, Kim     Hoppers
Isaacs, Sonya     Isaacs
Penhollow, Terah Crabb     Crabb Revival
Starkel, Tami Crist     Crist Family
Talley, Lauren     Talley Trio

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

Musician
Collingsworth, Kim     Collingsworth Family
Cook, Martin     Inspirations
Elliott, Bryan     Perrys
Fortner, Roger     McKameys
Mote, Gordon
Murphy, Dennis     Kingdom Heirs
Parton, Tim     Legacy Five
Stice, Jeff     Triumphant Qt
Varnado, Stewart     Dixie Echoes
Webb, Roy

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

Album
Always Have A Song     Mark Trammell Trio
Ephesians One     Karen Peck & New River
Everyday     Triumphant Qt
God’s Been Good     Legacy Five
How Great It Is     Inspirations
Life Goes On     Talley Trio
Not Alone     Greater Vision
Room For More     Booth Brothers
Something More     McKameys
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

There aren’t many surprises this year. Greater Vision and the Booth Brothers picked up eleven nominations, and Triumphant and the Perrys each picked up ten.

Oddly, the Booth Brothers’ three members each got nominated for favorite Male Singer. The only thing that could make that odder would be if they each made the top five.

I was slightly surprised to see the Dixie Echoes’ Pat Barker in the top 10 for Horizon Individual again. I hadn’t realized he was eligible again.

But overall, there are few surprises this year. It will be interesting to see if the top 5 ballot is equally predictable, or if a few surprising choices make it on.

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.

SONG OF THE YEAR
“Reason Enough”; Ernie Haase, Wayne Haun, Joel Lindsey

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Ernie Haase

GROUP OF THE YEAR
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Wayne Haun

SOUTHERN GOSPEL RECORDED SONG
“Big Mighty God” (Nothin’ But Good; Mike LeFevre Quartet)
“I Believe God” (Real Faith; Brian Free & Assurance)
“Reason Enough” (Dream On; Ernie Haase & Signature Sound)
“Welcome To The Family” (Room For More; Booth Brothers)
“Yahweh” (The Ride; The Hoppers)

BLUEGRASS RECORDED SONG
“Help Is On The Way” (Help Is On The Way; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver)
“I See A Crimson Stream” (Sounds Like Sunday; Janet Paschal)
“The Old White Flag” (You Gotta Love It!; Triumphant Quartet)
“They’re Holding Up The Ladder” (We Are Family; Jeff & Sheri Easter, Lewis Family, Easter Brothers)
“What Will I Wear” (I Just Wanted You To Know; Kim Hopper)

COUNTRY RECORDED SONG
“Jesus And John Wayne” (Lovin’ Life; Gaither Vocal Band)

INSPIRATIONAL ALBUM
After The Rain (Aaron & Amanda Crabb)

SOUTHERN GOSPEL ALBUM
Ephesians One (Karen Peck & New River)
I Just Wanted You To Know (Kim Hopper)
Lovin’ Life (Gaither Vocal Band)
On The Way Up (HisSong)
Room For More (Booth Brothers)

BLUEGRASS ALBUM
Help Is On The Way (Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver)
Hymns From Chigger Hill (Chigger Hill Boys & Terri)
We Are Family (Jeff & Sheri Easter, Lewis Family, Easter Brothers)

COUNTRY ALBUM
Runaway Train (Crabb Revival)

SPECIAL EVENT ALBUM
Country Bluegrass Homecoming Volume One (Gaither Homecoming Friends)

CHRISTMAS ALBUM
Christmas Gaither Vocal Band Style (Gaither Vocal Band)

LONG FORM MUSIC VIDEO
Country Bluegrass Homecoming Volume One

The Gaither, Canaan, and Daywind artists seem to be doing the best in nominations. And the nominations seem to get stronger each year—there are few if any artists that make you scratch your head and wonder who could have voted for them.