Stellar and Grammy Award Winner Donnie McClurkin Tabbed to Host GMC's Exclusive Airing of Stellar Award Nominations
Prime Time Special to Also Feature Performances by Gospel Music Stars
Contact: Mark Braff, 201-612-0707
ATLANTA, Oct. 18 /
Christian Newswire/ -- GMC announced today that Stellar, Grammy, and Dove award-winner Donnie McClurkin, one of gospel music's greatest stars, will host the network's exclusive live coverage of the 2011 Stellar Awards nomination announcements and concert performances. The prime time special will air from Nashville on Sat., Oct. 23 at 8 p.m. ET.
GMC, America's favorite channel for uplifting music and family entertainment, is the exclusive cable home of The Stellar Awards, gospel music's premier annual event. The 26th Annual Stellar Awards show will air on March 6, and a special, "The Stellars Tribute to the Holidays," featuring holiday gospel favorites, will premiere on GMC in late November 2010.
McClurkin is one of gospel music's legendary performers. His work has been honored with three Grammy awards, ten Stellar awards, two BET awards, two Soul Train awards, one Dove award and one NAACP Image award. He is perhaps best known for his hit songs "Stand" and "We Fall Down." His most recent album, "We All Are One: Live in Detroit," topped Billboard charts across various musical genres.
"Donnie McClurkin is a gospel music genius with an enormous fan base – an ideal choice to host the Stellar Awards nomination show and concert special," said Leslie Chesloff, GMC's executive vice president, programming. "We look forward to providing gospel music lovers with live coverage of a riveting event with performances by some of the genre's biggest names."
Performers confirmed to date for the concert portion of the exclusive broadcast are Joe Pace (performing "And We Are Glad"), Lucinda Moore ("Fire Baptized"), Jessica Reid ("God Has Smiled on Me"), Vashaun Mitchell ("Nobody Greater") and Bishop Neal Roberson ("I Believe"). The show is also scheduled to include a tribute to legendary gospel singer Albertina Walker.
Stellar Award winners in 2010 included Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship Choir (LFC), who took home five Stellars, including Artist of the Year, Choir of the Year, Contemporary Choir of the Year, CD of the Year and Contemporary CD of the Year; McClurkin (Traditional Male of the Year); Smokie Norful (Male Vocalist of the Year and Contemporary Male of the Year); Mary Mary (Song of the Year, Urban/Inspirational Single/Performance of the Year, Group/Duo of the Year and Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year); and Crystal Aikin (New Artist of the Year and Contemporary Female of the Year).
About The Stellar Awards
Chicago-based Central City Productions, Inc. (CCP) produces the Stellar Gospel Music Awards, the premier gospel event that recognizes and honors African-American artists. This one-of-a-kind show has showcased top gospel artists as well as many television and film stars. The Stellar Gospel Music Awards show is produced by Barbara Wilson for Central City Productions. Founded in 1970 by Don Jackson, Chicago-based Central City Productions is a producer, syndicator and distributor of original programming on television and cable networks.
About GMC
GMC (www.watchGMCtv.com), the fastest-growing network in television and the number one digital network in perceived value (source: BETA Research), is America's favorite channel for uplifting music and family entertainment. Recently, The Parents Television Council™ awarded its Entertainment Seal of Approval™ to GMC for being "an authentic family-friendly cable network." GMC is the only television network to receive the highly coveted honor in 2010.
GMC can be seen in nearly 48 million homes on various cable systems around the country, on DIRECTV on channel 338 and on Verizon FiOS on channel 224.
