Video | Preview of the 2008 season of 'Gospel Dreams'
UPCOMING GOSPEL EVENTS
• Saturday: Lincoln Road Gospelfest at the Miami Beach Community Church, 1620 Drexel Ave. Admission is free. Featured artists are the Unity on the Bay Choir and soloist Kathy King. For information, contact Alex Alvarez at 305-448-1456, ext. 13.• Each Sunday through May 25: Inspirational brunch featuring Maryel Epps at Joely Restaurant and Lounge in the Hotel Astor on Miami Beach from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Price is $44 per person. For reservations, call 305-534-3343.• April 27: Free Gospel Sunday at the Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts from 4 to 6 p.m. Admission is free. Featured artists are the Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church, the Joshua Generation, Minister Miriam Terry and TQM. For information, call Debra Toomer at 305-769-1100 or e-mail dtoomer@wmbm.comAs Aaron Taylor rode the escalator at Miami's Hyatt Regency, he was singing, and not just to warm up his voice for another chance at a professional singing career.
He was praying.
Taylor, 32, was thanking God for giving him the chance to make the trip from Lakeland and showcase his talents for God.
''It was worth the drive,'' Taylor said of his chance to audition April 12 for Gospel Dreams, the Gospel Music Channel's reality show search for the next gospel solo artist.
Miami is one of five audition sites that will send three performers each to the semifinals in Nashville in May. The winner receives a recording contract and a cruise.
Almost 150 people came from throughout Florida for the Miami auditions.
Though many singers dream of the fame and fortune that can come with a singing career, for those who sing gospel, sharing one's faith is also a big motivation.
''Two years ago I tried out [for Gospel Dreams] in Orlando and was first runner-up,'' Taylor said. ``I'm the worship leader at my church. Even if I don't make it, it won't stop me from singing for Him.''
Anthony Owens of Orlando has had a taste of fame in mainstream music, singing with an R&B group called 4-U from 1996 to 2005, but he wanted to return to his gospel roots.
''I've sung in front 70,000 people at one time, but God said `it's time to get back in there and do something for me','' said Owens.
Ullyssia Richardson was so excited about auditioning, she was early -- more than three hours.
''I was here at 5:24 this morning,'' said Richardson, 34, of Miami Gardens. ``I was told it started at 6.''
It started at 9.
Before the contestants were shuttled out in groups of 10 for a chance to impress the judges, there was a chance to lighten the mood and have a good time in the ''holding area,'' a large hotel conference room. Asked by the Gospel Music Channel staff to sing Mary Had a Little Lamb, one contestant delivered a soulful rendition -- until forgetting a verse. Some contestants were asked to make up impromptu jingles for local sponsors. After Richardson's audition, she performed a freestyle rap that said all the contestants were winners.
''What excites me is the holding area, and the contestants passing the mic around,'' said Mary Anne Melear, project director for the show who has worked on the auditions since 2005. ``There's a lot of energy there and a lot of camaraderie. At the end of the day people are generally happy for the winners.''
As the day wore on, and spirits flagged and tension rose, Miami gospel star Mary Alessi came in and led a singalong.
When asked what advice she would give as aspiring gospel singer, Alessi said, ``I think it all starts in the heart -- if they can relax and have fun and sing and not be aware of the people around them. If they're singing for an audience, they might as well get out of it. They're singing for an audience of one [God].''
At the end of the day, the semifinalists were announced. Latasha Nash of Jacksonville and Kayla Brooks of Punta Gorda heard their names announced. But Sunshine Mathews of Palmetto at first didn't realize she would join them in Nashville.
''It was funny because I was talking to my friends, and I looked up, and there was a camera pointed over here,'' Mathews, 27, said. 'I thought, `I bet someone near me was going to make it.' I didn't realize I made it, and I was kind of stunned.''
Mathews, with her long blonde hair and slight southern twang, may not fit the archetype of the gospel star, but that's the point.
Gospel Music Channel, a fledgling network that boasts 40 million subscribers, has used the slogan ''it's all gospel,'' since its inception in 2004.
Though there were plenty of singers who patterned their looks and singing after ''traditional gospel artists'' Smokey Norful, Vickie Winans and Mary Alessi, there were also performers with Mohawks, pink hair, jeans, T-shirts and songs that would be considered Christian or rock rather than traditional gospel.
For the longest time, ''music was kept in a box,'' said Richardson, ``God created music. You may have someone from a different background, but we all worship for him. Meeting everyone gave me the courage to go as far as I can.''
Ron Grant, the judge, has discovered artists such as Usher, Faith, 702 and Brownstone. ''I can tell you if someone can sing in the first four notes,'' he says.
But it's not just the singing that powers Gospel Dreams.
''We allow our contestants to showcase their faith in song,'' said Alvin Williams, the creator of the show. ``You would hear anywhere from inspiration to traditional gospel and anything in between that uplifts and entertains.''
