The CBS series "Touched by an Angel" has proven spirituality can earn big ratings, and now contemporary Christian music wants to show it appeals to a wide audience.
With superstar Whitney Houston performing, the industry will be on display Thursday for a national television audience during the 29th Annual Dove Awards. "It's our mission to take it to a broader audience," said Frank Breeden, president of the Gospel Music Association. "We show our best and in typical American style, it's an awards show. It's a place for you to take a sample of something that you may not normally know anything about."John Tesh, former host of "Entertainment Tonight," will be co-host with country singer Naomi Judd. To support the notion of the music's new popularity, Tesh cited the listening habits of his 16-year-old son, starting with Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, then the Christian band Jars of Clay.
"It's really starting to spread that way," said Tesh, who recently struck a deal to have his instrumental albums sold in Christian bookstores.
The Dove Awards will be broadcast live from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. MDT on The Nashville Network. Votes come from the association's 6,000 members. (There will also be an hourlong "preshow" program starting at 6 p.m.)
Forty-one categories include Rap-Hip Hop Album, Spanish Language Album and Bluegrass Recorded Song. Steven Curtis Chapman is most nominated - up for awards in seven categories, including best artist, song writer and male vocalist.
Producers are thrilled that Houston has agreed to perform "I Go To The Rock" from her best-selling gospel album. The song, from the soundtrack of her movie "The Preacher's Wife," is nominated in the Traditional Gospel Recorded Song category. Houston boycotted the Grammys this year because her album was nominated for R&B, not gospel.
Tesh will perform on the piano with vocalist James Ingram. Other performers include Chapman, Jars of Clay, Bob Carlisle, Michael W. Smith and God's Property with Kirk Franklin.
The industry is trumpeting 32 percent growth in sales from 1996 to 1997. But that figure is questionable because it includes four million in sales of country singer LeAnn Rimes' "You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs."
Still, there is evidence that Christian music is growing. Invading the mainstream, rock groups Jars of Clay and dc Talk have sold millions of albums in recent years. Carlisle had a smash last year with his song about his daughter, "Butterfly Kisses."
"There are over 300,000 churches in America," said GMA head Breeden. "Over 60 million people claim to be born again. Obviously, there are some people out there who want what we're doing."
Breeden cited the signs of popularity. Wal-Mart, the nation's biggest music retailer, devotes more than 20 percent of its music-selling space to Christian music, he said. In addition, demographic research, he said, shows that baby boomers are more conservative now than when they were ad-o-les-cents.
"When they purchase music, not only are they purchasing it for themselves, but they are becoming accepters for music they want their kids to listen to," Breeden noted. "So, all of the signs we're getting are that the society and the culture are much more tolerant of religious subject matter."
In 1997, gospel music represented 4.5 percent of the $12.2 billion in U.S. music sales, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. That puts it ahead of jazz and classical, each with 2.8 percent. Rock is the best seller with 32.5 percent, and rap tallied 10.1 percent.
"We're in a time where, with `Touched by an Angel' so popular, and so much other talk about spirituality, those artists are finally getting their due," Tesh said. Popular bands like Jars of Clay and songs of Clay "really get the main-streamers to say, `Oh, OK, maybe it is OK to say I trust in God, or I thank Jesus for my little girl.' "