If you haven’t checked the schedule already to find your local television market, be sure to look at the list of currently scheduled air times and dates for the 38th Annual Dove Awards - airing around the country until June 17th!

Chris said that he knows at the end of the day that none of these awards will impress God… it’s about how he treated people and lived his life and keeping the favor of God with him. He says that these songs aren’t “stepping stones” as someone from a radio station asked him, but he just wants to continue to write songs to give people a voice to worship God.

I just noticed that his publicist who was accompanying him into the press room had some boxes that looked like CD cases boxes (the kind that hold 30 cds). I didn’t know what was in them until Chris put the two Dove statuettes that he was holding into a box… they were two boxes full of Dove Awards! He pretty much cleaned up tonight, winning a total of SIX Doves Awards!

Mark Hall and Casting Crowns are backstage…. one note - he predicts Leeland’s song, “Tears of the Saints” to be the Song of the Year next year.

Okay, in case you’re wondering about a category I missed… here is a complete listing of who won all of the awards tonight:

http://www.doveawards.com/categories/

This summer he’s working on the follow-up CD to “Welcome Home.” He’s currently on the “Glory Revealed” tour with Mac Powell right now. The song he sang earlier with SCC and Mark Hall was called “By His Wounds.” This summer they are releasing a new Backstreet Boys CD. He received a Presidental Volunteers Award yesterday from MWS for the “Brian Littrell Healthy Hearts Club for kids.” He was born with a congenital heart problem, so when he was 23 years old, he underwent open heart surgery. The club gets kids out from in front of the TV and gets them dancing (BSB moves), teaches them about healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. The surgical assistance program helps families that have to uproot their lives to travel across country to get heart surgery, and was founded in 1999.

Zach is a 14-year-old author and modern day abolitionist. He spoke during the show about “The Amazing Change” and the “Amazing Grace” movie about William Wilberforce. His book is called Be The Change.

I was right about Female Vocalist of the Year. Natalie Grant shared that she cannot imagine life without her babies, but she does remember life before her babies… and it was a good life… but she’d never trade this life now for anything.

Leeland is here now… they were nominated for 4 Dove Awards, but I don’t think they won ANY of them. :-\ They are going on a fall tour, starting Sept. 27th. They said they had an awesome GMA this year. Last year they were pretty unknown and didn’t have a record out yet. They said they spent most of last year’s GMA in bed, but this year they really enjoyed it.

I’m still bummed they didn’t win anything.

MWS & Brenda Lee are backstage now… there has to be at least 18 inches, if not more, of a height difference between them. She BARELY reaches his shoulder.

Record #20 will be a Christmas album recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and a Boy’s Choir. He’s REALLY excited about that opportunity.

He thinks there is another movie in the future for him, but he can’t say anything more. He talked about Seabourne Pictures and a new movie he’s helped with (produced?) called Kabel24 (sp?).

Ian Eskelin is backstage and he says it took him 10 years to win a “klingon weapon” and now all the press wants to talk about is All Star United!  Love & Radiation releases May 29th. Ian won the Dove for Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year     •    “Me And Jesus”; We Can’t Stand Sitting Down; Stellar Kart; Adam Agee, Ian Eskelin; Word Records

(Did I already report on that song winning?)

Michael W. Smith and Brenda Lee are on the main stage right now and he acted insulted that she didn’t invite him to sing on her Duets album. But then she said that he didn’t call her to sing on “Friends” either.

Artist of The Year: Chris Tomlin

Aaron Shust just entered the pressroom. He told us that his mom gave him a turkey baster to sing into when he was three years old, practicing his songs for church while she played the piano accompaniment. His new album coming out is called “Whispered and Shouted” because those are the ways that God sometimes speaks to us. He worked with the same producers on this album as the last album.

Will what happened tonight, change you? He says it boosted his confidence a little and if it changes him, he hopes it’s for the positive. Today and tomorrow he will be a sinner, saved by amazing grace, he says. Funny sidenotes he mentioned as walking off stage: his favorite color is blue and he likes the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Crabb Family is performing on the main stage now.

New Artist of the Year • Aaron Shust

aghh…. that means Leeland didn’t win.

Nicole C. Mullen is backstage now, and I know the outward appearance doesn’t (shouldn’t) count, but she is always so fashionable, and with her arm muscles I think she could take out most guys in the room. Speaking of, someone just asked her about her new clothing line “i-613″ (Isaiah 6:13) and she told us about these jeans that they’ve created which have a removable cuff at the bottom so that you can change them out in just a few minutes and have a whole new outfit. She takes 8 kids on the road with her now, including her daughter who is 14 years old now and homeschooled. The kids dance on stage, but they are also schooled and trained in the Bible, which Nicole says is her main goal and calling.

Chris Tomlin is now on the live stage with Christy Nockels and someone else (we didn’t see who) singing his version of “Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone).” It looks like Christy is pregnant again.