The 2015 Dove Award Nominations: Song and Artist of The Year

We conclude our Dove Prediction posts with the predictions for Artist of The Year, New Artist of The Year, and Song of The Year. We will also briefly comment on the Video Awards.

Song and Album of The Year are typically category busters. Now the 2013 Dove Awards had 21 Song of The Year Nominees, which was a joke. There are 10 this year. Since #PlatVnyl5 had 9 nominees for Song of The Year, this is not excessive. The nominees were as follows:

• Overwhelmed, Big Daddy Weave
• Thrive, Casting Crowns
• Come As You Are, Crowder
• Hope In Front of Me, Danny Gokey
• How Can It Be, Lauren Daigle
• He Knows My Name, Francesca Battistelli
• Greater,  Mercy Me
• Multiplied, Needtobreathe
• We Believe, Newsboys
• This Is Amazing Grace, Phil Wickham

Except for Big Daddy Weave, they appear to be of #PlatVnyl5 vintage. With the exception that Lauren Daigle was a nominee for AC/Insp Song, none of them were among my nine. We think different here at The Night Beat. I'm going to go with How Can It Be by Lauren Daigle for the win. I think it will be Casting Crowns for the industry.

The Doves for 2015 have Artist of The Year, New Artist of The Year, Southern Gospel Artist of The Year, Gospel Artist of The Year, and Contemporary Christian Artist of The Year. We just have the first two. New Artist nominees were About A Mile, Danny Gokey, I Am They, Lauren Daigle and NF. I really liked Daigle's powerful voice, and I was impressed by About A Mile, so I'll predict one of the two.

Artist of The Year nominees were For King And Country, Francesca Battistelli, Kari Jobe, Lecrae, and Mercy Me. Kari Jobe was the only one on my list. I think it will either be her or Francesca.

One last prediction. Video, or in Dovespeak, Short Form Video. The nominees were: You Can't Stop Me by Andy Mineo; Take This City by Everfound; Shoulders by For King and Country; Dreams by Kings Kaleidoscope; and Wake Up by NF. Two rap, two pop and one alternative. I'm treating this as Video of The Year. I had none of the nominees and the King's Kaleidoscope video is of #PlatVnyl6 vintage. I'll pick them nonetheless. The Platinum Vinyl Awards have 14 Video Categories, allowing for as many as 70 nominees. It allows for much more variety.

That does it folks. The Dove Awards will take place in Nashville on October 13. While I won't be there in person, I will keep tabs and either eat crow or gloat at my prognostication skills. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.