GospelThe host for the BET Awards is comedian and actor Chris Rock. The award show will air live from Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Sunday, June 29 at 8pm EST.

The 2014 gospel nominations have been announced for the annual BET Awards, and with such a great year for gospel music, choosing a winner will be a tough call.

Whoever walks away with the statue, it will be a collective victory for the genre in light of reports that BET has chosen to axe its annual “Celebration of Gospel,” further limiting the exposure of the niche genre.

This year, despite the downside of losing one of the flagship faith-based programs on one of the few networks representing the African-American community, gospel fans are excited and all abuzz over this year’s nominees in the “Best Gospel Artist” category.

Donnie McClurkin, Erica Campbell, Hezekiah Walker, Tamela Mann and Tye Tribbett have all received nods.

“This year’s nominees represent the best of the culture,” says Stephen Hill, BET’s President of Music Programming and Specials via a press release.

Full story: http://buzz.eewmagazine.com/eew-magazine-buzz-blog/2014/5/15/bet-awards-2014-best-gospel-artist-nominations-revealed.html