Dove Award Nominations Announced

TobyMac, Chris Tomlin, Jason Crabb and Francesca Battistelli Lead Artist Nominations

Artist of the Year Nominees are Francesca Battistelli, Jason Crabb, Natalie Grant, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Marvin Sapp, TobyMac and Chris Tomlin

New Artist of the Year Nominees are Audrey Assad, Chris August, Forever Jones, John Mark McMillan, Kerrie Roberts and Kristian Stanfill

Producer/Songwriter Wayne Haun leads all nominations with seven

Artist of the Year and New Artist of the Year will again be voted on by the fans

GMC to produce and broadcast awards show

www.gospelmusic.org

 The Gospel Music Association (GMA) announced today from the Grand Salon of the historic Fox Theatre in Atlanta that TobyMac and Chris Tomlin lead the diverse group of artist nominees with six nominations each, while Jason Crabb nabs five, and Francesca Battistelli pulls in four nods from the 42^nd Annual GMA Dove Awards. This is the first time the awards have been held outside of Memphis or Nashville.  The awards show will take place on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia at 8:00 p.m. EST.  The awards will be broadcast on GMC, America's favorite network for uplifting music and entertainment, on Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

In addition to the Artist and New Artist of the Year nominees; Song of the Year, Album of the Year in each category and Short Video of the Year nominees were announced live, as well as the following:

Male Vocalist of the Year:

Chris August

Doug Anderson

Jason Crabb

Brandon Heath

Israel Houghton

Marvin Sapp

Chris Tomlin

Female Vocalist of the Year:

Audrey Assad

Francesca Battiselli

Natalie Grant

Britt Nicole

Janet Paschal

Kerrie Roberts

Laura Story

Group of the Year:

Ernie Haase & Signature Sound

Gaither Vocal Band

Mercy Me

Mikes Chair

Sidewalk Prophets

Tenth Avenue North