POST NQC 2009 #2 (#459)

More armchair quarterbacking.

I opened up my e-mail earlier today to find a couple of inquiries as to why we changed the Fan Awards from Thursday to Saturday two years ago. That's simple: We didn't.

    The NQC, as it was looking at ways to enhance the event, wanted to see if moving the awards to Saturday would be of any benefit. Thus, the program slid over to Saturday, where it remained for 2009.

    People sometimes forget that Singing News and the NQC are not joined at the hip. We're guests of the convention just like the performers.

    I've often personally debated (with me, myself and I) the merits of the awards on Thursday vs. the program being held on Saturday. And, truthfully, it can be argued either way. For example, I like the fact that the awards are (at least symbolically) the crowning cap to the week's events, but I realize that having a Thursday awards show can give the artists and fans time to share in their successes. But there are so many other factors that the NQC must consider, so they do what they feel is in their best interest. Thus, we forge ahead.

    Wednesday through Saturday, the exhibit hall opened at 3 p.m., instead of the traditional 4 o'clock start. That's a good move. What's bad is that many exhibitors first heard about that change when they looked up and saw a herd of people coming through the doors at 180 minutes past noon. That's bad. Certainly a problem that was easy to overcome, but it was chaotic catch-up for about a half hour.

    Since I was only in the auditorium for about 15 minutes outside of the Fan Awards, I'm not in a position to comment on many of the things that are being discussed throughout the remainder of the Southern Gospel media. For example, the sound. I will heartily admit, though, that I was thrilled that we got through the awards relatively unscathed—Harold Reed's microphone was apparently not on during the early part of the Kingsmen's Top Ten song performance. It had to be frustrating for Harold, but hey, he's a pro, so he just turned the mic over, turned it on, and kept singing.

Bullet points:   

No one could argue that the NQC was lacking for singing. Everywhere I turned, there was some type of showcase going on, many of them designed to give rising artists an opportunity to be heard. It will be interesting to see if a "star of tomorrow" was found taking part in one of these 2009 events. If you heard such a group, drop me a note at danny.jones@singingnews.com.

    A quartet from Brazil participated in this year's talent contest. The reason I mention that is because Southern Gospel is reaching further out and more people than ever before are hearing this music. Most importantly, however, is that more people are hearing the message. In my most recent post, that we will be held accountable for what God has entrusted us with, so let us remember that Southern Gospel is not just what we perceive it to be just in our little corner of the world.