The readers have spoken! Or, perhaps more accurately, the street teams have spoken!
In our first annual Readers' Choice Christian Music Awards survey, we received 1,088 responses—including a sizeable number from Skillet fans, affectionately known as "Panheads." As a result, Skillet was a runaway winner as Band of the Year, garnering more than three times the votes of Third Day, which finished a distant second.
Skillet's "Savior" was voted Song of the Year, another reflection of the Panheads' ardor. In the Album of the Year category, Skillet fans also heavily voted for the band's last two CDs, Alien Youth and Collide, but alas, neither was eligible. (Alien Youth is more than two years old, while Collide doesn't release until November 18, 2003, too late for our November 2 cutoff.)
Rebecca St. James and Michael W. Smith took the top spots as Best Female Artist and Best Male Artist. No big surprise there. But there was a surprise for the Best Male runner-up, as Jeremy Camp easily topped Steven Curtis Chapman for second place. (We presume Camp's street team got busy too!)
Finally, in the New Artist Category, Seattle rock band Jonah33 took the top spot, with Anberlin finishing a close second.
Meanwhile, congratulations to Danita Bailey of Richmond, Virginia, who won 15 free CDs of her choice, courtesy of Christianbook.com. Her name was drawn from all those who filled out the survey.
Nominees for Album of the Year had to be releases between 10/1/2002 and 11/2/2003. (* Pillar's Fireproof orginally released before 10/1/02, but it was remixed and re-released in 2003 on a new label, making it eligible.)
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