Nashville, TN--Steven Curtis Chapman and Toby McKeehan announced the nominees for the 2004 Dove Awards on Feb. 10 at The Gaylord Entertainment Center, where the 35th Annual Dove Awards ceremony will take place on April 28, 2004.

The Dove Awards celebrates and recognizes the achievements in all genres of gospel music from Contemporary to Bluegrass in 44 categories.

"Gospel music expresses itself in many different ways and we applaud all nominated artists for their unique contributions to the gospel music landscape,” said John W. Styll, president of the Gospel Music Association (GMA), who hosts “Live and Interactive,” an online program presented by webcasting provider Essentialtalk. Styll recently hosted two programs where Third Day and Delirious? gave reviews on upcoming movie The Passion of the Christ.

Chapman, who is signed on with Sparrow Records, received seven nominations during the press conference, including a nomination for “Best Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year,” All About Love. Third Day was nominated in the “Group of the Year” category and will be going on a live tour in April with Toby McKeehan and band tobyMac, who nabbed “Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song of the Year” nomination for “Love Is In The House” from ReMix Momentum.

Styll said, “Steven Curtis Chapman, CeCe and Third Day continue to elevate their artistry, making them perennial Dove favorites.”

CeCe Winans earned a total of five Dove nominations, one of which was “Female Vocalist of the Year.”

The “Songwriter of the year” category was not announced along with other Dove nominations. The nominees of the category and the winner will be announced during the Dove Awards. Last year’s winner was Nicole Nordeman.

The year 2003 has represented a trend of Christian artists who have been able to cross the boundaries of Christian markets into mainstream.

“It is so great to see artists like Switchfoot and Stacie Orrico, while certainly not new to the gospel music community, have the breakout success they have experienced this year. They are all deserving of the recognition these awards are meant to show,” said Styll.

Recordings considered for the 35th Annual Dove Award nominations happened between November 1, 2002 and October 31, 2003 and are voted on by the 4,500-member GMA.

In the major categories the nominees were:

Song of the Year

* "All About Love"; Steven Curtis Chapman

* "Child of Mine"; Mark Schultz, Chris Eaton

* "Everything to Me"; Chad Cates, Sue Smith

* "Great Light of the World"; Bebo Norman

* "He Reigns"; Peter Furler, Steve Taylor

* "If We Are The Body"; Mark Hall

* "Lord Have Mercy"; Steve Merkel

* "Meant to Live"; Jonathan Foreman, Tim Foreman

* "Three Wooden Crosses"; Doug Johnson, Kim Williams

* "Word of God Speak"; Pete Kipley, Bart Millard

Male Vocalist of the Year

* Bart Millard

* David Phelps

* Jeremy Camp

* Mark Schultz

* Steven Curtis Chapman

Female Vocalist of the Year

* CeCe Winans

* Joy Williams

* Nichole Nordeman

* Rebecca St. James

* Stacie Orrico

Group of the Year

* Jars of Clay

* MercyMe

* Newsboys

* Switchfoot

* Third Day

Artist of the Year

* MercyMe

* Michael W. Smith

* Randy Travis

* Stacie Orrico

* Switchfoot

New Artist of the Year

* Across the Sky

* Casting Crowns

* Jeremy Camp

* Kristy Starling

* Todd Agnew

For a complete list of nominees visit www.doveawards.com.