NASHVILLE — Chris Tomlin nabbed five trophies and worship music won big Wednesday night at the 37th Annual GMA Music Awards, gospel and Christian music's version of the Grammys.

Hosted by gospel superstar Kirk Franklin and pop/rock singer Rebecca St. James, the ceremony celebrated the biggest artists, albums and songs in 42 categories, from pop and contemporary gospel to musicals and children's albums.

In what was nearly a clean sweep, worship leader Tomlin took five awards, including the night's biggest, for Artist of the Year. He also won awards for Male Vocalist of the Year, Song of the Year ("How Great Is Our God"), Worship Song of the Year ("How Great Is Our God"), and for Special Event Album (the multi-artist compilation, Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe).

Kirk Franklin and Rebecca St. James hosted the show

"We just want to be the moon, and the moon has no light of itself, but it reflects the light of the sun on the earth," Tomlin said. "We have no light of our own; our light comes from God. … Hopefully we're bringing songs that are bigger than just an industry."

In other major categories, Natalie Grant won Female Vocalist of the Year, Casting Crowns won Group of the Year, The Afters won Best New Artist, and Ed Cash won Producer of the Year.

David Crowder Band picked up three awards, for Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year ("Here Is Our King"), for Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year (A Collision), and for the Narnia compilation.

And veteran Steven Curtis Chapman picked up his 50th—yes, that's fiftieth—GMA award in his storied career, for his role on the Narnia compilation.

"I'm really speechless this time," said Chapman, making a sly reference to his 1999 album.

Chapman has long held the record for the artist with the most statuettes, a milestone celebrated by a video retrospective of Chapman's career.

Mac Powell, David Crowder, Mark Hall and Jeremy Camp sang a medley of Chapman's tunes in honor of his 50th GMA Award

The video was capped off by a live acoustic performance by Mark Hall of Casting Crowns, Mac Powell of Third Day, David Crowder, and Jeremy Camp. The singers traded off vocals and verses of some of Chapman's most notable songs, including "For the Sake of the Call," "I Will Be Here," "Magnificent Obsession," and "Dive."

Tomlin, who was once told by a high school instructor that he wasn't good enough for a singing group, said, "I never felt like a great singer, but if God can use it to lead people to worship him, that's all that matters."

Tomlin actually had three entries in the running for Song of the Year, and all went up against monster hits by Third Day, Natalie Grant and Casting Crowns. But "How Great Is Our God" came out the winner.

Still, Tomlin did not win the coveted Songwriter of the Year statuette; the honor went to songwriter Christa Wells, who wrote Grant's multi-format hit, "Held."

"I had no clue the impact the song was going to have," said Wells. "I'm overwhelmed by the support."

After winning Female Vocalist of the Year, a visibly moved Grant said, "This is insane. [God] didn't call me to be famous. He didn't call me to have great notoriety. . . . He called me to be faithful."

Bart Millard of MercyMe and Amy Grant tied in the Inspirational Album categories for Hymned and Rock of Ages … Hymns & Faith, respectively.

"Bart couldn't be here because of the birth of his third baby and the opening week of Major League Baseball," quipped Millard's band mate Mike Scheuchzer, who accepted the award on his behalf.

Though producer extraordinaire Brown Bannister won production awards for both Millard and Grant's discs, Cash won for Producer of the Year.

"God has really taken my heart towards worship," said Cash, who also received awards for his work on the Narnia compilation and Tomlin's "How Great Is Our God." "I love working with worship music. At first I was not too interested in it, but now I love it."

Switchfoot, a no-show at last year's ceremony, was there to accept their lone award for Short Form Music Video for the song "Stars." They were also up for Artist of the Year, as well as for Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song and Rock/Contemporary Album, both of which David Crowder Band snatched from their hands.

CCM legends Michael Sweet (of Stryper), Andrae Crouch and Bryan Duncan teamed up to make one of the awards presentations

In the gospel categories, Franklin reigned supreme, scooping up songwriting, performing, and production awards for his album Hero and song "Looking for You."

The legendary Blind Boys of Alabama bagged a trophy for Traditional Gospel Album for their latest, Atom Bomb.

"I don't know what to say 'cause I didn't even know I was nominated," said the Boys' Jimmy Carter. "We've been together for six decades but we're still going strong. We're going to continue until God says it's enough."

Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell and American Idol victor Carrie Underwood both won their first Doves. Littrell garnered a statuette in the Inspirational Recorded Song category for his cover of Michael English's '90s hit "In Christ Alone," while Underwood triumphed in the Country Recorded Song field for her crossover hit, "Jesus Take the Wheel."

Underwood wasn't present at the ceremony, but Littrell was.

"God has done nothing but multiply my audiences," he said. "He's giving me an amazing platform. I grew up singing in church, singing gospel music… . I've been blessed beyond measure, like the song says."

KJ-52, who won for Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year (Behind the Musik), had a few words about the state of the art.

"[Hip-hop] is not just niche music anymore," he said. "It's pop music. I think a lot of the CCM industry is shifting towards rock. Hip-hop and urban music gets kind of looked over. I'm not going to put the blame on the industry. Artists need to start to make a difference."

Other award winners included The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir for Choral Collection, DJ Andy Hunter for Instrumental Album, and R&B/gospel duo Mary Mary for Contemporary Gospel Album.

For a complete list of winners, visit http://www.gmamusicawards.com.

As for the performances during the show itself, in what seemed like a match made in heaven, gospel powerhouse Israel & New Breed joined hands with worship vocalist Martha Munizzi to open the show with a rousing medley of their respective smashes, "Friend of God" and "Glorious."

The hosts also performed.

Franklin was erratic as master of ceremonies but held his own directing his talented singers through a soundtrack-backed version of his disco-fied "Looking for You."

St. James (second from left) and BarlowGirl sang a gentle version of 'Forgive Me'

St. James, on the other hand, delivered a gentle version of "Forgive Me," accompanied by sister trio BarlowGirl and a small string ensemble.

Other performers included Grant, rock bands Third Day and Kutless, southern gospel quartet Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, and country group Sawyer Brown.

The show also included some interesting artist pairings to hand out Doves, including RiZen with Matthew West, GRITS with The Crabb Family, Building 429 with Cindy Morgan, illusionist Brock Gill with gospel veteran Shirley Caesar, and the trio of Andrae Crouch, Bryan Duncan and Michael Sweet, among others.

The 37th Annual GMA Music Awards will be televised through national syndication between April 15 and May 21. Check local listings for details, or visit www.gmamusicawards.com for an up-to-date list of broadcast dates and stations.

© Andree Farias, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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