At some point in 2011, my Top 10 kinda went offline because my laptop crashed and took the Top 10 with it. After that, it was pretty much to my iTunes to determine what songs should go to #1. Having said all that, this is my personal Top 10 for the year 2011, divided into Christian and Secular (Top 40). Just sharing. (^^,) CHRISTIAN TOP 10 1. Stronger. Mandisa 2. Good Morning. Mandisa 3. Suitcases. Dara MacLean 4. Make a Move. Royal Tailor 5....

Here’s the truth: I will probably never stop singing the praises of God, Jesus, and Matthew West, in that order. LOL The American singer-songwriter, who is responsible for some of recent Contemporary Christian music’s most outstanding songs, including the recent #1 Courageous by Casting Crowns and his own #1 hits You Are Everything and The Motions, has released The Heart of Christmas, off his full-length Christmas CD of the same...

There is a reason why Matthew West is my favorite Contemporary Christian songwriter of all time: he knows how to tell a story, he knows how to build a beautiful melody around his words, and almost every song he makes is a musical masterpiece. His latest single, One Last Christmas, is the story of Dax Locke, a little boy was was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia at thirteen months. The song tells the story of how his parents, determined to...

For the record, my favorite Contemporary Christian singer/songwriter is Matthew West. I’ve followed his music ever since More came out in 2003, off his spectacular major-label debut CD, Happy; I love him so much that he has his own category on my website (the only other singer who has that? His labelmate Mandisa). The two albums that followed, History and Something To Say, just upped the ante for Matthew; each CD was clearly better than...

As a Filipino-Christian songwriter, it is only natural that I am bound to have influences when it comes to my songwriting. There are many, many amazing Christian songwriters out there, including Casting Crowns’ Mark Hall, MercyMe’s Bart Billard, Aaron Shust, Nichole Nordeman, Nicole C. Mullen, Rich Mullins, and the incomparable Bill and Gloria Gaither. I started listening to Christian music in 1990 – even though I only really...

Billboard.com has released its 2009 Year-Ender charts (okay, they did it the first week of December, but I didn’t have time to check it out until today). According to the chart, The Motions by Matthew West is the top Christian song of 2009, according to Billboard.com, and rightly so. The Motions spent more than a month at at #1, and changed thousands of lives with its encouraging message. Here are the Top 10 Christian songs of 2009: 1. The...