Tony LeBron, a 32-year-old dual-language worship leader from Boca Raton, FL was crowned the winner of season four the American Idol-style talent search TV series Gospel Dream last night on the Gospel Music Channel television network

LeBron was chosen over Robert Mauti, 26 of Nashville, TN, and NeVar Massey, 34 from Hampton, GA in the dramatic season finale.

The theme for the Gospel Dreams fourth season has been The Greatest Inspirational Songs of All Time and the contestants delivered both classics as well as mainstream hits. Massey sang Stevie Wonders Higher Ground and How Great Is Our God. Mauti performed Give Me Jesus and the classic Ill Take You There. But it was LeBrons stunning, dual language performances of Bruce Hornsbys The Way It Is and I Surrender All that catapulted him to the crown.

LeBron, born in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, auditioned for Gospel Dream in Orlando and lives in Boca Raton where he is the Worship Leader and Director of the Young Adults Group at the Boca Raton Community Church. Fluent in both Spanish and English, Tonys seemingly effortless transitions between both languages within the same songs this season helped drive him to the top of the competition.

The judges who picked the winner were Michelle Williams from the GRAMMY- winning group Destinys Child; one of Gospel musics most prolific talents, J. Moss; and one of the music industry’s most respected executives, Mitchell Solarek. American Idol alumnae Kimberley Locke co-hosted the show along with Mike Kasem (MTVs Top 20 Video Countdown American Top 10).

The semi-finals and finale will be seen again on GMC back-to-back this Saturday night, August 1 at 9:00 and 10:00 pm. Respectively. The finale will encore Sunday, August 2 (8:00 & 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m.) GMC will present a Gospel Dream Season Four Marathon on Saturday, August 8 beginning at 8:00 am and again at 8:00 p.m. All times Eastern.

Gospel Dream invited solo artists between the ages of 16-40 years of age, from all genres of Gospel/Christian music styles, including traditional, rock, pop, country and soul to compete for the final competition in Nashville from which ten finalists– and ultimately one winner–will be chosen by a celebrity panel of industry professionals. The winning artist will receive record and music video exposure, among other prizes.

ATLANTALast night’s Season Four premiere of Gospel Music Channels (GMC) American Idol-style talent search series Gospel Dream had a little bit of everything: rousing performance highs, disappointing performance lows; tears of joy, tears of sorrow; judges praise, judges criticism; contestants moving on, contestants going home; drama, comedy and much more. (Viewers can catch special encores of the season premiere episode Sat. June 27 (8:00 P.M., 1:00 A.M.) and Sunday, June 28 (8:00 P.M., 11:00 P.M.) on GMC. All times eastern.

The judges deciding the fate of the contestants are: Michelle Williams from the GRAMMY- winning group Destinys Child; One of Gospel musics most prolific talents, J. Moss; and one of the music industry’s most respected executives, Mitchell Solarek. Kimberley Locke, the first American Idol alumnae to debut at #1 on the Billboard charts with a non-Idol single, serves as co-host along with Mike Kasem (MTVs Top 20 Video Countdown American Top 10). In addition, two major musical artists will serve as surprise coaches during the season. The theme for the Gospel Dreams fourth season: The Greatest Inspirational Songs of All Time.

Twenty-six people were sent home last night with the judges selecting these contestants as the Top Ten Finalists:

CeCe Winans Bio Image

Priscilla Winans Love (born on October 8, 1964) and known professionally as CeCe Winans, is an American Gospel singer and winner of numerous Grammy Awards and Stellar Awards.

Early life

CeCe Winans was born in Detroit, Michigan to David and Delores (”Mom” and “Pop”) Winans. She’s the eighth of ten children, and the oldest of three girls.

BeBe & CeCe

Around time that Winans had been accepted to college, the television show “The PTL Club” (now known as “Praise the Lord”) took interest in her and her brother Benjamin (BeBe) as potential background vocalists for the show. They were accepted after going to North Carolina to audition. BeBe and CeCe moved to the PTL campus in North Carolina, and were on the show for about five years. It was during this time that CeCe met her husband, Alvin Love, Jr. who was also from Detroit. During their time on The PTL Club, BeBe & CeCe recorded Lord Lift Us Up on PTL’s label following popular demand on the show. The success yielded another effort, “Feels Like Heaven (With You)”. Eventually the success warranted another effort: a full length album.

BeBe and CeCe left PTL to pursue their singing career and recorded four more albums including Heaven, Different Lifestyles, First Christmas, and Relationships. In 1995, BeBe and CeCe split up to pursue solo careers and other interests. However CeCe Winans’ official website indicates that the two will release a reunion album in 2008. BeBe & CeCe performed their classic song “Hold Up The Light” with one of CeCe’s former background vocalists, Melinda Doolittle, on the 2007 American Idol finale. Winans co-hosted the 2008 Stellar Awards alongside Kirk Franklin and Byron Cage in January 2008.

Solo career

CeCe began her solo career with the Gold certified album Alone in His Presence. It was released in 1995 and earned her a Grammy Award and 2 Dove Awards including the Female Vocalist of the Year, an award she earned again in 1997. Winans’ next release, Everlasting Love was released in 1998. The song “On That Day” from the album was written and produced by R&B singer Lauryn Hill. Later that year, Winans released His Gift a holiday album.

In 1999, Winans started her own recording company, “PureSprings Gospel”. Her first album on the label was Alabaster Box in 1999. Some production of the disc was done by Gospel singer and musician, Fred Hammond. It included a guest appearance by Take 6. In 2000 Cece released a concert VHS titled Live At The Lambs Theater in New York. The concert contained songs from her previous albums. Winans released her next album, the self titled CeCe Winans, in 2001. The single “Anybody Wanna Pray” included a guest appearance by GRITS. The second single, “Say A Prayer” crossed over into the CCM market.

Winans took a two year break from releasing albums and returned in 2003 with Throne Room. The first 1,000 copies were issued with a bonus CD that contained exclusive interviews with the artist, the making of the CD, some touring footage, and the music video “More Than What I Wanted” (which came from the 2001 release). In 2004, the 25 city tour Throne Room featured free admission and was followed with a DVD release of the concert recorded in Tennessee near CeCe’s place of residence. Live In the Throne Room contained tracks from all of Winans’ albums. Around September 2004, Winans experienced what she thought was a flu but turned out to be a serious stomach infection and was hospitalized immediately for surgery. Due to the extended recovery time, the second half of the Throne Room Tour was postponed to early 2005.

Winans’ 7th album Purified was released in 2005. Producers on board for the project were longtime BeBe & CeCe collaborator Keith Thomas, and CeCe’s nephew Mario Winans. Winans’ son Alvin III also co-writes several songs on the album and younger sisters Angie and Debbie Winans make an appearance as well.

CeCe’s collection of Top Ten R&B radio hits include “Count on Me”, her duet with Whitney Houston, from the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. The single was certified Gold in the U.S. and reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #8 on the Billboard R&B Singles charts. She has also released her 8th Album Thy Kingdom Come on April 1st, to feature the single “Waging War.” The first single released from the album “Thy Will Be Done,” was released digitally on iTunes on April 1, 2008