The 2012 Soul Train Awards will chug to Las Vegas on November 8, and will premiere on BET and Centric on November 25. Hosted by Cedric the Entertainer, an original King of Comedy, the show will feature live performances by some of the best entertainers in the jazz, R&B, hip-hop and gospel genres. Also, this year’s show will revive the Lifetime Achievement Award, which is to be awarded to New Edition.

With two nominations for Album of the Year (“Write Me Back”) and The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award (“Share My Love”), R. Kelly is the most nominated artist in Soul Train history, with a career total of 21 nominations. On the night of the awards, however, all eyes will be on Usher, who is nominated for five awards. These include Song of the Year (“Climax”), Album of the Year (“Looking For Myself”), The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award (“Climax”), Best Dance Performance (“Scream”) and Best R&B/Soul Male Artist. Leading the females in nominations is British songbird Estelle who is up for three awards—Song of the Year (“Thank You”), The Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award (“Thank You”) and Best R&B/Soul Female Artist. Both Whitney Houston and Amy Winehouse garnered posthumous nominations for Best Gospel/Inspirational Performance (“Celebrate” featuring Jordin Sparks) and Best International Performance (“Our Day Will Come”), respectively.

Launched in 1987, the Soul Train Awards honored the best in urban music of the previous year. A spin-off of Soul Train, which was created by Don Cornelius in 1970, the award show was considered by many to be black music’s equivalent of the Grammy awards. The Grammys did not always acknowledge the talent of African Americans, due in part to the under representation in the voting academy itself. The Soul Train Awards filled a void for many years. In recent years, however, it appears that interest in the award show has waned, with more accomplished celebrities who have attained worldwide success and have many Grammy awards under their belts.

Indeed, winning a Grammy gives a career boost as far as performance and production fees are concerned. However, is it necessary for these artists to shun the award show that presented a platform for their talents to be recognized and appreciated, simply because the Grammys have finally taken notice of them? Of course not, but it seems that is exactly what has happened. Hopefully this year’s show will see a return of some of the industry’s biggest names.

To see a full list of nominees, log onto centrictv.com.

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Santa Monica, U.S.A. – TV Land is giving one of the original “Kings of Comedy” his own sitcom! Laugh-out-loud comedians Cedric “The Entertainer” and Niecy Nash star in the network’s newest original series, “The Soul Man” (formerly known as “Have Faith”), which begins production this week for a total of 12 episodes.

It was announced on April 28, by Keith Cox, executive vice president, development and original programming, TV Land. “The Soul Man” premieres Wednesday, June 20 at 10pm ET/PT, immediately followed by the season two premiere of TV Land’s hit sitcom, “ The Exes,” which stars Donald Faison (“Scrubs”), Wayne Knight (“Seinfeld”), David Alan Basche (“The Starter Wife”), Kelly Stables (“Two and a Half Men”) and Kristen Johnston (“3rd Rock From The Sun”).

“The Soul Man” revolves around R&B superstar-turned-minister Reverend Boyce “The Voice” Ballentine (played by Cedric) who was living the high life in Las Vegas at the top of the music charts (see the video for his 80′s hit, “Sex Wichoo” here) when he gets the calling to go from soul singer to soul saver.

Relocating to St. Louis with his wife, Lolli (Nash) and his daughter, Lyric (Jazz Raycole) to take over  the preaching duties in his father’s church - his family is not exactly eager to give up the fabulous superstar life for a humble one. The Reverend Boyce character originally appeared in a season two episode of “Hot in Cleveland” and a spinoff was developed by Cedric and “Hot in Cleveland” creator Suzanne Martin.

The comedy also stars John Beasley (“Everwood”) as Boyce’s father, Barton; Wesley Jonathan (“What I Like About You”) as his brother, Stamps; and Raycole (“My Wife and Kids”) as his daughter.

“We are beyond thrilled to have Cedric, Niecy and the whole cast become part of the ever-growing TV Land family,” said Cox. “We know that Cedric and Niecy’s chemistry coupled with a top-notch comedic cast will definitely make this sitcom pop.”

Cedric and Martin will serve as executive producers for “The Soul Man,” along with Eric Rhone and Emmy Award-winner Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner of Hazy Mills Productions, who also executive produce “Hot in Cleveland.” Keith Cox and Larry W. Jones will be executive producers for TV Land. Phoef Sutton (“Cheers”) is the showrunner and Stan Lathan (“The Steve Harvey Show”) serves as the director. The series is filmed in front of a live studio audience.

Please log onto www.tvlandpress.com for up-to-the-minute information, press releases and photos.

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TV Land has picked up its fifth original sitcom, “Have Faith,” starring Cedric “The Entertainer,” it was announced at the TCA Winter Press Tour by Larry W. Jones, president of TV Land. The network has ordered 12 episodes for the first season, which is set to premiere in June of this year.

The sitcom, which was created by Cedric and “Hot in Cleveland” creator Suzanne Martin, revolves around Cedric’s character, Reverend Boyce “The Voice” Ballentine, an R&B superstar-turned-minister who takes over as preacher of his father’s church. Niecy Nash (“Reno 911″) also stars as the reverend’s wife, Lolli.

The pilot features John Beasley (“Everwood”) as his father, Wesley Jonathan (“What I Like About You”) as his younger brother, and Jazz Raycole (“My Wife and Kids”) as his daughter. The character of Reverend Boyce originated on a second season episode of “Hot in Cleveland” in which Cedric guest-starred.

“The show that Cedric and Suzanne have created is a fantastic family sitcom that you just don’t see as much on TV today,” said Jones. “That’s just one of the reasons we’re so thrilled to welcome him to the TV Land family. From the moment he appeared on ‘Hot in Cleveland,’ we knew we wanted to work with him in a greater capacity.”

“Hot in Cleveland,” TV Land’s first original sitcom starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White has also been greenlit by the network for a 24-episode fourth season.  A syndication deal was recently reached for “Hot in Cleveland,” giving CBS Television Distribution the domestic distribution rights for the series. This season pickup would bring “Hot in Cleveland” to 80 total episodes. The series, which is currently in its third season, averages 2.5 million total viewers per episode.

“With the show’s recent win at The People’s Choice Awards and Betty’s recent SAG Award nomination, it’s clear that the fans love and want more of ‘Hot in Cleveland,’” said Jones. “TV Land is growing in a major way, and these pickups are just the tip of the iceberg.”

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