The atmosphere was electric at 22nd Annual Moveiguide Faith & Values Awards Gala at the Universal Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles, when quadriplegic Joni Eareckson Tada was wheeled on stage and prepared to sing “Alone Yet Not Alone,” the song that was banned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In an unprecedented move, the Academy had rescinded its Oscar nomination for “Best Original Song” when it discovered that the composer, Bruce Broughton, had sent a short email bringing the song to the attention of Oscar voters.
Commenting on Broughton’s action, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said, “No matter how well-intentioned the communication, using one’s position as a former governor and current executive committee member to personally promote one’s own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage.”
Joni Eareckson Tada (with husband Ken looking on) prays before she records the song. Photo Courtesy of Assist News.
A “devastated” Broughton told Variety, “I indulged in the simplest, lamest, grass-roots campaign and it went against me when the song started getting attention.
“I got taken down by competition that had months of promotion and advertising behind them. I simply asked people to find the song and consider it.”
On hearing the news, the organizers of the 22nd Annual Movieguide Faith & Values Awards Gala, also known as the “Christian Oscars,” stepped in and invited Tada. Having been paralyzed from the neck down after a diving accident as a teenager, she has been leading her own organization (Joni and Friends) since 1979.
There was complete silence as 64-year-old Joni began singing the beautiful song that she had been tipped to perform at the Oscars on March 2, in Hollywood. By the time she had finished, there was hardly a dry eye in the room.
Joni on the Red Carpet with the writers of the song. Photo Courtesy of Contact Music.
She was given a standing ovation, and among those cheering her one were the composers of the song, music writer Bruce Broughton and lyricist Dennis Spiegel. Joni also gave the final prayer. On the Oscar controversy and her perseverance and blessings she’s had despite her handicap, she said, “God’s power always shows up best in weakness.”
Another much-loved lady, Roma Downey, who starred for many years in Touched By an Angel, gave a heartfelt acceptance speech with her husband, Mark Burnett, for the $100,000 Epiphany Prize for TV with The Bible, and for winning the Grace Award for Most Inspiring Female Performance in Television.
“All glory to God,” Roma said while accepting the Epiphany. “This has been quite a journey for us, for my husband and I, as a married couple. We were very encouraged all last year.”
Mark Burnett, Dan Wooding and Roma Downey, after Dan's recent interview with them. Photo Courtesy of Assist News.
London-born Mark noted that it was “amazing” that it was the Hearst Corporation that first gave them any money to make The Bible. It was William Randolph Hearst who helped to make Billy Graham a household name in the United States when Mr. Graham was preaching at his historic 1949 Los Angeles Crusade.
Willie Robertson and his wife, Korie, gave heartfelt speeches for winning the Faith & freedom Television Award for the “Till Duck Do Us Part” episode of Duck Dynasty.
“We’re so honored we are here,” Korie said. “You get to vote on what kind of entertainment you want to see,” she told the audience.
“We’re so honored, and we want to thank the Lord,” Willie added. “I’m thankful I get to work with my family every day.”
Willie Robertson and his wife, Korie. Photo Courtesy of People.
The event also featured performances by Billy Ray Cyrus, Richie Sambora, AJ Michalka and Jacob Latimore.
A lifetime achievement award went to “Jesus” producer John Heyman (father of “GRAVITY” producer David Heyman).
The Movieguide Awards, the only family-centric awards show in Hollywood, nominates movies and television shows which most exhibit values that will attract family and faith audiences.
A highlight of the event was when Dr. Ted Baehr, founder and publisher of Movieguide, gave his much awaited 2014 Movieguide Report to the Entertainment Industry, which had as its title, “The Good, the True, and the Beautiful.”
He said that for the 22nd year in a row, his report “showed clearly” that moviegoers prefer clean, family-friendly movies with Christian faith and values.
Dr. Ted Baehr, founder of "Movieguide"; Photo Courtesy of PR Web.
“This was abundantly true in 2013,” said Dr. Baehr. “For the first time ever, 90% of the Top 10 Movies in the United States and overseas were Movieguide Award winners, from Iron Man 2 and Despicable Me 2 to Frozen, Gravity, and Man of Steel. Also, two-thirds of the Top 10, 60 percent, had overt references to Jesus Christ.”
He said that, consequently, movies with very strong Christian, redemptive worldviews averaged $87.07 million at the domestic box office in 2012, but movies with very strong Non-Christian worldviews averaged only $21.64 million.
“In fact, movies with humanist/atheist worldviews did the worst, averaging only $3.66 million,” he went on to say.
Author of The Culture-Wise Family, Dr. Baehr is chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission (CFTVC) ministry and publisher of its family guide to movies, Movieguide. CFTVC and Movieguide are an international non-profit ministry dedicated to “redeeming the values of the entertainment industry by influencing industry executives and by informing and equipping the public about the influence of the entertainment media.”
Watch this year’s Movieguide awards! Find more information and air times in 22nd Annual Movieguide Awards Bring Christ to Hollywood
Want to read more from Dan Wooding? Please see “Son of God” Sells out Theater Screenings across the Nation
Dan Wooding, 73, is an award-winning journalist who who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 50 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and he hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on the KWVE Radio Network in Southern California and which is also carried throughout the United States and around the world. He is the author of some 45 books, the latest of which is a novel about the life of Jesus through the eyes of his mother called Mary: My Story from Bethlehem to Calvary.
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