It’s been around 1 year since we uploaded a ‘predictions post’ about the Dove Awards (in 2022, we posted our own predictions of the 2022 Dove Awards, of which you can all see here), and I figured it’s about time to upload our own predictions of this year’s Dove Awards as well. I know I rarely get any predictions right nowadays, but half of the predicting is kinda fun anyway, so why not? The actual nominations release in August sometime, so check out below, who we think ought to be nominated for this year’s awards (it’s only the main award nominations that we are predicting for) (Note: the nomination period, from my recollection, is from May 2022 – April 2023, but I could be wrong).

Song of the Year:

• Brighter Days (Blessing Offor)
• Desert Road (Casting Crowns)
• God Is In This Story (Big Daddy Weave + Katy Nichole)
• Hallelujah Anyway (Rend Collective)
• Heaven Changes Everything (Big Daddy Weave)
• Holy Forever (Chris Tomlin)
• Jesus Changed My Life (Katy Nichole)
• Living Water (Anne Wilson)
• Me On Your Mind (Matthew West)
• Miracle Power (We The Kingdom)
• Still (Steven Curtis Chapman)
• Thank God I Do (Lauren Daigle)
• The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours) (feat. TAYA) (Matt Maher)
• This Is Our God (Phil Wickham)
• Who I Am (Ben Fuller)

Songwriter of the Year:

• Bart Millard
• Phil Wickham
• Katy Nichole
• Zach Williams
• TAYA

Songwriter of the Year (Non-Artist):

• AJ Pruis
• Ben Glover
• Jason Ingram
• Bryan Fowler
• Jonathan Smith

CCM Artist of the Year:

• MercyMe
• Tauren Wells
• Katy Nichole
• Steven Curtis Chapman
• TobyMac

Artist of the Year:

• Matthew West
• Katy Nichole
• TobyMac
• We The Kingdom
• Zach Williams

New Artist of the Year:

• Christian Paul
• Ben Fuller
• Katy Nichole
• Gable Price & Friends
• Naomi Raine

Rap/Hip-Hop Song of the Year:

• Wholehearted (We Are Messengers & KB)
• Walk (Lecrae & Hulvey)
• Who That Is? (Social Club Misfits)
• Winning (Wande)
• Altar (Hulvey)

Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year:

• Tree (Steven Malcolm)
• Everybody Loves A Comeback Story (Social Club Misfits)
• Church Clothes 4: Dry Clean Only (Lecrae)
• Hope (NF)
• New Hollywood (WHATUPRG)

Rock/Contemporary Song of the Year:

• Build a Boat (Colton Dixon)
• Talk of the Town (needtobreathe)
• Psycho In My Head (Skillet)
• By Faith (7eventh Time Down)
• Interrobang (b-side) (Switchfoot)

Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year:

• HELP! (Brandon Lake)
• The Cannonballers (Colony House)
• The Consequence Of Being Alive (Gable Price & Friends)
• Who I Am (Ben Fuller)
• Until We Have Faces: Live & Unplugged (RED)

Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year:

• Then Christ Came (MercyMe)
• Don’t Lose Heart (Steven Curtis Chapman)
• Me On Your Mind (Matthew West)
• Heart Of God (Zach Williams)
• Thank God I Do (Lauren Daigle)

Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year:

• Always Only Jesus (MercyMe)
• Joy In The Morning (Tauren Wells)
• Life After Death (TobyMac)
• My Story, Your Glory (Matthew West)
• A Hundred Highways (Zach Williams)

Inspirational Song of the Year:

• The In-Between (Matt Maher)
• Son of Suffering (Matt Redman)
• Good Lord (feat. Katy Nichole) (David Leonard)
• Empty (Tauren Wells)
• Hold On (Katy Nichole)

Inspirational Album of the Year:

• Benjamin William Hastings (Benjamin William Hastings)
• If The Lord Builds The House EP (Hope Darst)
• Still (Steven Curtis Chapman)
• Plans (David Leonard)
• Jesus Changed My Life (Katy Nichole)

Worship Song of the Year:

• Holy Forever (Chris Tomlin)
• He Lives (feat. Adam Agee) (Newsboys)
• Ain’t Nobody (Cody Carnes)
• Jesus Does (We The Kingdom)
• This Is Our God (Phil Wickham)

Worship Album of the Year:

• The Stories I Tell Myself (Matt Maher)
• Simple (Live) (Bethel Music)
• Always (Chris Tomlin)
• TAYA (TAYA)
• We The Kingdom (We The Kingdom)

Christmas/Special Event Album of the Year:

• Milk & Cookies: A Merry Crowder Christmas (Crowder)
• This is Our Christmas Album (Switchfoot)
• Bellsburg: The Songs of Rich Mullins
• Miracle in a Manger (Jason Crabb)
• The Manger EP (Anne Wilson)

Record Music Packaging of the Year:

• Still (Steven Curtis Chapman)
• State Of The Union (Amanda Cook)
• Whosoever (Rend Collective)
• Coco Moon (Owl City)
• Life After Death (TobyMac)

Short Form Video of the Year (Concept):

• Thank God I Do (Lauren Daigle)
• Yeshua (Friend of Sinners) (Mike Donehey)
• Desert Road (Casting Crowns)
• The Goodness (TobyMac)
• Me On Your Mind (feat. Anne Wilson) (Matthew West)

Short Form Video of the Year (Performance):

• Sunday is Coming (Phil Wickham)
• Jesus Changed My Life (Katy Nichole)
• I Still Believe You’re Good (Newsboys)
• Hey Girl (Anne Wilson)
• Plans (Rend Collective)

Inspirational Film/Series of the Year:

• Jesus Revolution
• Big George Foreman
• The Chosen: Season 3
• Left Behind: Rise Of The Anti-Christ
• Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

There it is: my predictions of some of the categories of the Dove Awards, to be presented in October 2023. What are your predictions of the Dove Award categories for this year? Let us know in the comments. Till then, predict away!