Atlanta choir wins trophy, $30K

By Christopher Quinn

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta West Pentecostal Church choir of Lithia Springs won the Verizon How Sweet the Sound gospel competition in Detroit Saturday and brought home not only the title, but $25,000 in cash for winning and $5,000 for being getting the most votes from the audience. A bit of icing on the cake is that the choir will back gospel star Donald Lawrence during his performance for the taping of the Stellar Gospel Music Awards in January.

The choir won the regional competition for large choirs in October in Philips Arena for their rendition of "Athem of Praise," during which Lawrence introduced them as one of his favorite choirs. They sang the same song, competing with ten other regional winners last Saturday.

Brandon Frazier, choir director, said "It was amazing."

He knew the choir hit the mark during its performance, and the judges in the competition were moved as well, he said. The church hopes to put the prize money into a recording.