Sunday Best

- Season 9

(2019)

The first 10 of 20 hopefuls sing their hearts out before our celebrity judges with the goal of landing a score that will propel them to the final top 10. At the end, the top 5 are revealed but can't celebrate just yet because their fate still hangs in the balance. They must wait until the next episode to find out if their scores were good enough to secure a spot in the Sunday Best competition.

The remaining 10 of 20 hopefuls will audition for their lives and a shot to move on to the main competition. At the end of the night, the 10 contestants with the highest scores out of the 20 will advance to the Sunday Best stage & the remainder of the competition.

In the first challenge of season 9, the 10 contestants are divided into pairs to battle it out vocally on the same song, each singing a different verse. After each duel, the judges will declare a winner who will be safe from the night's double elimination. At the end of the night, the judges will decide who in the bottom five will stay and who's been KO'd from the competition.

All 8 competitors will take a popular R&B song and remix it with a gospel twist. They will then hit the stage and perform their newly transformed song before our judges. During the single elimination at the end of the night, the contestants will find out if the beat goes on for them, or if this is their swan song.

Each of our 7 contestants will hit the Sunday Best stage and perform a song from a classic gospel movie scene. Dressed in full costume as their respective characters, the competitors will be performing in front of set pieces, vibrant screens and onstage extras...bringing their movie scene to life.

Our sixth episode of the season is dedicated to honoring the musical legacy of the one-and-only Aretha Franklin. The 6 remaining hopefuls will tackle an unforgettable track from the Aretha songbook and her gospel roots. At the end of the night, when everyone has paid homage to the Queen, one of our contestants will be riding on the freeway of love and going home.

Our 5 hopefuls take center stage while being backed by the award-winning New Direction Gospel Choir of Tennessee State University. In the vein of great choir soloists, our singers will compete to harness the power of the choir to launch their performances to new heights. At the end of the night, our judges will decide which 4 contestants will move on, and which contestant has hit their final note.

This week, we're taking the 4 contestants back to where it all began... the church. In this homecoming of sorts, the 5 competitors will travel to a local church and perform in front the congregation. They will then perform a traditional hymn live on stage. In the end, one contestant will travel back to their home congregation for good.

Our 3 singers must connect with their inner selves and perform twice. A close family member surprises each contestant and assists in choosing a personal song. Then the competitors hit the studio with Makeba Riddick-Woods to pen an original song. At the end, one is eliminated and viewer voting commenced to determine which of our final 2 will be crowned next week the winner of S9 Sunday Best.

With the competition officially over, this will be an unforgettable night of fun with our final 2 contestants, Kirk, the judges and an array of special guests as we conclude the series with an all-star gospel celebration. And of course, at the end of the show, we will announce the winner of Sunday Best Season 9!