Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 27

The Detroit News Inside: TV Get with the program Christmas is celebrated in song from opera to Opryland and the Cincinnati Pops. Page 7C Section Saturday, December 23, 1995 A fi rvyf i 1 OA Finding -f! 0 Tha Resurrection by Lenny Kravitz If you could feel what I could feel Well tlien you 'd know His love is real If you could hear what I could hear Well then you 'd know thi King is near Tlie resurrection is here to stay And lie coming hack again The resurrection is liere to stay And He's coming back again To recluim all His souls and set us five Tlie resurredvn is here to say That He 's colt hg back again Look what done to me Now I am living in another space and time lw Lenny Kravitz is among a young generation of mainstream artists using Christian tenets in their songs. More pop stars are proclaiming their versions of God's message to heaven, Earth and airways By Kevin Ransom Special to The Detroit News In September, 1994, country-folk-blues-rocker Michelle Shocked told an audience at Detroit's Majestic Theatre that her newfound Christian beliefs caused her to split from her record company. Shocked said that she had recently turned in a demo tape of her new album, Kind-Hearted Woman, to exec-, utives at her label. Many of the songs which were 1 1 WWJ-AM General Manager Roger Nadal says his station's rebuked offer was "fair, appropriate and generous." WXYT forces a turnover as Lions pick new radio home By Tim Detroit News Television Writer The Detroit Lions announced Friday they were leaving behind WWJ-AM (950), their radio home of the last seven years, for a five-year deal on WXYT-AM (1270).

4': "While we've been very happy with the relationship we've developed with WWJ over the past seven years, Infinity (WXYT-AM's owner) stepped up with a proposal that we could not ignore," said William Clay Ford the Lions' vice-chairman. Although financial details of the contract were not revealed, industry sources said New York-based Infinity Broadcasting offered the team $4 million per year for the radio rights. WWJ reportedly paid $1.55 million for 1995 season rights. Said WWJ-AM General Manager Roger Nadel: "WWJ and the Lions have had a great partnership for the past seven seasons. We made an offer that was fair, appropriate and generous to retain broadcast rights for the team.

I'm extremely proud of what we've accomplished, bringing professional football play-by-play to Detroit." While the rights may be expensive, the Lions' acquisition gives a shot in the arm to WXYT, which placed 11th overall during the July-September ratings period, according to Arbitron. "We are thrilled and proud to be the new radio home of the Detroit Lions and the eighth Infinity radio station with an NFL team," said WXYT-AM General Manager Michael Packer. Lions' spokesman Bill Keenist said Friday that no decisions had been made on the current announcing team of Mark Champion and Jim Brandstatter, but added that the team is "very pleased with their work." The decision on booth announcers rests with WXYT together with the Lions. Know someone who deserves to be a 1995 Michiganian of the Year? Angels. Heroes.

Outstanding citizens. No matter what you call them, they leave an indelible mark on their communities and our state. They're Michiganians of the Year, an army of more than 200 people honored by The Detroit News since 1978. Last year they included such high-profile figures as Detroit's Cardinal Adam J. Maida.

But they also numbered many who stay in the background, like Arab community leader Ismael Ahmed of Dearborn. This year, as always, we're asking for help in selecting our list of those who have made life in Michigan better for the rest of us, either by their good works or by the example they set. To nominate someone for our 1995 Michiganian of the Year awards, send his or her name, hometown and, if available, address and phone number, along with a few paragraphs explaining why this person deserves consideration. Please include your own name and phone number. Mail by Jan.

5 to: Michiganians of the Year, Accent, The Detroit News, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit 48226. Or fax us at (313) 222-2451. 1994 Michiganians of the Year: Ismael Ahmed, Arab community leader Kathleen Gerus, AIDS fighter Joyce Keller, residential care facility director Arthur Johnson, civil rights crusader Cardinal Adam J. Maida, church leader Russ Mawby, Kellogg Foundation chairman William Mills, urban 4-H Club director Mary Ellen Robertson, men's shelter director Rabbi Charles H.

Rosenzveig, Holocaust Memorial Center founder Ben Snyder, founder of Cran-brook program for the disadvantaged Fritz and Gretchen Stansell, founders of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp John Thompson, bar owner and charity fund organizer Rush Yarnell, hero who saved a child from freezing written after she had "a spiritual experience while listening to a church gospel choir in Los Angeles openly attest to her Christian faith and her belief in redemption and salvation. Shocked says the label refused to release it $sf une or unsung by Joan Osborne because of its "unacceptable level of Christian content." So she spent her own money to have made of the spare, guitar-and-voice demo and then sold them at her concerts. Since then, Shocked has signed with a new label and recorded a full-band version of Kind-Hearted Woman, which is slated for release early next year. ft If God had a name What would it be? And would you call it to his face If you were faced with hgri In all his glory What would you ask if you had just one question? If God had a face What would it look like? And would you want to see If seeing meant you would have to believe As the darker undercurrents of punk, grunge, rap and metal have seeped into the musical mainstream, it is easy to 7 assume incorrectly that rock 'n' roll consists only of raging songs about getting wasted, scorning traditional values and engaging 1 In things like heaven And in Jesus and the saints and all the prophets in all manner of depravity. But the last two or three years have seen the emergence of a new generation of young rock or pop artists who strongly assert their Christian faith or a belief in God in their songs.

By expressing religious con victions or addressing such mature subjects as spiritual quietude, artists Joan Osborne, no longer a practicing Catholic, still finds inspiration in gospel Please see RELIGION, Page 6C music. Every Hour Here.1 by Innocence Mission I so often leave You In churches and other islands And on my beads Where I can see You, I can feel You Our self-importance grows so dazzling, We don't see You But gentle Jesus Aren't You always, Aren 't You every hour here? i r-. The Innocence Mission says songs that refer to God and faith are the ones that draw I the greatest response from fans, Lions vice-chairman William Clay Ford Jr. says Infinity Broadcasting made "a proposal that we could not ignore." immmnmmmmmtmmmimimwnmmmmmmtm www 1 1 imm.i 'Waiting to Exhale' women say film gave them breathing room as black actresses Post office will keep mall coming Christmas Day The. U.S.

Post Office in Detroit will deliver express and priority mail and "anything packaged like a present" on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Detroit District Manager Carl T. January Jr. says the additional deliveries are a response to delays caused by the severe winter storm that struck the East Coast this week. "We hope to make the holidays a little brighter," says January.

While the focus is on priority mail, adds acting postmaster Lloyd Wesley "really, well deliver anything that looks Christmasy on Christmas Day, anything packaged liked a present." The Detroit post office has done Christmas Eve and Christmas Day deliveries in the past, but post offices expect "to get really bombed" by packages this year and extra staff has been called up to make sure the deliveries are completed, Wesley says. John T. Work The Detroit News On Screen ii Tear the room up, Angela! Burn it, It was like I was the audience." Says Loretta Devine, aglow in violet silk pantsuit: "Angela is the movie star in our culture. I watch her work and I'm in awe. And Whitney is the superstar.

So this is like a dream come true for me." Says Lela Rochon, the baby of the group, elegant in black velvet blazer over lilac satin shirt: "Sure, it would have been intimidating to play with Whitney and Angela if you stopped and thought about the personalities. But for me, I was just an actress who was ready, and I wanted it so bad that I didn't even think about it until I got the job. Then it was, 'Oh, I fooled everybody. Can I really do Please see Page 8C By Susan Stark Detroit News Film Critic SAN FRANCISCO The gorgeous women of Waiting to Exhale get the full star treatment. Each arrives and departs in her own black limo.

During their together time during interviews, though, the four actresses, along with writer Terry McMillan, are a sister act to remember; Says Angela Bassett, spectacular in satin and sculpted braids: "I really wanted to work with (director) Forest (Whitaker). I really loved Terry's book And the chance to work with Whitney (Houston) beautiful, talented, a superstar all over the world! Well, it was no decision at all." Says Houston, radiant in blue jeans, blazer and diamonds: "I just saw the movie (with an audience) and it was like, 'Go, baby! Play that part! 'Waiting to Exhale' Rated Now showing at area theaters. Wi jWii ft Loretta Devine, from left, Lela Rochon, Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston have nothing but great things to say about their experience filming "Waiting to Exhale.".