Sixth annual Gospel Extravaganza with ‘Sunday Best’ winner rounds out Black History Month at SU

The Office of Multicultural Affairs at Syracuse University will celebrate the sixth annual Cora A. Thomas Gospel Extravaganza with Black Entertainment Television’s (BET) “Sunday Best” winner Le’andria Johnson, Sunday, Feb. 27, at Hendricks Chapel.  Doors will open at 4:30 pm. The Gospel Extravaganza is a free and open to the public.

Johnson, a 27-year-old Orlando, Fla. native, “leaped into her destiny” after being crowned the winner of BET’s “Sunday Best,” a competition to find America’s best undiscovered gospel singer. Johnson, a praise and worship leader, auditioned for the program in New Orleans with nothing but the clothes on her back. After putting her spin on congregational hymn “This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it,” the judges lauded her with a standing ovation, unanimously convinced that she possessed vocal star power. Johnson, also a mother of three, now encourages other struggling young women to never give up. 

For more about Johnson’s audition and performances, visit http://www.bet.com/OnTV/BETShows/sundaybest3/sundaybest3_photos_leandria.

For more information on the Gospel Extravaganza, contact Cedric T. Bolton, coordinator of student engagement in the Office of Multicultural Affairs, at 443-9676, ctbolton@syr.edu.