You’ve probably felt the excitement building as blogs everywhere talk about the upcoming release of Mandisa’s new album. Well, we certainly couldn’t miss out this chance for a party… so we’re doing what we love best… GIVING AWAY PRIZES!!!

10 of you are going to be tapping your toes to the tunes of your free copy of Mandisa’s full length album. And of those lucky ten, one is going to be even luckier as she sits back to learn all about Mandisa’s experience on American Idol in her new book IDOLeyes.

If you’d like to win yourself a CD or the CD+Book, simply comment on this post. Canadians are welcome too. We’ll post the random winners next Tuesday, July 17th. (The CDs will be shipped to the winners shortly after the July 31st release date.)

We asked Heather Erbe, an experienced radio host, to share her thoughts on the new album.

Heather has worked in Christian radio for 10 years. She has a BA in Communications and creative writing from Western Michigan University and has been the morning show co-host and music director at WaY fm in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo Michigan. She’s been married 8 years to Paul and has three kids (Alexandra 4, Sebastian 2 1/2, Atticus 10 months).

She currently manages two websites, http://www.ohmin.org and http://heather-erbe.blogspot.com and is developing http://www.crgathletics.com.

You could never forget the name… Mandisa.

I loved her on American Idol. I loved the fact that she always held her head high and didn’t waiver on who she was or what she believed.

This EP epitomizes who she is and what she stands for. Both songs are pop in nature and have good hooks that make you want to sing along.

The first song, “Only the world” was co written by popular Christian artist Matthew West and is a song that everyone can relate to. We all have bad days and this song reminds us that this world is temporary, Heaven is our real home and on bad days look at up and remember this too shall pass.

The second song Mandisa co-wrote with long time Christian artist Cindy Morgan and it’s not surprising considering the songs content. “True Beauty” explores the idea that the media and our culture expects something from us, something unattainable. She contrasts what the world expects to what God has given us as people.

In the chorus, Mandisa sings, “The hand that made the moon and the stars, the mountains and the seas, made you wonderful, beautiful, marvelously, Let the whole world see your true beauty”.

I liked not only the sound but the message in both of these songs. You can also catch Mandisa on Tobymac’s latest album “Portable sounds”. You can get more info on Mandisa at Mandisaofficial.com and have a listen on her Myspace site.

Mandisa also has a book out about her American Idol experience called “IDOLeyes”. You can get more info on the book at Idoleyesthebook.com. The full Mandisa CD is available July 31, 2007.

by Heather Erbe

Remember to leave a comment if you’d like to win yourself a CD or the CD+Book. Canadians get to join the fun this time. We’ll post the winners Tuesday, July 17th. (The CDs will be shipped to the winners shortly after the July 31st release date.)