“This year has been such a blessed one so far,” said Battistelli. “I’m out on the Winter Jam Tour with David Crowder Band and Newsboys, just found out that I’ve broken the Top 5 with the new single "This Is The Stuff," and today I’m releasing my sophomore album across the country. To top it off, being nominated for the Dove Awards’ Artist Of The Year is an incredible honor and I feel deeply humbled to be in a category with so many amazing artists. I want to thank all of the Christian radio stations and fans that believe in me.”

The Dove Awards’ Artist Of The Year nod is fan-voted. Fans can vote for Battistelli by visiting http://www.watchgmctv.com/fanvote. Voting for the Artist Of The Year category is now open and will close on April 19th at midnight (EST), with the winner being announced at the 42nd Annual Dove Awards show taped live at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA, on April 20th and broadcast on The Gospel Music Channel (GMC) on Sunday, April 24th at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Battistelli’s new single “This Is The Stuff” is already a Top 5 smash at radio and is the perfect introduction to an album that takes the treasures of her debut My Paper Heart one-step further. Working with producer Ian Eskelin, she has crafted a CD that is every bit as hooky and infectious as its predecessor but whose subject matter, as befitting a young woman whose life has changed so dramatically, addresses a wider spectrum of the human experience.

My Paper Heart released to rave reviews and has since earned Battistelli a Grammy nomination (Best Gospel Song Performance), 2 Dove Awards and 15 Dove Award nominations in a two-year period. Her debut delivered the smash No. 1 single “Free To Be Me” and hit singles “It’s Your Life,” “I’m Letting Go” and “Beautiful, Beautiful.” With over 400,000 copies sold and well over 840,000 downloads to date, Battistelli has become the best-selling new artist in the genre in the past eight years. Her music has also been featured on TLC's Jon & Kate Plus 8, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, NBC’s The Biggest Loser, Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance, and several other television and movie outlets.

For additional information on Francesca Battistelli and her upcoming album release, tour and media appearances, please visit www.FrancescaMusic.com.

About Word Entertainment
A leader in the music industry, Word Entertainment, a Warner/Curb company, is a unique, comprehensive entertainment company comprised of multi-faceted artist service departments including publishing, merchandising, booking, and online initiatives. Word Entertainment represents some of the top names and brands in music, including Meredith Andrews, Chris August, BarlowGirl, Francesca Battistelli, Big Daddy Weave, Group 1 Crew, Point Of Grace, Mark Schultz, Sidewalk Prophets and Chris Sligh and is home to 25 LIVE, Word Distribution, Word Print, Word Music Publishing and Word Label Group’s Word Records and Fervent Records.

For more info on Francesca Battistelli, visit the JFH Artists Database.