Stand Up and Shout for the Fifth Season Return of BET's Hit Gospel Singing Competition SUNDAY BEST Premiering Sunday, July 8 at 8:00 P.M.*

NEW YORK, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- After four amazing seasons of heartfelt praise and tough competition, SUNDAY BEST returns on Sunday, July 8 at 8:00 P.M.* in a special two-hour premiere dedicated to the  awe-inspiring and sometimes hilarious auditions.  Hosted by gospel legend Kirk Franklin with returning gospel great recording artists and judges Pastor Donnie McClurkin and Yolanda Adams (from Season 3) and celebrity mentor/audition judge Kim Burrell, SUNDAY BEST sets out to find America's next great gospel singer. Gospel legend CeCe Winans will join the judging panel for the stage shows.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20070716/BETNETWORKSLOGO )

Fans can expect to be blown away by performances as this season's hopefuls venture from the auditions to Atlanta's main stage. In the premiere episodes, thousands of contestants make their way to audition stops in Dallas, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and St. Louis, but only the top 20 are selected to compete in Atlanta. Many are called but only one will be crowned victor of this season's SUNDAY BEST. In addition to the coveted title of SUNDAY BEST, the winner of season five will receive a national recording contract with Music World Gospel, a cash prize, and an exclusive prize from Ford.                                                        

SUNDAY BEST continues to entertain and inspire viewers during its search for the next great gospel singer and last year's SUNDAY BEST season 4 finale reached record ratings with 1.9 million viewers and 1.3 million households, and served as the #1 telecast in franchise history. Overall, SUNDAY BEST maintains its spot as the #1 gospel/religious program on television, and is also the #1 cable competition show and Sunday's #1 cable series among Blacks in 2011.

SUNDAY BEST is a 9-week series executive produced by Marilyn Gill, Kirk Franklin, Brian Gadinsky, and Arnold Preston.

For continuous SUNDAY BEST updates, please visit http://www.bet.com/Sunday Best. Also, follow SUNDAY BEST on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BETSundayBest (hash tag: #BETSundayBest) and Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/BETSundayBest.

*All times are ET/PT.

About BET Networks
BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET operates in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

Follow us on Twitter: @BET_PR

SOURCE BET Networks