Take megachurch praise and worship music. Add an orchestra and a posse of hip-hop dancers. Mix in some ballerinas — and the musical artistry of former Entertainment Tonight host John Tesh. That, in a nutshell, is Alive: Music & Dance. Democrat-Gazette Religion Editor Frank Lockwood interviewed the composer and keyboardist about his latest DVD and CD. Here are the highlights, edited for space and clarity.

When did you become a Christian?
TESH: I was born into the Methodist Church on Long Island, and I did what everybody told me to do. I memorized all the Scriptures. My parents were very involved in the church so I was there at least three, four days a week. I went to church camp for six years and had absolutely no relationship with Christ. … I think a lot of people relate to that. … Then I met my wife, Connie [Sellecca], who’s a very powerful woman. And we were going out for about two months and she sort of took my hand metaphorically and said, ‘Hey if you like me, you might like my church.’ … Well, I went to this tiny church, 60 people, a Messianic congregation, Christian and Jewish believers together, and it was a profound effect on my life. … It was a true big born-again experience.”

Your new DVD combines gospel and ballet. Isn’t that an unusual mix?
TESH: It’s really a program for kids. … I think the church, actually people of faith, are looking for something like this. We’ve had a huge reaction. … We’ve sort of seen ‘I Can Only Imagine’ done every single way and it’s a great worship tune. But when you see it interpreted by a 17-year-old ballerina who’s entering Juilliard, it’s like ‘Wow, this is another way to look at the song.’ Essentially that’s what this special is about.

Where will Alive: Music & Dance be showing?
TESH: It’s been on and continues to be on [Christian networks] Daystar and TBN and FamilyNet and NRB. We tested it on public television; this is my sixth public television special, and it did not do well. And the reason is, it’s too young. The PBS audience is a graying audience that wants to see Celtic Woman. They want to see [Andrea] Bocelli, which is great, beautiful, but this was not a fit. I came in with all guns blazing: ‘This is going to be great.’ The stations aired it. … People were like ‘Whoa. This is just a little too much for us.’ … We’re performing it in churches now, too. … The kids have really come running for this and it’s a great encouragement.

You did Entertainment Tonight for a decade. Do you ever miss daily television?
TESH: I don’t even think about it. Isn’t that funny? I so don’t miss it. We do a daily radio show now for five hours a day, and having control over what that sounds like, what we say in it, the purpose of it, the mission, is so much more rewarding than just reading some celebrity’s birthday. And the Entertainment Tonight guys were so sweet to me. They really supported my musical career and still do, by the way. I love being in this place of getting e-mails from people who will tell you how you’ve [affected] their lives.

What would you want people to know about your faith?
TESH: I have literally tried everything … from the craziness of being on local news at 23 years old in New York City to hanging out at Studio 54 all night, to driving the fastest Porsche you can possibly imagine and being in failed relationships. None of that works. None of that gives you anywhere near the satisfaction of spending five minutes with God. … The other thing that I’m big on, too, and actually you might not have room for this, I have learned to recognize that the Devil is real. That the Spirit of the Air is real. [He] needs to be, and you’ve got to be careful with this word, respected as a force that comes to kill, steal and destroy … We really do literally need to arm ourselves and put on the whole armor of God. … The more successful you become in spreading the word of God, the more vehement, vicious the attack.

How do you arm yourself spiritually?
TESH: I need a coach, an earthly coach. I don’t believe you can do that by yourself. I see people say, ‘Well I don’t need to go to church. I have my own relationship with God.’ There’s a lot of that going on. I love being in the church.
…
For more on John Tesh’s latest project, go to www.johnteshalive.com.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 at 4:34 pm and is filed under Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.