BET Awards Rights A Wrong

As BET celebrated 10 years of the BET awards show last night, I reflected on how much the station has declined in those past 10 years in my opinion. I charged my phone's battery so I could tweet during the show.This year, Queen Latifah was the host and her lackluster jokes and many skits just weren't...funny to me, she was trying too hard. I missed the first few minutes of Kanye West's opening performance of his newest single "Power" . I couldn't gather if that was a chain or a dinner plate he had around his neck. It was apparent after keeping a low-profile from the Taylor Swift interruption, Kanye was trying to get his mojo back. More strange things unfolded as the night progressed. Jada Pinkett-Smith rocked a braided mohawk, presented the award for best Female Artist the recipient was Alicia Keys...four months pregnant Ms. Keys seemed surprised she won. Soon following her win, Ms. Keys took the stage the first of two performances performing songs off her latest release "The Element of Freedom" During her performance of "If I Ain't Got You", she bought out gospel singer Kim Burell. Many people had no idea who she was, as her joining her on stage was rather awkward. I've had much to say about her courtship with producer/sometimes rapper Swizz Beatz, some of my male friends on twitter debated back and forth with me about Ms. Keys and Swizzy but hey my opinion is my opinion. I re-tweeted this tweet of my friend's as the hook, line and sinker...( RT @BlkSportsOnline People love Alicia Keys hate Beyonce. Beyonce married. AK took a chick husband and knocked up. #hypocriticalabit about 15 hours ago via Touiteur) . 

              









   The next award recipient was Young Money as Nicki Minaj delivered the acceptance speech rocking a Ronald McDonald/Wilma Flintstone wig with a wedding gown. Some of my twitter friends called her the Bride of Chucky lol! I'll highlight a few things from the show that I liked. Monica although her choice of wardrobe was questionable (Batwoman) I did enjoy her performance of "Everything To Me" Ms. Arnold bought Deniece Williams who sang her 80's classic "Silly" the song Monica sampled for her hit single. 

Nia Long and Larenz Tate performed a brief skit from the movie "Love Jones" . Twitter was blasting Larenz Tate...(*DEAD* RT @BrookeAshley247 Larenz Tate should remember all his lines from Love Jones...I don't think he's been in a movie sense. about 16 hours ago via web) Umm hello did people forget that he was in "Biker Boys", Ashanti's "Rain On Me" video, "Crash" and 'Waist Deep?" 

Tyrese one of my favorite performers of the evening, paid tribute to his musical idol Teddy Pendergrass who passed earlier this year, singing a melody of the Mr. Pendergrass' songs "Come and Go With Me", "Close The Door" and "Turn Off the Lights", Tyrese later tweeted about his experience on stage. 












Usher performed "There's Goes My Baby" and Trey Songz performed "Yo Side Of the Bed" blending in Prince's "Purple Rain" which some thought was actually the tribute to this year's Lifetime Achievement recipient. Diddy-Dirty Money's performance was pretty good although the strobe lights hurt my eyes for the rest of the evening, I'm still trying to recover from it smh...Diddy spoke his success into existence ten years from now, we'll still be on top, and he is, even with 20-year-old dance moves. Kirk Franklin, Marvin Sapp, Karen Clark Sheard, Kim Burell, Fred Hammond and Yolanda Adams performed their tribute song "Are You Listening: A Love Song For Haiti" which some of my followers felt was another awkward moment in the show.

After the train wreck of last year's Michael Jackson tribute throughout the length of the show I was anxious to see who they would have perform a tribute to the greatest entertainer of my generation. Jermaine Jackson thanked the fans for their support of the Jackson family as they grieved the death of Michael Jackson, Jermaine didn't know who was performing as his introduction was yet another awkward moment in the show. The performer of the tribute was now other than Chris Brown. C Breezy obviously studied the moves, thrusts and agility of MJ as his dancing closely paralleled Mr. Jackson. I had my reservations about Breezy performing last year due to my favoritism of Usher, but Breezy single handedly killed that performance. Complete with glow in the dark hats and suits during the performance of "Smooth Criminal" America and the twitter community witnessed a historical performance. When it was time to sing "Man In the Mirror" Brown couldn't hold back the tears as the message in the song spoke volumes. Just two years before Brown was on top of the world, winning the best male R&B Artist that was totally blotted out by that ugly incident last February involving then girlfriend Rihanna. Many blasted Brown for pulling a publicity stunt, some thought he was crying over that situation from last year, while the legions of his fans knew the real reason behind those tears.

This 21-year-old man was allegedly banned from participating in any tributes for the King Of Pop, radio stations stopped playing his music, his album sales didn't match the success of his last two albums, forcing him to do mixtapes Brezzy is cryin' cuz of errthng he went thru. Almost lost his career,freedom &he FINALLY got 2 perform the tribute he shld had did 1 yr ago about 15 hours ago via Echofon....Chris brown lost EVERYTHING. This is his 2nd chance and on an emotional song he cried. Don't throw stones unless ur perfect about 15 hours ago via Echofon...) 

The two final performances I enjoyed most was the tribute to Prince and El DeBarge. Janelle Monae, another new artist, Alicia Keys and Patti LaBelle all performed. I couldn't gather why a tribute done by all women and not one man came to mind to do one of his songs? Alicia Keys' performed Prince's "I Adore"  which was pretty good followed by her crawling across the piano which warranted a safety issue and a perplexed expression on Prince's face. Not to be outdone by the younger pack of singers, Patti LaBelle performed a stirring rendition of "Purple Rain" kicking off her shoes in true Patti style, receiving a standing ovation by Mr. Prince Rogers Nelson himself. Many tweeted about his flawless hair, outlandish wardrobe, his mesmerizing eyes and his sexuality for the remainder of the show.  Mr. DeBarge with his golden voice still proved he has it. Performing a melody of his hits as well as songs from the group DeBarge I wondered to myself if he either had an album coming out soon or if BET gave him a reality show like so many others on the network.













There were more awkward moments some of the newer artists performances were cut short by commercial breaks, and announcement of award recipients not shown during the show, I figured they must have been pressed for time. So here's a list of all the winners of the evening: 

Video Of the Year- Beyonce' feat. Lady Gaga "Video Phone


Best International Act - Dizzee Rascal

Best Actor - Idris Elba

Best Movie – “Precious”

 Video Director of the Year - Hype Williams

Best Collaboration - Jay-Z & Alicia Keys

YoungStars Award - KeKe Palmer

 Best Actress – Mo’Nique

Best Female R&B Artist - Alicia Keys

Best Group - Young Money

Humanitarian Award Recipient - John Legend

Best Male R&B Artist - Trey Songz

Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient: Prince

Best Gospel - Marvin Sapp

Subway Sportswoman of the Year - Serena Williams

Subway Sportsman of the Year - LeBron James

Best New Artist - Nicki Minaj

Fandom Award- Chris Brown

Viewer's Choice Award- Rihanna feat. Young Jeezy "Go Hard"

List of winners compiled by BET.com
Pictures compiled by Google image search




 
 

Jill Scott and Maxwell- One Night Only

A few months ago, my brother called to tell me he bought tickets for us to see Jill Scott and Maxwell in concert during my birthday month. I was excited, being a fan of both artists music, so I looked forward to the day approaching. A short stint in traffic had my brother and me worried we would miss the beginning of Jill's performance. After hiding my camera which I didn't have to do since no one checked my bag just my ticket, we were relieved to see Guy Torry as the opening act. We soon learned we didn't miss much with him being on stage 1) He shouted out Kobe Bryant when the vast majority of Philadelphia doesn't like or claim Bryant as a Philadelphian 2) He dissed our home team the 76'ers saying we were mad they continue to lose games. I wouldn't have been surprised if someone would have jumped him on stage, being as though we are deemed the worse fans in all sports. Less than 10 minutes later, the show began with shadow dancers doing there thing, the band setting the crowd's atmosphere, the background dancers adorned in Adidas rocking to the beat, and then enters Philly's own Jill Scott. Dressed in an Adidas jacket, rocking Gazelle sunglasses, her signature Afro, sparkly tights and some hot shoes she began her set with "Gimme" and quickly went through a catalog of her hits from all three albums: "The Real Thing", "Insomnia","Whatever", "It's Love","Come See Me", "He Loves Me", "Not Like Crazy","Crown Royal", "A Long Walk" her new single "I Love You" and finished her set with "Hate On Me" followed by Ms. Scott chanting "North Philly's in the house", and striking a b-boy stance as a message to all the haters.
 During her set Ms. Scott made her fans feel like she was a close friend, she wasn't afraid to show her vulnerability in love and life, she also spoke on being hurt in a relationship, and surprisingly her messing up in a relationship. She made her fans laugh telling the all too familiar tale of conflict between your head and your privates; a man that's good for pleasure, who sends a tingling up your spine, but gives you grief with their irresponsibility. Before exiting the stage she thanked Philly for all their love and support, for accepting her as she is in the fickle music business that prefers a slimmer, half naked woman, instead of a woman who's a little thicker in the waist and chooses to wear clothes that leaves something to the imagination. "Thank you Philly for allowing me to be...human. Thank for letting me go to market to buy groceries, thank you for allowing me to take my son to the park, Philly is my safe haven." She finished her set telling the ladies to get ready for Maxwell "He's even sexier in person" which was met by screams from women.

After a brief intermission, Maxwell entered the stage dressed in a gray suit and a pair of sunglasses. It didn't take long for women to begin rushing the stage, screaming, and reaching out to touch his hand. Some women even threw their panties on the stage, and gave him a card. Maxwell stated  per her fans request, he was going to do a mix of his old and newer songs. He went into a a string of his hits and some album favorites of fans "Sumthin', Sumthin'", "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)", "Bad Habits", "Fistful Of Tears", "Stop The World", "Cold", "Fortunate", "Reunion", "'Til The Cops Come Knocking", and the Isley Brothers "Don't Say Goodnight" While watching Maxwell perform, I finally understood how older women felt seeing people like Teddy Pendergrass and Marvin Gaye in concert. Maxwell has all the makings of the perfect man: he's handsome, immaculate style, a beautiful smile, talented performer and a great sense of humor. "I smell that good stuff, y'all smoking at my show? Where's the connect at...it smells like badussy in here...but that's not what it's about tonight it's about love...I know a lot of you fellows don't wanna be here, but after tonight she'll give you some." much to the laughter of the crowd. Maxwell finished his set with "Pretty Wings" or "Wangs" as he sings.
  Overall, the show was more than I expected these two performers don't get half the credit they deserve, they have more than studio voices, the can sing, they can rock to the beat, they can open up and relate to their fans on levels not yet achieved by other artists. I hope I get the opportunity two see these two again in concert...again...for one night only.


Here's some video from the concert: