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