BET Does It Again; Barely

So, I'm not a big fan of BET. That's not really BET's fault, however. My biggest gripe with BET is the fact that it's owned by Viacom, which is not owned by African-Americans. That in my opinion, gives BET sort of a "slave ship" feel. See Jared Paul's "Dig" for the actual "BET-slave ship" analogy.

Anyways, as I started to say; I'm not a big fan of BET but, they did it BIG with the 9th annual BET Awards. Then again, I am always amazed by their award shows.

Of course, we all got the tragic news of Michael Jackson's tragic, sudden passing Thursday afternoon, and BET actually tried to reconfigure their broadcast to center it around Michael Jackson and his legacy; all in 3 days' time. I must say, the final product wasn't completely desirable; host Jamie Foxx appeared to not even know the show had returned from commercial break a few times, there was an annoying lack of announcing the nominees for most awards, meaning the audience didn't even know who the winners were up against most of the time, and the sound crew horribly struggled to censor certain words during performances (see Young Money's HORRIBLE performance of "Every Girl"); but I do indeed applaud BET for putting together an acceptable, live show in 3 days.

There were a lot of bright spots during the awards though. A few of my favorite moments include: Jamie Foxx's opening of the show, which featured a short but hilarious (and slightly accurate) rendition of Michael Jackson's "Beat It"; his performance of his single, "Blame It", which featured T-Pain, a special appearance from Travis Barker, and a random appearance by Snoop Dogg as well; Jay-Z's "Death of Autotune"; and Ne-Yo's performances, in which he covered Jackson's "The Lady In My Life" beautifully, pulled an Alicia Keys circa 2008, and brought out Keith Sweat, Guy, and Bell Biv Devoe; and topped it off with a beautiful duet with Foxx, covering The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There". Also, the tribute to The O'Jays would've been worth much more if it wasn't in the shadow of Jackson's death. Still, Tyrese, Johnny Gill, and Trey Songz TORE THE STAGE DOWN when they performed O'Jays hits, including "Backstabbers". The O'Jays followed suit, showing they still got it performing their music, but not before Eddie Levert said the most memorable and hilarious quote of the night with, "people were dancing and shit". By the time BET's sound crew could mute the sound, it was too late.

There were additional low-lights to the show also; aside from the aforementioned lack of nominees announcements, odd sound muting, and Jamie Foxx's occasional confusion. Soulja Boy Tell 'Em gave a performance which I believe left a lot of people asking, "why is he even here?". That may be my dislike for him speaking, but on the other hand, the Young Money performance of "Every Girl" was one of the worst performances I've ever seen. Drake sat on a stool the ENTIRE time, the music was too low, there was a mysterious abundance of pre-teen girls surrounding Drake towards the end, and to top it off, who even knows who the guys rapping after Drake are?! I was so relieved when Jamie and Ne-Yo came back out to end the show, because those Young Money guys would've really ended it on the most sour note possible.

Overall, as I stated, the BET Awards deliver an entertaining show every year, and this year was no exception. Here are some of the winners.

Best Female R&B: Beyonce

Best Male R&B: Ne-Yo

Best Group: Day26

Best Male Hip Hop: Lil Wayne

Best New Artist: Keri Hilson

Best Gospel Artist: Mary Mary

Best Actress: Taraji P. Henson

Best Collaboration: Jamie Foxx and T-Pain for "Blame It"

Lifetime Achievement: The O'Jays

Humanitarian of the Year: Alicia Keys and Wyclef Jean

-Trufe