BET Awards

Well what has become the biggest summer event for Black Entertainment Television year went down last night. First of all, I am a pop culture enthusiast and I think I am in the know on all things celebrity. So I thought I'd give a brief rundown on the happenings last night: the good, the bad and the down right ugly!

First let me say this year's show was 100 times better than last year's presentation. Last year 50% of the winners were not in attendance this year only about 10% of the folks didn't show up. Also those who saw the show last year knew unquestionably that Damon Wayans bombed! I mean bombed. His jokes were off the mark and he had to get drunk in order to finish the show. Personally, the show is better when it is hosted by real comics. Ya'll know the 1st two years were hosted by Steve Harvey and Cedric the Entertainer and they were off the hook. Okay, I digress...on to my highlights.

I was so glad to see Jennifer Holliday and Jennifer Hudson perform I Am Telling You, omygoodness! They tore that song up and they song their individual versions and it was great.

Although I loved Monique telling LL Cool J to remove her shoe, the performance was just okay for me. Kinda like been there done that.

One of the most powerful performances for me was the tribute to Gerald Levert. I have an issue with blocking my feelings when it comes to death and when someone I know dies I never quite grieve I just push it to the back of my mind. Now I didn't know Gerald, but I knew his music and I knew he loved his fans and last night I realized he was dead. I realized he would never grace the Bet stage again to perform or be the butt of Tom Joyner's jokes. And it felt like my heart just broke all of a sudden. I mean I don't know this man for nothing, but I respected his talent and it is gone. So after a 10 minute crying jag, I accepted he was gone.

Anyone who knows me knows I have always loved Diana Ross. I used to imitate her as a child. I remember watching her HBO concert every time it appeared on the channel. I sang all her songs and knew the words -- I can't say that for the folks giving her a tribute. Erykah Badu did Love Hangover but Chaka and Stevie (Love them dearly)seemed to have forgotten the words. Diana's speech and all her children there to support her was wonderful and she is right you can have a career without all the bumping, cussing and grinding.

I enjoyed P Diddy's performance and was glad to see Lil Kim. Say what you want about him, he has the hustle and the album really is good w/all the collaborations. Folks slept on that joint.

I have much respect for TI for apologizing for the altercation with Chaka Zula of DTP and manager of Ludacris. A real man owns up to his mistakes and he did so last night.

Beyonce's performance was on fire and it was great to see Destiny Child all on stage together. When did Solange become part of Destiny Child? I love Kelly's song, but her vocal performance needs some work.

50 cent performed like he was worth 1 cent. I was appalled that they chose Amusement Park as the song for him and my understanding is when the track stopped he was a bit PO so he did the random walking around looking confused. I called my sister immediately and had her cover my nieces ears because the lyrical content was too provocative and really did we need that after such a soul stirring performance from Eddie, Gladys, Patti and Yolanda? Plan better BET.

And my other favorite performance was Public Enemy's tribute to James Brown, now it wasn't as powerful as the one done at the Grammy's with Chris Brown and OMG Christina Aguilar's performance of a Man's World, but it is one of the best tributes. I had to remind my sister that Public Enemy sampled some of James Brown. Did ya'll see Dougie Fresh doing his signature move on stage? I was dancing until I was sweating and I don't sweat my hair for real, even with Sisterlocks!

As you can see I love pop culture and the BET Awards are one of the few awards shows I enjoy watching. So if you missed it, they will rerun it I think on Friday and plenty more times after that. Of course they will cut some stuff, but I hope they keep the good stuff!