The 7th Annual 2008 BET Awards took place last night at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.
Usher - 'Love in This Club'
I'm sure I'm not the only person who was thinking, where the hell is Beyonce? I mean the intro was good, the lip syncing was horrible, and overall this was just the same performance of the song that he gave at every single other show this year while he was doing promo. Nothing groundbreaking and definitely not an opening number by any means, I was overly disappointed by this, but that shouldn't come as much of a surprise considering most of the 'Here I Stand' era has been a mess, IMO.
Next, Jennifer Hudson, in a formal fitting dress I might add (SMH), along with Terrance Howard presented the Best Male R&B Artist to Chris Brown, who we predicted would take the award home.
Young Jeezy with Kanye West - 'Put On'
I've said it once and I'll say it again, I just really don't get into rappers performing because they always failed to catch my attention because they never do anything. It was just another run of the mill performance that failed to bring anything new to the table.
Mel B, who looked stunning, and Kevin Hart gathered to present the award for Best Male Athlete to Kobe Bryant, who was notably absent and was also who we predicted to win.
Keyshia Cole with Lil' Kim - 'Heaven Sent/Let It Go'
OH MY GOD! I was so rooting for Keyshia, but this performance was a complete disaster from beginning to end. Since when did screaming become singing and to add insult to injury she forgot the words. How in the hell do you forget the words to your song? I will never know. Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, she bring out Lil' Kim, and that's exactly what happened. The dancing was a mess and the singing was a hot mess, but on a positive note Keyshia looked great in her white short number. The performance was really a good idea and Keyshia tried, but fell flat.
Nia Long, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Morris Chesnut (all of the classic movie 'Boyz N the Hood'), presented the award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist to a undeserving Missy Elliott, who was also absent.
NeYo - 'Closer'
I must say Ne-Yo surprised the hell out of me, I never thought in a million years that his performance would be better than Usher's, but Ne-Yo pulled it off from bringing out the winners of MTV's America's Best Dance Crew to the dancing, everything about this performance was top notch. I loved it. Damn, I still can't believe I said that about Ne-Yo.
Best New Artist, presented by the stunning Ashanti and the always buff LL Cool J, to another absent winner The Dream, who we predicted should win.
Alicia Keys with SWV/EnVogue/TLC 'Teenage Love Affair/Weak/Hold On/Waterfalls'
I'm sure a lot of you were worried for Alicia Keys, when the performance first started, but I wasn't because I had gotten wind from inside sources about what she was going to do. Bringing out legendary groups SWV, En Vogue, and TLC, whom we gave you scoop would be performing, was simply brilliant. I loved it, but the performance wasn't without flaws, vocally every single one the groups were off at times, especially T-boz. All in all, this was still one of the highlights for me.
Niecy Nash presented the Best Hip-Hop Artist to another one of our picks Kanye West.
T-Pain with Guest - Medley
I've openly expressed my disinterest in T-Pain and so it should come as no surprise that I wasn't feeling his performance. With rappers, my excuse is always the same, they never give a show, just the same standard give me a mic let me stand on the stage performances that bore me to tears.
The beautiful Gabrielle Union, in a simple yet still stunning white dress, along with Derek Luke present the award for Video of the Year to UGK, whom we chose as a dark horse. Call me crazy, but didn't Kanye's video just beat that video a couple of months ago at the BET Hip-Hop Awards, BET continues to make a mockery out of these awards every year. It probably has something to due with the fact that Kanye publicly acknowledged that they deserved the award, which I highly disagree with.
Marvin Sapp takes the stage to perform his gospel hit 'Never Would Have Made It', sorry I would have posted the performance,but I guess due to it being gospel it wasn't uploaded, but Marvin beautifully sang the song from beginning to end. Marvin went on to be presented the Best Gospel Artist award, by Mary Mary and Lisa Lisa, which we predicted.
Chris Brown with Ciara - 'With You/Take You Down'
The performance at start was okay at best, but when Ciara made her entrance, she not only appeared, but she completely stole the spotlight from Chris. I still didn't think it was that good, but Ciara definitely made it better.
Solange, Cassie, Soulja Boy, Brandon, and David Banner present the award of Best Collaboration to Kanye West who we predicted would win.
The tribute to Al Green, started off seriously lacking what the man himself is known for and that's soul, as Jill Scott got on stage and whispered her way through a shaky version of 'I'm Still in Love With You'. Anthony Hamilton managed to save everything that it only took Jill four minutes to destroy with his soulful version of 'Tired of Being Lonely', which was excellent from beginning to end and in all honesty they should have let him perform the whole tribute alone. Maxwell, whom to my dismay has been absent from the music scene, also gave a solid version of the classic 'Simply Beautiful'. Al Green also proved that he hadn't completely lost his voice, by performing hits 'Let's Stay Together' and 'Love and Happiness'.
The Viewer's Choice award was presented to Lil' Wayne for his smash, 'Lollipop'. No surprise there.
Rihanna - 'Take A Bow'
No! No! No! Rihanna stepped on stage to give a snooze worthy performance of her hit 'Take a Bow. I mean just last week she was on 106 & Park, stating that she was trying to come up with a concept, I guess she drew a blank. She did sound pretty good, but honestly the most interesting thing about that performance was seeing Chris Brown sing along in the audience.
Quincy Jones is presented the Humanitarian Award by the stunning Queen Latifah. From being a music genius, conductor, producer, Academy Award Winning film composer, and more, just with that alone I can't think of anyone who deserves it more, but when you take a look at the list of his humanitarian efforts its just breathtaking.
Just as host DL Hugley goes to introduce rap star Nelly, he is interrupted by his girlfriend Ashanti, who revealed she gave up her performance slot for something else, in her usual coy talk which will only fuel the rumors swirling that Nelly is popping or has popped the question. To be honest, it would all make perfect sense, just by listening to the way she says it and even having DL go out of his way to comment on Media Take Out who first reported the engagement, there's just something a little to sneaky about the whole thing, so I wouldn't be surprised. In other news, I had gotten word that Ashanti wouldn't be performing earlier, but wasn't able to inform you since I had quite the busy day yesterday.
Nelly - 'Stepped on My Jz/Party People'
Like I said with rappers I usually don't expect much, but Nelly usually always manage to give a good performance, but this one was full of flaws, from Ciara's horrible lip syncing, her missed dance moves, Fergie messing up her verses, and to Nelly attempting to start early, the performance was a mess. I was also disappointed because I thought we would finally get a Nelly and Ashanti set, well maybe another time.
P.Diddy and Lauren London present the award for Best Female R&B Artist to Alicia Keys, who we also predicted would win. I was also rooting for Keyshia, but after that mess that was her performance I quickly changed gears.
Lil' Wayne with T-Pain - 'Got Money/Lollipop/A Milli'
Now why in the world you get a rapper to close the show, I will never know, but with that being said Lil' Wayne gave a solid effort.
Overall I was highly disappointed by the show, which in recent years has progressively gotten worse since the 2003 ceremony. In all honesty I don't know who to blame, you really can't blame BET, because with the exception of a few names the roaster was top notch, it just seems like most of the artist dropped the ball this time.
Highlights:
Ne-Yo
Alicia Keys with SWV, En Vogue, and TLC
Disappointments:
Usher
Chris Brown
Rihanna
Best of the Night:
Ne-Yo, and I still can't believe I'm saying that. I mean that's strange, when a roaster boasters Chris Brown and Usher, you would never think he would be a highlight.
Worse of the Night:
Keyshia Cole, my ears are still ringing from that.
Usher - 'Love in This Club'
I'm sure I'm not the only person who was thinking, where the hell is Beyonce? I mean the intro was good, the lip syncing was horrible, and overall this was just the same performance of the song that he gave at every single other show this year while he was doing promo. Nothing groundbreaking and definitely not an opening number by any means, I was overly disappointed by this, but that shouldn't come as much of a surprise considering most of the 'Here I Stand' era has been a mess, IMO.
Next, Jennifer Hudson, in a formal fitting dress I might add (SMH), along with Terrance Howard presented the Best Male R&B Artist to Chris Brown, who we predicted would take the award home.
Young Jeezy with Kanye West - 'Put On'
I've said it once and I'll say it again, I just really don't get into rappers performing because they always failed to catch my attention because they never do anything. It was just another run of the mill performance that failed to bring anything new to the table.
Mel B, who looked stunning, and Kevin Hart gathered to present the award for Best Male Athlete to Kobe Bryant, who was notably absent and was also who we predicted to win.
Keyshia Cole with Lil' Kim - 'Heaven Sent/Let It Go'
OH MY GOD! I was so rooting for Keyshia, but this performance was a complete disaster from beginning to end. Since when did screaming become singing and to add insult to injury she forgot the words. How in the hell do you forget the words to your song? I will never know. Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, she bring out Lil' Kim, and that's exactly what happened. The dancing was a mess and the singing was a hot mess, but on a positive note Keyshia looked great in her white short number. The performance was really a good idea and Keyshia tried, but fell flat.
Nia Long, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Morris Chesnut (all of the classic movie 'Boyz N the Hood'), presented the award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist to a undeserving Missy Elliott, who was also absent.
NeYo - 'Closer'
I must say Ne-Yo surprised the hell out of me, I never thought in a million years that his performance would be better than Usher's, but Ne-Yo pulled it off from bringing out the winners of MTV's America's Best Dance Crew to the dancing, everything about this performance was top notch. I loved it. Damn, I still can't believe I said that about Ne-Yo.
Best New Artist, presented by the stunning Ashanti and the always buff LL Cool J, to another absent winner The Dream, who we predicted should win.
Alicia Keys with SWV/EnVogue/TLC 'Teenage Love Affair/Weak/Hold On/Waterfalls'
I'm sure a lot of you were worried for Alicia Keys, when the performance first started, but I wasn't because I had gotten wind from inside sources about what she was going to do. Bringing out legendary groups SWV, En Vogue, and TLC, whom we gave you scoop would be performing, was simply brilliant. I loved it, but the performance wasn't without flaws, vocally every single one the groups were off at times, especially T-boz. All in all, this was still one of the highlights for me.
Niecy Nash presented the Best Hip-Hop Artist to another one of our picks Kanye West.
T-Pain with Guest - Medley
I've openly expressed my disinterest in T-Pain and so it should come as no surprise that I wasn't feeling his performance. With rappers, my excuse is always the same, they never give a show, just the same standard give me a mic let me stand on the stage performances that bore me to tears.
The beautiful Gabrielle Union, in a simple yet still stunning white dress, along with Derek Luke present the award for Video of the Year to UGK, whom we chose as a dark horse. Call me crazy, but didn't Kanye's video just beat that video a couple of months ago at the BET Hip-Hop Awards, BET continues to make a mockery out of these awards every year. It probably has something to due with the fact that Kanye publicly acknowledged that they deserved the award, which I highly disagree with.
Marvin Sapp takes the stage to perform his gospel hit 'Never Would Have Made It', sorry I would have posted the performance,but I guess due to it being gospel it wasn't uploaded, but Marvin beautifully sang the song from beginning to end. Marvin went on to be presented the Best Gospel Artist award, by Mary Mary and Lisa Lisa, which we predicted.
Chris Brown with Ciara - 'With You/Take You Down'
The performance at start was okay at best, but when Ciara made her entrance, she not only appeared, but she completely stole the spotlight from Chris. I still didn't think it was that good, but Ciara definitely made it better.
Solange, Cassie, Soulja Boy, Brandon, and David Banner present the award of Best Collaboration to Kanye West who we predicted would win.
The tribute to Al Green, started off seriously lacking what the man himself is known for and that's soul, as Jill Scott got on stage and whispered her way through a shaky version of 'I'm Still in Love With You'. Anthony Hamilton managed to save everything that it only took Jill four minutes to destroy with his soulful version of 'Tired of Being Lonely', which was excellent from beginning to end and in all honesty they should have let him perform the whole tribute alone. Maxwell, whom to my dismay has been absent from the music scene, also gave a solid version of the classic 'Simply Beautiful'. Al Green also proved that he hadn't completely lost his voice, by performing hits 'Let's Stay Together' and 'Love and Happiness'.
The Viewer's Choice award was presented to Lil' Wayne for his smash, 'Lollipop'. No surprise there.
Rihanna - 'Take A Bow'
No! No! No! Rihanna stepped on stage to give a snooze worthy performance of her hit 'Take a Bow. I mean just last week she was on 106 & Park, stating that she was trying to come up with a concept, I guess she drew a blank. She did sound pretty good, but honestly the most interesting thing about that performance was seeing Chris Brown sing along in the audience.
Quincy Jones is presented the Humanitarian Award by the stunning Queen Latifah. From being a music genius, conductor, producer, Academy Award Winning film composer, and more, just with that alone I can't think of anyone who deserves it more, but when you take a look at the list of his humanitarian efforts its just breathtaking.
Just as host DL Hugley goes to introduce rap star Nelly, he is interrupted by his girlfriend Ashanti, who revealed she gave up her performance slot for something else, in her usual coy talk which will only fuel the rumors swirling that Nelly is popping or has popped the question. To be honest, it would all make perfect sense, just by listening to the way she says it and even having DL go out of his way to comment on Media Take Out who first reported the engagement, there's just something a little to sneaky about the whole thing, so I wouldn't be surprised. In other news, I had gotten word that Ashanti wouldn't be performing earlier, but wasn't able to inform you since I had quite the busy day yesterday.
Nelly - 'Stepped on My Jz/Party People'
Like I said with rappers I usually don't expect much, but Nelly usually always manage to give a good performance, but this one was full of flaws, from Ciara's horrible lip syncing, her missed dance moves, Fergie messing up her verses, and to Nelly attempting to start early, the performance was a mess. I was also disappointed because I thought we would finally get a Nelly and Ashanti set, well maybe another time.
P.Diddy and Lauren London present the award for Best Female R&B Artist to Alicia Keys, who we also predicted would win. I was also rooting for Keyshia, but after that mess that was her performance I quickly changed gears.
Lil' Wayne with T-Pain - 'Got Money/Lollipop/A Milli'
Now why in the world you get a rapper to close the show, I will never know, but with that being said Lil' Wayne gave a solid effort.
Overall I was highly disappointed by the show, which in recent years has progressively gotten worse since the 2003 ceremony. In all honesty I don't know who to blame, you really can't blame BET, because with the exception of a few names the roaster was top notch, it just seems like most of the artist dropped the ball this time.
Highlights:
Ne-Yo
Alicia Keys with SWV, En Vogue, and TLC
Disappointments:
Usher
Chris Brown
Rihanna
Best of the Night:
Ne-Yo, and I still can't believe I'm saying that. I mean that's strange, when a roaster boasters Chris Brown and Usher, you would never think he would be a highlight.
Worse of the Night:
Keyshia Cole, my ears are still ringing from that.
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