This year's festivities were hosted by top comedian Kevin Hart, who made sure to constantly remind the audience that no one inside or outside the venue was safe from his comical jabs. His act pointed to the fact that celebs have too many "yes-men" in their camps instead of "no-men", which he explained, were real friends that would tell you the truth instead of what you want to hear. After he commenced to going in on Ne-yo, Diddy, Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross, Jamie Foxx and more, he featured a spoof of the 'housewives' reality show craze with a series of skits featuring Bobby Brown, Nelly, Nick Cannon and Jermaine Dupri as the
Husbands of Beverly Hills. The skits were silly and entertaining as they poked fun of the caddy riffs between the stars from Shaunie's
Basketball Wives reality show.
Everyone seemed the most excited to see performances from Chris Brown, Alicia Keys and Beyonce who performed via satellite from the UK. The celebs showed up and showed out on the red carpet with a myriad of fashion looks. From chic and glam to sporty and sexy, leaving no fashion stone unturned.
Some highlights of the show were definitely Kelly Rowland's performance of her #1 hit,
Motivation with Trey Songz. Kelly sizzled on stage as she donned a black ensemble that didn't show much skin, but clearly showed her curves while she busted out & changed up the look by shedding some fabric during the set. This was right before she slithered over to Trey Songz and started breaking it down and droppin' it to the floor #GoTeamKelly. I'm super proud of her & still routing for her as I recently explained in a previous BornTooBlog post http://borntooblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Kelly%20Rowland
Chris Brown's performance was pretty entertaining as he brought out Lil' Wayne and Busta Rhymes to perform their smash hit,
Look At Me Now and lets not forget Mary J. Blige's nostalgic review of the songs that made her who she is today. Not to mention her emotional performance with R&B diva, Anita Baker, where they sang
Rapture, the Anita Baker classic that got Mary her deal. BET was sure to keep the nostalgic vibe going when they brought out all five of the actors who played The Dells in
The Five Heartbeats movie, alongside After 7, the group responsible for the popular remake of the "Nights Like This..." song off the movie's soundtrack. It was good seeing the fellas reunited & looking like they just shot the cult classic movie last month.
In true BET fashion, both the old and new were highlighted as a testament to the fortitude of black music as BET honored Patti LaBelle with a Lifetime Achievement Award with performances by Cee-Lo Green, fully equipped with his signature Patti hair sprayed wig, Marsha Ambrosius and gospel great, Shirley Ceaser. Pictures from Patti's hay day proved once and for all who was the original diva in a blast from the past pictorial of fashion ensembles only Rihanna, Madonna, Beyonce and Lady Gaga could love! And keeping up with the new, BET featured up-and-coming artists like Mali Music and Kimberly Nichole.
Awards and accolades touched every base as up-and-coming superstars and Hollywood Royalty Jaden and Willow Smith were acknowledged for their recent work and the impact they've already made in the music and movie industry. Steve Harvey was honored as the humanitarian of the year for his charity efforts and work in the community.
Oddly enough, no award show is free from mishaps as this year's awards experienced an embarrassing snafu when the #1 fan accidentally awarded first Rihanna, then later, Drake with the fan award instead of the actual winner, Chris Brown. Leaving some wondering if it was done on purpose as a publicity stunt or a way to get Chris Brown infuriated...again. I mean, besides, who wouldn't get perturbed by first being snubbed on camera by his notorious ex-girlfriend and the new rapper that she is now allegedly dating, only to then later have to appear on stage right before the show ended to make the correction. Yikes! Lol as they often say, "you just can't write this stuff", or can you? *wink*
The most lackluster performances came from Rick Ross, Lil' Wayne and Drake as they performed their popular hit, "I'm On One" and again from Rick Ross who performed with a number of artists throughout the night like Ace Hood and DJ Khaled. I'm just going to say that rappers these days need to step up their performance game. Their lazy and uneventful performance is the main reason I do not pay my money to see rappers perform in concert these days.
It was a jam packed show so I definitely couldn't touch on everything, but for more information on the big winners, performances, looks backstage and more, go to http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2011.html
NOTE: a pictorial of the night's fashion winners & losers up next!
