The 9th Annual BET Awards took place Sunday June 28th in Los Angeles. BET hyped the event up promising a tribute to Michael Jackson. All eyes were on BET as BET informed the press and public it had reorganized the show to pay tribute to Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. R &B singers Usher and Justin Timberlake who were initially not on the schedule would now be performing, all in an honor to the King of Pop. CNN promised live coverage of the event and even began a pre-event coverage at BET's red carpet. During the show, however, CNN was no where to be found. I wonder why? Might it be because the show was dissppointing to the point of tackiness with respect to paying tribute to the King of Pop?
Okay, let's be clear. Reorganizing a show that probably took months to plan in three days is no easy task. Many things especially logistics are bound to go wrong. So, I am cognizance of that. But, the logistics actually went quite well at least to the normal eye at the BET Awards. What seemed quite off was the so called tribute or lack thereof to the King of Pop.
The initial intro by Comedian/Actor/Singer Jaime Foxx was promising as Foxx dressed in costumes reminiscent of Michael Jackson mimicked him in his dance steps. It was exciting fun but after that, went downhill. While Foxx would attempt to revive the tribute to Michael Jackson spirit with his moonwalk, the overall ambience of the show seemed lost of that point.
Many of performers and recipients of awards througout the night failed to pay homage to the King of Pop. It need nto have been a grand thing. A word or two such as "RIP Michael" would have been more than enough. Those who did where less than a handful. Artists like Beyonce, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Wyclef, Ciara, Neyo, Maxwell and Jaime Foxx were some of the few that had a clear idea what "tribute to Michael Jackson" meant.
BET's salute to local heroes such as Mayor Elect James Young from Philadelphia, Food from the Hood and the Three Pact (three black doctors George Jenkins, Sampson Davis and Rameck Hunt) was highly commendable. But then, they undermined the somewhat moderate elegance of the show with the commercial promo of Jiame Foxx and Martin Lawrence's upcoming movie 'Shenene.' The preview was beyond 'ghettofied' as you get. If I see one more black man dressed up as a 'Shenene' or 'Shenequa' and advancing the negative stereotypes of the black woman in America, I will scream!
I was overall highly dissapointed. I expected a highly refined show, a true tribute to the King of Pop with performances by numerous artists and a seamless transition. I felt it was the perfect opportunity for BET to break its reputation for putting junk out to the world about the black community. BET simply did not step up to the plate. In retrospect, they could have maybe not declared it a tribute to Michael, be about their show and then dedicate a special show to do a tribute to Michael where it was all about his life and legacy.
In any event, it leaves room for other networks to get it right. Any takers?
Winners of 2009 BET Awards
Best Gospel Artist, Mary Mary
Best New Artist, Keri Hilson-- see our prior interview with Keri Hilson.
Best Group, Day 26
Best Collaboration, Jamie Foxx/T-Pain, 'Blame It'
Best Video Director, Benny Boom
Viewers' Choice Award, T.I. (featuring Rihanna) 'Live Your Life'
Best Actor, Will Smith
Best Actress, Taraji Henson
Female Athlete of the Year, Serena Williams
Male Athlete of the Year, LeBron James
Video of the Year, Beyonce, "Single Ladies"
Best Male R'n'B Artis, Ne-Yo
Best Female R'n'B Artist, Beyonce
Best Male Hip-Hop Artist, Lil Wayne
Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, M.I.A.
~article by Uduak Oduok
~Photocredit: Adrianna Barraza/WENN.com
Read More
