BET.com
Well, BET kicked off its 9th annual awards show, and boy was it a laughing hot mess filled with profanity.
Jamie Foxx hosted the show and he was funny, but of course some of his material was bleeped out because of the inappropriate content. On a positive note, he moonwalked across the stage and wore many of MJ's classic outfits.
The highlight performances included: Maxwell, the trio Tyrese, Johnny Gill, and Trey Songz,The Ojay's, Jay-Z, Jamie Foxx, and Ne-yo (although it seemed liked Jamie Foxx and Ne-yo were in every performance). Beyonce did perform, but she didn't bring her alter ego Sasha Fierce; Keri Hilson did much better.
There were also many old school R&B groups/singers who popped up too: New Edition (which even included Bobbi Brown), Guy, Tevin Campbell, and Keith Sweat.
Overrall, the show was a big downer because every other word was censored due to the profanity or content and many things just seemed out of place. For example, Drake's performance had Lil' Wayne and his pre-teen daughter with other young girls on stage rapping along to "Every Girl in the World," which is a song about having escapades with all the girls in the world; plus, Lil' Wayne's entire verse was basically censored because he didn't tweek the original crude words. What was supposed to be a parody of the movie Baby Boy got out of hand because Ving Rhames had harsh curse words about other awards shows. Don Cornelius, the first Soul Train host, rambled on and on about something that no one understood. Zoe Saldana presented an award and had the nerve to tell the entire world that her co-presenter, the original Uhura, was in the restroom. And last but not least, many of the presenters sounded as if they had speech impediments or couldn't read cue cards. The show didn't seem to have any class or organization.
As expected, there was a tribute to Michael Jackson, but it wasn't as good as it could've been; Ciara was clearly the worse of them all because she couldn't sing (she should've danced some of MJ's moves instead). Maybe if Usher, Justin Timberlake, or Chris Brown did a rendition of "Billy Jean," "Beat It," or "Thriller," the tribute would've done a lot more justice to Michael Jackson's musical legacy. The best parts of the tribute were when Janet Jackson gave a touching and tearful speech about her brother and Jamie Foxx and Ne-yo sang "I'll Be There."
The BET Awards show should really be ashamed of itself for some of the foolishness and buffoonery that went on tonight. They need to do something quickly to redeem themselves from utter embarrassment and sinking ratings.
Comments
Spell Check- in the second paragraph it should be "inappropriate" not "inapproriate"
I couldn't agree more with most of the views you expressed, except that I felt Beyonce's performance was the most heartfelt and truly did pay homage to Michael Jackson. She is a beautiful person and a great performer and I imagine it took a lot of courage to sing Ave Maria and In the Arms of An Angel to that crowd who clearly couldn't care less.
I was disappointed. Where was NE-YO helper's Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake and Usher. These guys would have made this the BET Awards show to remember. Beyonce performance was beautiful, she would have brought the house down if it was a different show celebrating Michael Jackson life. I must mention Maxwell,Keri Hilson,Tyrese, Trey Songz and Johnny Gill, they were all great tonight.
I felt as though the whole show was just profanity and rappers rapping which I could not understand. I was pleased at Beyonce and yea thats it Beyonce's performance. Everyone else...*cough cough* Keri Hilson please don't try to dance and Sing cuz' you are not their yet. OH YEAH! Monica & Keyshia Cole great performance.
Oh..I heard via gossip websites if Chris Brown performed Jay Z and Beyonce wouldn't and that would take out the show stoppers.
BET=FAIL!
gotta be da worst show eva. the only reason i watch this foolery was to see Chris Brown. that was a waste of 4 hours for real. Im very dissapinted!
Dead on. The show was terrible and a complete waste of time. It was the Jamie Foxx variety show with special guest Ne-Yo.
Gosh. These are my exact comments about this farce of a tribute show - almost verbatim.
Yah, I was wondering what the heck was going on with the FEED because the music kept cutting off ! I was also offended that people tried to use the format to promote their own 'gigs' or new biz ventures, including MJ's own Dad !!! I hope someone else (like Usher or Neyo) take the lead role in a REAL TRIBUTE. Jamie Foxx had the mike waaaaaay too much...and please - not tryin to see you on 4th of July; stick to comedy dude !!!
I agree with all the comments made-it just wasnt that great of a show, when pretty much the whole world was watching--BUT --The CEO emphasized that they only had 3 or so days to totally redue the show to gear it towards Michael Jackson, so I kinda understand--but again--the world was watching to see what BET would pull off.
I am sure some other major dedication to Jackson will come along and make BET look even worse!
I totally agree with you but you also have to understand BET had less than three days to tweak this awards show to a tribute. It seems the show was more classier before Debra Lee took over. Now it's an embarassment filled with lackluster performers and b-list celebrities with ties to BET( Keshia Cole, Toya & Tiny, etc) What happened to the Kanye West performance? It's sad but I bet MTV does a better tribute to Michael for the VMAs. BET not only drop the ball, they kicked it into the street and it was ran over by an SUV and then urinated on by a pitbull. My hats off to Ne-Yo though he should really keep his on.LOL
Yes, I too was disappointed not to see Chris, Usher, or J.T. !! What a complete waste of 4 hours.
I think the BET awards was straight... I really didn't like the performances that much except for Beyonce's. Lil Wayne's performance was HORRIBLE!!!! And Drake has no stage presence at all.......
BET=Buffoonery Embarrassing Television
That Tribute wasn't fit for a dog!!!
I think your comments are dead-on. I fully agree. The show could have been so much better!
How did you go about writing/blogging on this site? Need any help... lemme know!
It was a Coon fest. Ving Rhames aka Holiday Heart was down right ghetto. Jamie Foxx was an idiot who appeared to be high on something? Where were classy acts like Dianna Ross, Gladys Knight, Dionne Warrick, Smokey Robinson, Donna Summers? All we so were thug hoodlum Rappers like Little Wayne using profanity and acting like dam idiots. This is why white America veiw blacks as baffoons and thugs. Blacks need to set higher standards for our community and stop all the foolishness.
Did you notice that the artists who attend the BET awards these days are the trashy, low-life artists? Beyonce is the only A-list celebrity who attends these awards, most likely to avoid being labelled white or whatever these so called hip hop artists call it. BET is a dying channel.
I think the show was classless….I don’t like to use this word but GHETTO!!! They didn't dress appropriate. It was tacky. If it wasn't for Neyo it would have been a total bomb…. I was hoping to see Usher, Ginuwine, Chris Brown, Brian McKnight even Chris Tucker.. Maxwell was classy and the song is beautiful…Mary-Mary & The Queen, Tyrese were all very nice performances.
I must say it was a pleasure & delight to see “Tevin Campbell”…..I believe the crowd was pleased as well..He did a good job and his voice is still strong. He didn’t look old and washed up. He’s still very handsome..He did seem to be a little nervous but that's to be expected after being away for 15 years. I think if he would have been informed earlier he would have been better prepared. The same for Johnny Gill....Both are very talented men. Monica is awesome too! Out of the old school those 3 by far where the best! (NeYo, it would be nice to see you work with them) Real Talent that might have to be polished up a bit
2nd part
The rest sounds washed up and tried to hard…..( I like Keith Sweat, Guy and New Edition) but some of them couldn’t carry a note.
As for Bey and Jay Z not going to show up if Chris Brown performed, First off how selfish of them both the show wasn't about them it was a tribute to MJ. He nor his family didn't have a problem with Chris why should they? What huge egos!!!
Lil Wayne should be embarrassed. He was totally disrespectful to the elders in attendant.
BET have you forgotten what music is all about? People threaten others not to perform or just putting down one other for no reason. I wish we could have artists and class when watching the awards like we use too. It’s not about who’s pockets are the longest…At least not for us fans!
BET that was a poor call. Money isn't everything….
Janet is sooo beautiful and has such grace….It was so good to see her. Prayers are with Janet and the Jackson family.
I think that the show was ok… definitely not as bad as some have made it seem. Imagine only have 3 days to pull in a bunch of major acts and a tribute show. MJ’s death was on a Thursday, the show aired on Sunday. There were tons of people calling BET wanting to do a tribute, or be a part of that show to pay homage to one of the greats. It’s clear that some people were disappointed by the acts that were booked, but the option would then be to change the channel… not continue to be offended or bothered. BET is keeping up with the times – what you saw of the artists is what’s popular in R&B and Hip-Hop right now. Like it or hate it, Lil Wayne and the rest are hot right now. Could the show have been better? Sure; but it’s important to note that it could’ve been better with MORE time. Take it easy – at least they’ve attempted to do a tribute. And if anyone has a right to judge, it’s the Jackson Family. And they seem to be ok with everything.
Michael Jackson is a GLOBAL icon and the WORLD was watching this tribute. After his death was reported, several major websites, including Facebook, Twitter, and other were shutdown due to the unprecented traffic, as people went online to confirm the news. Michael Jackson opened doors for virtually every African-American artist - MTV did not want to show black artists until Michael Jackson changed the game. Given all of his contributions, Michael deserved a world class tribute, and BET failed MISERABLY. The show was an embarrassment to African-Americans and to the country at large. It would have been better for BET to wait and produce a separate tribute show, than to tie Michael's memory to this 2009 Minstrel Show. It was so bad that I don't even know where to begin:
- Jamie Foxx: He failed miserably as the host. He was vulgar, and his humor was disrespectful and inappropriate. He used the show heartlessly for self-promotion and his comment about "Michael belonging to us" was c
(continued)Jamie Foxx: He failed miserably as the host. He was vulgar, and his humor was disrespectful and inappropriate. He used the show heartlessly for self-promotion and his comment about "Michael belonging to us" was completely out of line and against everything that Michael Jackson stood for.
- Beyonce: She is a talented performer and could have used this as an opportunity to showcase Michael Jackson's choreography and his influence on her career. Instead, she engaged in a self-indulgent performance of "Ava Maria" that was completely hypocritical, given that she was dressed like a prostitute. The performance was all about HER and was not moving at all.
- T-Pain: He is an embarrassment to the black community and embodies every negative stereotype that has every existed about us. I can hear Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly laughing to themselves as he "shucked and jived" across the stage in his "BIG ASS CHAIN". L'il Wayne and Drake were downright disgusting.
(continued) Blame it on Alcohol - Just what we need - a big monument to alcohol in the middle of a black award show. This could have been the theme for the night, because clearly the producers and everyone involved must have been drunk in allowing this calamity to go on the air.
- Baby Boy Skit - Taraji Henson, you can forget about every getting another Oscar nomination after that ghetto display. Ving Rhames should have been carried off the stage like they used to do on Showtime at the Apollo - where is Sandman Sims when we need him?
- Soulja Boy - Another source of embarrassment. Pure ignorance on display for the world. In closing, we have an African-American president in office who already has an uphill battle to fight. He will face resistance every step of the way due to the color of his skin. The last thing we need to do is to keep reinforcing negative images of African-Americans and sending them around the world. BET - please stop.
Having only 3 days is no excuse. If you know that you don't have a lot of time, then you simply don't do it. Not a good look to half ass do anything. Michael Jackson deserved so much more than that show. He never gave us half a performance or half of himself, so they shouldn't have given him one. I hope staff from BET read all these blogs so that they can get a clue on what their viewers would have liked to see and make sure that they don't do things like this again. At the end of the day, if you want to pay tribute to someone, especially someone like Michael Jackson, then do that in its own space and time. Not rush it into all the mess it was pushed into when the show aired. Sad!!!!!
It's really sad that so much people above had so many bad views about the award show...wow,what really puzzles me is that you guys were able to review the whole ENTIRE show..obv it was not that bad, when I watch something that doesnt do anything for me, I usually SWITCH the channel...lol..you al need to get a life and let people do what they want..Bet obv is doing soemthing right since it has so many viewers and has not been shut down yet...I would say something, but I might sound ignorant..Obv no one sees when mtv is doing wrongs...how about that crazy dude puttig his ass in eminem face..was that appropriate..or eminen cursing his way out...COME ON GET A life..On that note, as the great T-PAIN would say " I would like to thank the haters...Without you guys BET would be no where, and this website would get nowhere. PEACE!
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