'Twas three days after the King of Pop passed, and all through the house, celebrities paid tribute, he was bigger than Mickey Mouse.
The BET Awards had the unfortunate and burdensome task of being the first major celebrity gathering following the tragic and unexpected passing of Michael Jackson, which of course put pressure on BET to "HONOR HIM." God bless their hearts for trying but as the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day, and a tribute to a man like Michael Jackson sure enough can't be put together in three.
That being said, the first half of the show was THOROUGHLY enjoyable. Jamie Foxx was pitch perfect in his monologue. He had us laughing but laughing in a cathartic, relieving way. His imitations of MJ in his "Beat It" attire were light and tone-correct.
His urging of the cameraman to focus on his cameltoe, excuse me "BOA CONSTRICTOR," was humorously uncomfortable in a Sasha Baron Cohen way. And while Jamie was a fine host for the bash, this man deserves some type of award because he was running a triathalon. He was a host, a presenter and he SANG THREE TIMES IN ONE NIGHT. Hot damn. Did BET cut him some overtime? I hope so.
Even though Jamie and the people at BET clearly hustled, they bit off far more than they could chew by proclaiming the event "A Tribute to Michael Jackson." The truth of the matter is, you can't combine Soulja Boy and Young Money with a somber, deep tribute about the passing of Michael Jackson and have people walk away feeling good about it. What they should've done is put together a reel, with the celebrities talking about Michael, brought Janet out at the end, and closed the show with Ne-Yo and Jamie's rendition of "I'll Be There."
By trying to add the tribute to the show, even with the alotted additional 30 minutes, the show was bloated and overextended: It went over schedule by an HOUR! Half of the blame for that though was Don Cornelius and the O'Jays' nearly HALF HOUR segment! BET needs to set a time limit for these old folks. Don Cornelius' old ass didn't have a clue where he was or what he was saying. He just rambled on and on and no one at BET had the heart to show him the "Wrap it up" box.
Check out reviews of the performances after the jump.
Onto the performances, some of which you can watch here at BET's official BET Awards site. (They're yanking em off YouTube so I ain't even gonna try to embed them here.)
New Edition + Bobby Brown: Well, following their reunion of the Fugees and En Vogue, BET reassembled the members of New Edition and even got them to accept Bobby Brown back for the 40th time. NE was tasked with opening the show, dressed as the Jackson 5 + 1 and overall: An epic fail. Vocally, these dudes were a mess. But they certainly looked the part. Bobby had to ruin it by licking his licks like some kind of perv too. I guess that's what men with 15 children do.
Keri Hilson: Keri's had the best year ever, with her album finally seeing the light of day and scoring two hits. And she performed her two hits, "Turnin' Me On" and "Knock You Down" in medley fashion, with a gang of butch-looking dancers. It was all aggressive ladies' night and it seemed to end on a good note. Then Keri went into an acapella hyena fit and left everyone dazed and confused. Also confusing, Kanye was sitting right in the front row yet he didn't join Keri for his verse on "Knock You Down."
Beyonce: Because of this Michael Jackson "tribute" deal, Beyonce's performance was slightly jarring because it was one of the first NON-MJ related performances. Beyonce is in the middle of her world tour and she clearly didn't have time to rehearse something unique for the BET Awards so she performed the "Ave Maria/Angel" segment from her tour in which she's dressed like a princess bride. Beyonce sang beautiful and frankly, I'm sure the devil would've wept if he heard her singing. But the whole wedding get-up was Beyonce sending signals to the audience. She transitioned in the performance from a "girl" to a "woman." Clearly, she's pleased to be married. And with 70 percent of black women in the US never marrying, she has reason to be excited. Good job, Jay.
Soulja Boy: At this point, I'm sure Michael Jackson changed the channel in heaven. I thought Soulja Boy was loaded? Why was this set so CHEAP?! He had no entourage, no props, nothing. All Soulja Boy had was a bed. And he inexplicably didn't even perform "Kiss Me Thru the Phone," his massive hit with Sammie. Lebron James enjoyed this mess though.
Jay-Z: Jamie got Beyonce and everyone in the audience hyped when he announced this performance. He urged Beyonce to quickly get back to her seat and Bey looked around eager and bewildered waiting to see who or what would be announced. When Jamie announced "JAY-Z!" her face relaxed and she laughed as if to say, "Oh, is that all?" Look, Jay's determined to prove himself, even though he should've stuck to his original plan of retiring after the Black Album. And the performance was solid; it certainly put Soulja Boy to shame. But the vitriol toward autotune would be much more potent if Jay didn't offer a pass to its biggest abusers: Weezy, Kanye and T-Pain.
Ciara: If Beyonce's performance made the devil cry, so would Ciara's but they'd be tears pleading for mercy, not of joy. Whose bright idea at BET was it for thin-voiced Ciara to sing a ballad? And "Heal the World" at that?! Ciara tried to honor the King of Pop visually, raiding his makeup and wardrobe, but she just looked like a sad clown. Vocal fail. Why wasn't Ciara in a dance tribute???
Jamie Foxx: Jamie Foxx brought the house down for his performance of "Blame It," especially when he brought out Travis Barker on the drums playing Master P's "F*ck Them Other Nig*as." Snoop was also trotted out for some reason, but I think that fool was as lost as Don Cornelius. Jamie is a true triple threat: Singer, actor and energizer bunny. He just doesn't stop.
Ne-Yo: Well, clearly when BET shuffled the show around to accomodate the passing of Michael Jackson, the only artists willing to help them fill out the tributes were Jamie and Ne-Yo. Ne-Yo sang a whopping three times that evening. First, he gave a pitch-perfect rendition of "Lady In My Life," then he sang his own song, "She Got Her Own," and finally at the end he duetted with Jamie for "I'll Be There." And the biggest deal throughout Ne-Yo's performances was that he put down his crutch, the hat. Yep, Ne-Yo rocked the stage bald as a newborn baby. I guess Michael gave him the confidence to put it all out there. Sorry, Rogaine. Looks like you aren't getting Ne-Yo for an endorsement deal.
Maxwell: Congrats, Maxwell made "Pretty Wings" into an enjoyable performance. The man knows how to do soul and he didn't disappoint with his falsetto and the softly-pulsing beat of his first single in ages. The only disturbing bit was the half-naked women dangling from the ceiling with wings on like corpses. It sent an inappropriately morbid tone. Victoria's Secret should book him for their runway show though.
Keyshia Cole and Monica: Chickens'R'Us was open for business and serving customers. The cockatooed birds were out, sporting their best clubwear and the high notes, howls and "Ooh yeahs" were delivered. Keyshia Cole looks pretty but that you just can't wipe the street off of her, no matter how classy you try to make the soundtrack. The way she walks, the way she talks...it's just a lost cause. And Monica is just a turkey through and through. Half of her performance was neck snapping and eye rolling. And to think she was once considered the next Whitney Houston. Well, wait....Whitney's a h00drat too. Maybe Monica really is Baby Whitney!
Trey Songz, Johnny Gill, Tyrese and the O'Jays: First off, Trey Songz should be a way bigger star than he is. The guy is talented. But I couldn't help but laugh when they announced Trey Songz, Tyrese and JOHNNY GILL as the young O'Jays. Johnny Gill!? Young? Johnny Gill isn't a young anything. Come on now. But despite his age, Trey, Johnny and Tyrese set fire on the building. Ginuwine looked on enviously as the three turned the crowd into putty in their hands. The O'Jays themselves finally made it onstage after an excruciatingly long intro from Don Cornelius and they were jammin' for some old dudes too. BET just needs to limit them to one song.
Drake featuring Young Money: Being a Drake fan, I was looking forward to this performance. Unfortunately, it went wrong in every possible way. First, Drake tore his ACL so he performed on a stool. Second, he didn't sing a lick of "Best I Ever Had," he just rapped the hook. What's the point of all the singing on the "So Gone" mixtape if he never sings live? Then Young Money performed "Every Girl" with some mad young looking girls bumping and grinding onstage. It was in questionable taste, to say the least. Frankly, Drake would've been better off canceling. You can only make a first impression once, and this was his first nationally-televised performance. Not a good look.
Ne-Yo & Jamie Foxx: Easily the most touching and poignant moment of the evening was when lil' sis Janet came out to address the masses. Right after her short, but emotional speech, Jamie and Ne-Yo gave a soul-stirring rendition of the Jackson 5 hit, "I'll Be There." It was the perfect tone and the perfect way to honor Michael and close the evening.
So that was the 2009 BET Awards. As far as MJ tributes go, it was nowhere near the best. But at least they can say they were the first.
