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OPINION: BET Awards 2009 Was A Bunch of Stars Without the Sun

Written by RK Byers on June 29, 2009 2:53 pm

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Smokey Fontaine and I go through this every year. We bicker like children over the socio-political implications of the annual BET Awards. I think last year’s show picked our current president. He thinks it was ‘ok’.

One thing we do seem to agree on, though, is that the best rap performance is usually a coronation of the at-the-minute top rapper in the game. In 2001, Jay-Z had the gall to actually debut the song “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” and killed it. In 2003, 50 Cent blew the doors off the show with “What Up Gangsta”. Last year, Lil Wayne sang something; but it was good.

And I can’t deny that I wasn’t waiting for this moment again, as part of the numbing process. I was hoping that maybe Drake would do something interesting, but he just sat there, rapping from a stool like an old man. I also hoped that Hov would cut his “DOA” performance short to kick his lead verse from the remix of “You Rock My World” but I was disappointed. Lil Wayne didn’t disappoint me any more than he has of late, which was completely.

Other offenders on this horrible night were Beyonce. By showing up on stage in an all white gown, she had me gassed to think that she was gonna refigure Diana Ross’ “Missing You” tribute to Marvin Gaye for… you know, but she sang “Ave Maria” and I wanted to throw some kind of magical shoe that could pass through my television screen and conk her on the head.

But there was good, of course. Much good. Maxwell was brilliant and single-handedly brought back the double-breasted suit. Ne-Yo freaked his version of “The Lady In My Life”. The OJays were great with the exception of not singing “I Love Music“, “Love Train” or “Cry Together“.  And Jamie Foxx was a competent host and funny and he was also the only one that gave us what we needed all night long. Then Janet Jackson showed up to reclaim what was hers.

After that, we went back to mourning. I must admit, it was an almost impossible task trying to both celebrate and grieve at the same time and on only three days notice.

But it was done.

Tags: Beyonce Knowles, Drake, Jamie Foxx, Jay Z, Lil Wayne
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  • http://www.blackplanet.com/divamichachic/ divamichachic

    Wait… You had something to say about Drake and Weezy’s act… but JAY Z Killed it … he put it all to rest…he put it to them all … Holla

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/SWANKness/ SWANKness

    Jay, Bey & the tribute to the O’Jays was the best parts of the awards. Bey bought some culture to the awards, unlike some artists, she blew !

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/luvleelatina1/ luvleelatina1

    i enjoyed the whole show, i do wish Bey had done something a lil diff but it was still great!!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/APRILKG428/ APRILKG428

    I agree about the Drake performance, I think he should have performed by himself and not sitting down the whole time, and what was with those young ass girls on stage with him?? Yea I also agree about the Jay-Z performance he should have cut it short to do something for Michael, I think every performance should have included something for Michael and not just saying “Rest In Peace” they owed it to him to do more than that, although Keri Hilson did do something, Ciara, Ne-yo and Jamie all did a great job at their tribute performances, I just wish there was more of that during the night, and Beyonce’s performance (who im not really a huge fan of) did a beautiful job, but that outfit was horrific, I understand she was trying to go with the whole angelic feel but that was just plain ugly especially the veil. All in all it was pretty good.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/CaliLibra1/ CaliLibra1

    Seriously, every show is going to have quirks or moments of WTf? Thats what happens when they’re taped live. I’m not a huge Beyonce fan but I thought her singing Ave Maria was wonderful and as a previous poster said, brought some culture to the BET awards… There was room for improvement as with anything else but considering the show was completely changed around in 3 days in order to pay tribute to MJ, I mean come on, did people expect it to be perfect??

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/tajacks/ tajacks

    i felt all in all the show was ok. Drake definately should’ve left his seat. Lil Wayne performed a song that was 90% bleeped NOT A GOOD LOOK Neyo was the best performer of the night along of course with MAXWELL :)

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/DAREALRECKLESS/ DAREALRECKLESS

    beyonce brought ” culture” huh? well tell her to bring some AFRICAN CULTURE next time instead of catholicism!!!!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/AIRFORCEMOMMY/ AIRFORCEMOMMY

    I thought BET Awards was great! I loved the stories that folks shared about Michael, especially Eddie Levert’s slip of the tongue while telling his story! GREAT JOB BET!!!!!!!!!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/CaliLibra1/ CaliLibra1

    Definition of Culture: enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training. Acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities, and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational and technical skills…

    Guess some folks are just closed minded and can’t broaden their horizon’s or interests to something new or different…

    *shrugs*

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/All_Over_U/ All_Over_U

    Didn’t care for Beyonce’s performance, though I am a fan. The best part of the show for me was the voices of Tyrese, Johnny, & Trey during the O’Jay lifetime achievement presentation. Overall, the show was good, but not great. I look forward to the “real” Michael Jackson tribute which I’m sure BET is already preparing for.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Kountry_Mayne/ Kountry_Mayne

    ive only watched one bet awards and that was 2 years ago. never again will i watch that stuff. i dont even like watching the bet channel. they play stuff repeatedly way too much

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/-xVAMPx-/ -xVAMPx-

    THE WHOLE SHOW SUCKED ‘CEPT FOR NEYO’S SOLO ( LADY IN MY LIFE ) AND JAMIE AND NEYO’S DUET ( I’LL BE THERE ) THE REST WAS GARBAGE.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/BendNot2Break/ BendNot2Break

    That show last night was complete crap with very few highlights of good in between, and whatever dust beyaki is smoking y’all need to get her off it soon, I keep trying to tell y’all she just not that intelligent, nor important. Bandwagoning is a disease and way to many people got it!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/313rdAssassin/ 313rdAssassin

    Okay, I see Jamie wearin the red jacket. I REALLY hope that won’t become a new fad any time soon.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/mimidarbouze/ mimidarbouze

    whom ever wrote this post is an a*****e , how can anyone not aprecaite what Beyonce did the girl changed her whole performance aand just three days to honor my Mj there was nothing wrong with her song selection or what she was wearing but i guess an a*****e like RK Byers, whatever his name is would not understand. so stop being a hater and find someone else to pick on cause Beyonce was awsome , go suck on Jay Z’s dick or something

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/specialkindalady/ specialkindalady

    WDF did that dumb assed BeYONDsay sing a song TOTALLY irrelevant of respecting why most folks were there for? She’s an idiot and proves over and over again she’s a complete ding bat! “Ava Maria”…my ass! B***h assed, dummy! You shoulda been paying your damned respects to the man who made YOUR ass possible!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Kaysierra1963/ Kaysierra1963

    If anyone knows music, AVE MARIA ,means Catholic Hail Mary/ I think Beyonce did do a tribute to MJ,but in her own way. The show in my opinion, was great compared to BET AWARDS having only 3-4 days to rearrange everything. All throughout the show, everyone paid there respects to the King of Pop which is much deserving. Let’s not try and belittle or tear away of what BET and the Stars were trying to do, I mean what other show actually paid there respects in the way the BET AWARDS DID? why as black people when a few of us try to do something in a positive manner, our race continue to want to knock each other down?.. now for the best performance in my opinion? Jamie Fox when he had T-pain and Travis on the drums.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/DaintyJen/ DaintyJen

    DAMN specialkindalady…lol that s**t came from the heart? lmao

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Dynetha_Rae/ Dynetha_Rae

    omg whoever wrote this “critique” on the BET awards….shut the hell up dude please. drake was sitting because he recently tore his acl and all that other stuff you said….NO ONE CARES…just appreciate the fact that these people had less than THREE days to put this together and for the ones who didnt have to change their performance..they still had to hit the stage with the grief of michael’s death still fresh in the air. so before you start criticizing think about all the factors involved and get your facts straight. s**t. can’t stand these fake ass critics always got s**t to say. excuse my language but damn man just shut up and let it be. a great man has died and all these artists were trying to do was pay tribute….through the pain. so as long as you’re sitting on your couch watching you have no idea until you have to hit the stage after someone like this is lost. again i say….shut the hell up. i’m out

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Dynetha_Rae/ Dynetha_Rae

    and as for special kinda lady…beyonce did pay her respects. just cuz she wasnt in full michael jackson gear does not mean she was being disrespectful….(can’t stand ghetto ass black folk. dont ever know what the hell they talkin bout)what is irrelevant, special kinda lady, is the fact that you think beyonce is a “dumb ass b***h” maybe you and the person who wrote this article could do a talk show called “us haters”

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Dynetha_Rae/ Dynetha_Rae

    NEWS FLASH YOU IDIOTS: DRAKE HAS A TORN A.C.L. FROM PLAYING BALL!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/chuga1/ chuga1

    BET SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THERE SELF EVERY MICHAEL FAN SHOULD PROTEST THEY SHOULD AND COULD OF REPRESENT MICHAEL BETTER THAT WAS A LAME AS EXCUSE OF A TRIBUTE SHOW I GUESS WE HAVE TO WAIT ON THE WHITE SHOWS TO REPRESENT MIKE RIGHT.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/pookiebadaz/ pookiebadaz

    i was mad @ the fact that lil wayne’s performance was mainly cut out..i mean if u never heard the song b4 u wouldnt kno wut he was talkin bout…n the show all together wsasnt nothin to get hype over

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/BreakitDown69/ BreakitDown69

    I can’t lie that the awards had its moments. I liked Neyo’s rendition The Lady in my Life, Maxwell did his thing, the O’Jays tribute was on point. I loved Ciara’s performance. Letoya and Keri were decent as well. We could’ve done without Jay. Does he owe a stock in BET? No! He had the nerve to say he’s won’t be there if Chris Brown is coming. He could’ve shut the hell up and watched his wife. That, and Wayne should’ve stayed home. Jamie did an admirable job hosting, even though he shouldn’t promoted his stuff. Let the ads do that.
    The only thing I’d done different, was a video tribute. He’s the King of pop, and Mike deserves that much. Everyone you saw last night, Mike was responsible for their careers. If it wasn’t for him, you won’t see no videos, dancers, dancing, or them! The real tribute will be the funeral. If BET does another tribute, they got respect him or don’t respect him at all!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/SCORPIOPOET28/ SCORPIOPOET28

    OKAY THE BET AWARDS HAD ITS MOMENTS THE BEST AND MOST TEARY EYED MOMENT WAS WHEN JANET COURAGEOUSLY SPOKE TO THE MICHAEL jACKSON FANS, AND REMINDED US ALL THAT WE MIGHT BE LOSING A MUSIC ICON SHE AND HER SIBLINGS LOSS A BROTHER.

    NOW JAY-Z I LOVED HE DID D.O.A DEATH OF AUTOTUNE FOR REAL AND IF YOU SEEN LITTLE WAYNE ACT THAT SONG WAS RIGHT ONTIME
    I CANT WAIT TO THE WORLD REALIZE LITTLE WAYNE IS GARBAGE, AND HE DID A DISRESPECTFUL SET AT THE TRIBUTE AWARD SHOW, TO MUCH PROFANITY AND WHAT WAS UP WITH THE LITTLE GIRLS

    OJAYS MARVELOUS

    JAIMIE AND MARTIN FAKE MOVIE PREVIEW OUTSTANDING

    JAIMIE AND NE YO, GENIUS

    BBD GOOD, NEW EDITION BAD

    ALL IN ALL JUST LIKE ANY OTHER AWARD SHOW IT HAD ITS UPS AND DOWNS

    HEART GOES OUT TO JACKSON FAMILY

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/YOURNAWTEEGIRL/ YOURNAWTEEGIRL

    YEAH DRAKE WAS SITTING DOWN CUZ HE HAD TO…HIS LEG IS HURT

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/YOURNAWTEEGIRL/ YOURNAWTEEGIRL

    OH AND CIARA’S PERFORMANCE WAS HORRIBLE!!!! B***H CAN BARELY SING…SHE COMPLETLEY F’D UP THAT SONG
    I WAS LIKE WTF

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Arrielle2007/ Arrielle2007

    I truly want to give the producers at BET credit. It takes months to plan an award show and they changed everything around at a moments notice. But anything lacking has to go towards the celebs. Beyonce was a hot mess. Looking for attention. Souljah Boy, I have no idea why he performed but I he was horrible. Ciara was actually okay. She cant sing but she tried her best for Micheal and I can appreciate that. Jay Z was wrong for not even trying to include something with Micheal into his performance like everyone else did. The O’Jays were great. Maxwell was sizzling. Janet was beautiful. Lil Wayne was ugly. Jamie was excellent as a host and as a performer. Neyo was great and gave us all a lot of touching moments. I think those that tried did the best they could and those that didnt deserve all the slack the BET awards seem to be getting.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/missstrings43/ missstrings43

    I was really disappointed with the sound quality that was provided. The sound kept going low than got high when Beyonce sang that dread awefulllll song. Monica and K. Cole did good job but K. Cole had no love lost for MJ. Monica gave a shout out after they went down on the stage. Jamie Foxx did as best a job that he could with a change of show venue. He sang his behind off last night. I was impressed. Janet was heart felt. Her daddy promoted his new record label and has to be in denial about this right now. He is old and may be regretful about a lot of things right now. You know people act out in many strange ways when they are up against the press and spotlight. I’m gonna miss MJ.
    I honestly think that alot of what we saw as viewer’s of last night’s show was a bunch of people not really knowing how to represent their feelings on MJ going home. They did not know where they fit in last night. It was pretty sad. A lot of mixed emotions was in that audience.It was sad just watching it in my living room. I would love it if after the funeral..BET would redo the show as it was intended. Now that would redeem a lot.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/natchela/ natchela

    I READ SOME OF THESE PATHEIC AZZ COMMENTS FROM SO-CALLED AFRICAN AMERICANS OR SHOULD I SAY BLACK PPL!! (ARRIELLE2007, MISSSTRINGS43, YOURNAWTEEGIRL, & LAST & MOST DEFINETLY LEAST RK BYERS) THIS IS ONE OF REASON WE CAN NEVER RISE TO THE TOP!! ALWAYS PUTTING YOUR OWN PEOPLE, ALWAYS CRITIZING WHICH YOU ALL PROBABLY DON’T HAVE A POT PISS IN & WINDOW TO THROW IT OUT OF!! BEFORE YOU WRITE/TYPE A COMMENT THAT’S NEGATIVE TAKE A LOOK AT YOURSELF & SEE IF YOU ALL HAVE ANY ROOM TO TALK!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Eleonora43/ Eleonora43

    FYI Beyonce don’t sing she wines

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/xofreshtiger18xo/ xofreshtiger18xo

    I enjoyed Bey’s performance…Ave Maria is a beautiful song and if you werent paying attention she also sang arms of an angel, which sounded like a tribute to me. Jay, the O’Jays, The O’jay tribute singers, and maxwell were the best parts. I am so appalled at the Drake performance…its one thing to sing a song about screwin every girl in the world but when you bring little girls on stage while singing it, it makes me very sad and it makes me wonder about the integrity of the parents of the girls and the girls themselves.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Kris1226/ Kris1226

    ok ppl. i liked the awards,but didnt like it. jamie foxx did the best he could, and i respect him for that. the jackson 5 in the beg. was perfect. im just curious, when they award ppl, does that mean they have to be alive? because MJ should have had some. but idk, what the case is. however beyonce changed her performance in like a matter of not even 3 days! so that was great. she needs to stick to single ladies tho my bad B. but lil waynes performance disgusted me. the fact that michael loved children and he had children on the stage talkin bout effin every girl in the world. what kinda crapp. atleast take the girls off. and quit the cussin seriously. soulja boys performance was okay. kc and monica’s was lovely. and the fact that most of the artists even at the end of their performance didnt say nothin about MJ. and showed they didnt really care. and ugh jay-z please. jamie and ne-yo did amazing!! and trust me sweethears im not hatin, just givin my opinion. ps. monica looked amazing.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/DangerouslyInLove/ DangerouslyInLove

    Don’t just voice your complaints on here, got to BET.com and let them know how you feel!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/capricorngirl1/ capricorngirl1

    I would have to agree with a comment that someone else just wrote before me. This is exactly why we can’t over come. We dog each other out. We don’t lift one another up in a damn thing. I also heard some ugly comments about 1st lady Michelle Obama being ghetto. That wasn’t nice. Can’t we come together and edify each other. I think the awards show was good for a quick change considering what it was going to be. There was some cussing that could have been left out but that’s us as black people. We act just the way we perform. We are a talented people. That’s why people imitate us. Commercials are done with so much soul in them. Our music is the background in a lot of things now. White people are using our talent to promote so many things. We are really dominating right now and we just don’t know how to handle the power. A lot of times we act different in other folks eye’s, yet they mimic the crap out of us. If we act so different. Why do you use us?
    Please. I beg of US BLACK people. Let’s not tear each other down. Let’s find some UNITY, Some GOOD, some LOVE, some CARING FEELING in each other.
    Love to us all

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Bytchz-NV-PrttyLips/ Bytchz-NV-PrttyLips

    lol beyonces performance was ave maria was AMAZING…not many ppl in the world can perform that song AT ALL..much less put her own spin on it..tru she wasnt jumpin around stage shakin her ass with 50 back up dancers as usual..but speakin from a vocal standpoint it was AWESOME…havin changed a show in 3 days that took them almost a year to plan i think they did very well..black ppl are our own enemies….its sad..so negative ALWAYS

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Robert967/ Robert967

    They should have never went on with the awards show. Peace.

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