Way To Go, BET!!

BET got it so right Sunday night. The 2012 BET Awards were very good. More than I was hoping for to be honest. From the G.O.O.D. Music opening to the Whitney tribute, I was thoroughly entertained and impressed. We, as in the Black community, take BET to task for many things as we should. This awards show was a shining example of the good BET can do. We need more shows like this. (Hint: Pay Tia Mowry and Pooch Hall to keep them on The Game). Watching the show made me smile all Sunday night. If you missed it, you missed a pretty great show.

The highlights for me were the tribute to Maze featuring Frankie Beverly. This group is inherently New Orleans to me. I have seen them in concert more times than I can count. They represent summer time in the NO for me. They remind me of my Dad. They were honored by Joe, Tyrese, Faith Evans and Tyler Perry. The Whitney Houston tribute was awesome. Monica, Brandy, Cissy and Gary Houston and Chaka Khan all did Whitney proud. Cissy moved me to tears. She was amazing to get through that. I was overly excited to see D'Angelo perform again. He was worth it. Melanie Fiona was fantastic. Nicki Minaj's performance was one of her better ones. MMG's backing track was too loud and made the performance odd. Usher performed "Climax" & I've determined that it has to just be a studio song to never be performed live. The falsetto he sings in seems too high for him. At least, he cut that stupid mohawk off his head finally. Chris Brown's performance was ok. I'm not a fan of either song he sang though. Tyga and Cash Out performance were not my faves. The show moved quickly and only suffered a few glitches. A definite win for BET in my eyes.

I absolutely loved the show though. Samuel L. Jackson was just ok as a host. I think I am used to a host being more involved in the show a la Monique & Kevin Hart. Kevin was actually there and would've been a funnier host. Thank you, Debra Lee and Stephen Hill for putting on a great show. I was impressed with almost everything. The closing performance was random and seemed out of place. But, this was the case the last two years as well. Maybe next year, the show will close on a high. I know that I will be watching next year as well. I love music so I cannot help but to watch. IT's the only show where I am guaranteed to see a little bit of everyone important in Black music. No other show spotlights our culture. For that reason alone, I will continue to be a fan.