BET Awards 2009: Worth Watching
The BET Awards is an award show created by Black Entertainment Television so African-Americans can be recognized for their achievements. Despite this purpose, I always felt that the BET Awards were ridiculous. The BET Awards was worth watching to see a few music performances or who would receive the Lifetime Achievement award, but after that I usually turned back to watching cartoons. But for some reason, this year's BET Awards was very good. Actor and singer Jamie Foxx hosted this year and brought his usual comedic style to the awards show (he even attempted to moon walk across the stage to pay tribute to Michael Jackson and it was almost successful).
I did not watch the 2009 BET Awards just because Jamie Foxx was hosting. I wanted to watch because I was curious as to how they would pay tribute to the late Michael Jackson. I wanted to see how well BET could put together a tribute for the King of Pop and I thought that they did an excellent job. Music artists such as Ciara and Ne-Yo sang some of Jackson's songs, while others spoke about their favorite memory of Michael Jackson before commercial breaks.
This year's musical performances included Keri Hilson, Jamie Foxx, Souljah Boy, Maxwell, Beyonce, and Mary Mary. I thought Beyonce's performance of "Ave Maria" was elegant. I also enjoyed Ne-Yo's dedication to male artists. Last year, Alicia Keys did a dedication to female artists so Ne-Yo, declaring it be the "Year of the Gentleman," decided to have a dedication with performances by Keith Sweat, Guy, and Bell Biv DeVoe. The male dedication had everyone on their feet, especially with Bell Biv DeVoe singing their hit song, "Poison."
The 2009 BET Awards was nearly perfect. It had excellent musical performances (including the O'Jays performing after receiving the Lifetime Award), funny moments with the help of host Jamie Foxx, and tributes to Michael Jackson. What made the BET Awards not completely perfect was the musical performance by Drake, Young Money, and Lil' Wayne. They performed their hit single, "Every Girl," which is not appropriate for an awards show (to be honest, it's not appropriate at all). Lil' Wayne's verse in the song is very crude and because of that, the majority of his performance had to be bleeped out. BET made an unwise decision in letting them perform that song. It was fine to let Drake sing his hit song, "Best I Ever Had," but it should have ended there.
Final Thought: The 2009 BET Awards was very good. Jamie Foxx was an excellent host and the musical performances were entertaining. Drake, Young Money, and Wayne should not have rapped about their fantasy of having sexual relations with every female in the world. They could have kept that fantasy between them. I am pleased to say that I cannot wait to see what next year's BET Awards will be like.