Last night, BET premiered it's annual Honors special, originally taped January 16 in Washington, DC, and it was actually...well...entertaining!!!! This year's honorees included:
Queen Latifah (media), Sean "P. Diddy" Combs (entrepreneur), Dr. Kieth Black (public service) , Dr. Ruth J. Simmons (education), and Whitney Houston (entertainment).
Gabrielle Union hosted for the second year in a row, equipped with several polyester gown changes (none of which impressed moi), and several pounds of Grade-A yaki!!!Notable performances by artists including India.Arie, Maxwell, Patti LaBelle, Jasmine Sullivan, and Take 6 among others, were sprinkled throughout the show.
Diddy was blessed by an OUTSTANDING, out-ya-seat medley by Queen Mary J. Blidge; she was flawlessly styled with effortless vocals. Their bond reaches 20 years strong, and Diddy moved the crowd towards-tears during his lengthy, albeit inspiring and appropriate, acceptance speech.
I found myself puzzled at the pairing of Trey Songz and legendary Stevie Wonder...not once, but TWICE?! It was rather awkward at first...but I guess they made it work. Must say that I was too proud to see Trey (Petersburg,VA, homie) alongside greatness. The power of hard work and never giving up on a dream.
The absolute FAIL of the night was the decision to allow Ryan Leslie to sing a song. By himself. IN PUBLIC?!?! It was soo horrible, I don't EVER have to hear Ryan sing the alphabet, much less "I Choose You". EVER. I started to doubt his musical abilities (Harvard grad or NOT-that shyt STUNK!!) as he's got plenty of production credits. My advise: STAY behind the BOARDS man. Performance is not ya thing son.
During the Whitney Houston tribute, the Diva was serenaded by Jennifer Hudson belting "I Will Always Love You" and (possibly the best performance of the night) Kim Burell's serenade of "Believe In You And Me".Whitney could NOT contain herself?!?! She ran to the bottom of the stage (front of crowd) where she remained an excited sweaty mess for the duration of her "honors" set.
**More BET Honors performances from ThatGrapeJuice**
Overall, the show was quite entertaining for 2 hours, and BET did a great job saluting promeninant Black figures making strides in their respective genres.
Peace,
Dawnavette
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