BET Awards Rundown

Last night's BET awards show did a nice job of honoring Michael Jackson's legacy. Seeing New Edition complete with the new heavy edition of Bobby Brown was fun. I remember the hype surrounding them back in middle school when Candy Girl came out. They were the new J5 or so we were told. Of course, no one ended up being the new J5, let alone the new Michael. 

Ne-Yo did a moving version of Lady In My Life. The choice was smart, since it was one of the rare "non-mega hits" from Thriller. Apparently, I missed the end of the show, even with the DV-R rolling. So I didn't see Janet's appearance or the show closing version of I'll Be There. Jamie Foxx's opening monologue was all wrong and all right. His celebration of Michael's style was filled with love and humor. And when he mentioned the steep ticket prices for the Victory tour he wasn't kidding. 

My favorite performance was non-Jackson related. Jay-Z slayed everyone with his new single D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune). He rapped truth to power as he went verbally head on with many performers in the audience who have relied too heavily on the gimmicky auto-tune to enhance their vocals, host Jamie Foxx included. Not only does Jay-Z not use auto-tune, he used a real band for the show. Props to Hova. I downloaded the single from iTunes earlier in the week, the clean version, no less. Man, I'm getting old. So, it was a treat to hear Jay-Z do D.O.A. live. 

Finally, the Mighty O'Jays took home the lifetime achievement award and performed a medley of their hits. Eddie Levert leading the way, they showed the audience what live performances used to look like on a consistent basis for all acts. They had more musicality and showmanship than most of the night's other performers. Didn't hurt that they were trained in choreography by the immortal Cholly Atkins from Motown. For a bunch of older dudes, they still have the moves. 

Peace & Disco Beats