Last night saw the annual BET Awards take place in LA's Shrine Auditorium. Now apparently the event was packed to the brim with star power - Jay Z, Kanye, Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, you know the gang (apologies for the fact that we've ceased to moan about the fact that like it or not, Kim is now a part of said powerhouse) - it seems they were too high and mighty to grace the red carpet with their presence, hence their absence from the gallery of pics below. We did come across this one though (scroll down) of Kim cosying up to not only her new bff Bey but also Miss Minaj. SUCH a social climber. And then there's the one above of bezzos Kanye and Jay Z flanked by their respective ladies. You just know Beyonce pre arranged that seating plan.
Among the celebs who didn't mind posing for a pic were Willow Smith, the gorgeous Kerry Washington, Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child fame, Tatyana Ali from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Jamie Fox, Chaka Khan, Samuel L Jackson, Busta Rhymes (nice patriotic outfit), Jermaine Dupri (again, nice patriotic outfit), Flo Rida, The OMG Girlz (shield your eyes) and more. (Full gallery of pics below.)
A great night was had by all accounts as many tributes were paid to the late Whitney Houston. As per the Boston Herald, Mariah Carey began the proceedings by sharing personal stories with the audience. Recalling the last time she had seen Houston, she sobbed as she spoke of the times they gossiped and laughed. "I miss my friend... I miss hearing her voice and laughter," said Carey. Then pals of the singer Monica and Brandy gave their respective vocal offerings, followed by Chaka Khan who set the stage alight with "I'm Every Woman." The emotional highlight of the evening though came when Houston's mother Cissy sang Bridge Over Troubled Water in memory of her daughter allegedly leaving Beyonce and many others in tears.
Sweet as this was, the evening was also peppered with some less than tasteful moments with an awful lot of performances - especially those from Rick Ross (look how much effort he made with his ensemble. Didn't you hear? Fluffy Phat Farm trackies are the new John Ford suits) and Nicki Minaj - requiring constant bleeping to cover over vulgar curse words. Maybe it's just me but with a room full of profanity happy rappers both male and female, this is perhaps the ONE event you'd expect the censor police to take it easy. Evidently not!
I won't regale you with the details of who won what as you could probably guess that it was Kanye, Jay Z, Beyonce and Minaj who took home the most coveted awards between them. At some point they're going to HAVE to invent an award to give Kim Kardashian to fully initiate her into their world, any suggestions?
