REVIEW: BET Awards 2014

Time for my annual BET Awards review! I actually worked half the night to get it ready for the morning, but have a lot more to do before I leave for CANADA in a few days!

Of course, the night kicked off with the Pre-Show, which everyone always has playing in the background as they finish up some last minute things before the actual show starts. However, I actually watched mostly due to Adrienne Bailon who co-shosted with Shad Moss (formerly known as Bow Wow), Keshia Chante, and Lloyd Boston. As a blogger trying to get to the next level, I always like to watch people interview others, and their dynamics back and forth, and I thought Adrienne did a great job. Which is why I'll be watching The Real this fall!

Pharrell opened the show with "Come Get It Bae," but no Miley Cyrus folks! He then brought Missy Elliott who mixed "Pass That Dutch," with the song. It was great to see her pop up, and I'm hoping she comes back with more music soon. I, for one, was very glad that Pharrell didn't perform "Happy!" I really like the song, and give him his credit for killing it, but it's gone on long enough.

Chris Rock then came out with energy, cracking jokes! Everyone wants to make the Kevin Hart/Chris Rock comparison, but I say just let him be great and do his thing. And he did a great job! I can think of quite a few hosts that were lackluster in taking on the show, so Chris definitely did well.

Gabrielle Union and Regina Hall presented the award of Best New Artist to August Alsina. Personally, I would have rather seen Ariana Grande or Mack Wilds win, but whatever. His attitude really turns me off from his music, personally. I couldn't even take him seriously up there crying, not because I wouldn't give it to him crying for receiving a BET award (that's a big deal to many artists), but because it seemed fake to me. However, congrats to him, I guess. Lil Wayne then performed "Krazy," off his upcoming album, Carter V, as well as "Believe Me." I don't really listen to him much, but it was a pretty good performance.

Nick Cannon and Zendaya presented the award for Best Gospel Artist to Tamela Mann, who is an incredible gospel artist and seems like such a nice person! Eva Marcille and Terrence J presented the award for Best Actress to Lupita N'yongo for her role in 12 Years a Slave! John Legend performed "You and I (Nobody in the World)," which is so calming and beautiful, and then brought out Jhene Aiko who performed her hit, "The Worst," to an acoustic sound. This girl has had such a MAJOR come up over the recent years. She seemed nervous, but I truly believe her lyrics are what sets her apart from some of her other female counterparts in the game. Because I remember listening to her music when I was 11, 12, I can respect where she is now in her career!

Mike Tyson and Gary Owens presented the award to Best Male Hip Hop Artist to Drake, who Tyga came out to do his first for Chris Brown's "Loyal," with a special drum solo from Travis Barker. Chris did a little dancing, but he still has his jail/stress weight on him, so it wasn't the same. I like the weight on him some, but he needs to lean up a little to be able to get back to where he was. It was good to see him back, though! Chris, to me, is and always will be a talented artist, so I hope he does better with himself in the future.
wasn't there, but kudos to him. Weezy and

Chris Rock did a great segment, going out to a monster truck rally and asking white people questions about BET and the artists featured. It was definitely the funniest moment of the night!  Common presented one of the newest Music Matters artists, Gabi Wilson, who plays five instruments, and came out playing electric guitar and piano. So talented, and she's only 17! My only issue with BET and these artists is that I feel like they should give these artists their chance to really shine, not just featuring them for 30 seconds and cutting them off! I would rather see a few of them at maybe even the pre-show than some other artists! That would give them a chance to really showcase their music and skills! Just a though.

Usher then came out with a short medley with some of his great hits, and then went off into "Good Kisser," which is my song! It was one of the greatest performances of the night to me! He had so much energy, and the throwbacks like "You Don't Have To Call," "Confessions," and "U Remind Me," brought me back my childhood. So much fun!

Kerry Washington presenting the Video of the Year award, when Kevin Hart came out interrupting comedically with his character Oliver Pope! The Video of the Year was presented to Pharrell for "Happy," of course, but shout out to Beyoncé to being nominated twice in the same category for "Partition" and "Drunk in Love!" Kevin Durant and Serena Williams also won the Subway Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year.

Jennifer Hudson came out looking great performing "Walk It Out." The song hasn't caught on to me yet, but she looked great! She also performed a new song, "It's Your World," which was really fun and actually better than "Walk It Out," so it was great to see. DeSean Jackson and Boris Kudjoe, as well as Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge presented the award for Best Male R&B/Pop Artist to Pharrell! We also got a glimpse into the upcoming film Beyond The Lights, starring Nate Parker and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, which tells the story of a troubled singer who finds love and herself in the process. It looks like it'll be a great story!

Back to Chris Rock's shenanigans and jokes. He decides, to top Ellen at the Oscars passing out pizza, that it would be great to give out Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles! It was funny (though some found it stereotypical). Nicki Minaj then came out on a stopped motorcycle performing a bit of her first verse of "Chiraq," and then going into "Pills and Potions," with American Idol's Burnell Taylor. I love the song, but that Alice in Wonderland theme? Not so much. The video itself for the song is kind of weird too, so I guess it was only to be expected. The mushrooms and that Easter bunny was distracting, though.

Keyshia Cole presented the next Music Matters artist, Adrian Marcel, who will be touring with Keyshia this summer. Again, another great artist cut off too soon. Larenz Tate also shined the light on Denzel Thomas of Philadelphia and Chicago's Tim Cane, who have both made a huge impact in their cities with their individual initiatives. Always great to see that. Then August Alsina hit the stage performing "Kissin' On My Tattoos," and "I Luv This S**t" with an aerial silk acrobatic performer behind him. Trey Songz even came out and sang his part on the remix, I guess officially squashing that stupid beef between them, and then Chris Brown came back out too! Though I'm not a fan of August really, I will give it to him that he's a good singer, and I might even buy a few of his songs later. It was good to see all of them come together. Trey then went into his own set, performing "Nana."

Pharrell then presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to the honorary for the night, Lionel Richie for his solo work and work with the Commodores, selling over 100 million albums in his career. John Legend performed "Hello" and "Still." Ledisi then came out performing "Brick House," with a lot of energy and fun! Yolanda Adams also sang "Jesus Is Love," which was INCREDIBLE! Lionel accepted his award, giving some inspirational words to upcoming artists and to all of of us really, saying, "Soul is a feeling, not a color. Talent is a God-given gift, and not a category. And 'out of the box' is that magical place where true talent goes to live and thrive and breathe." After accepting his award, Lionel came out and performed himself, singing "Easy Like Sunday Morning," and "All Night Long," giving a great performance!

T.I. came out with Iggy Izalea performing "No Mediocre," and then Iggy went into "Fancy." I was just madChadrick Boseman then came out, giving the award to Best Group to Young Money (which was a mess, but I won't go there), and giving a first glance into Get On Up, the official biopic for James Brown! Shad Moss, Keshia Chante, and the Instastar winner, Rodney, presented the BET Viewers Choice Award to August Alsina for "I Luv This S**t," which I believe was somebody cheating personally. I can give credit where it's due, but there is NO WAY that, even if it did beat Beyoncé's "Drunk In Love," that it beat Pharrell's "Happy." Somebody rigged that some kind of way.
that Iggy's mike wasn't turned up, and made it seem like she was lip syncing.

BET then came out with a great surprise, doing a 90s flashback, reunited some great groups. Troop came out to perform "All I Do Is Think of You," Color Me Badd with "Sex You Up," and Silk with "Freak U!" It was fun!

In a special move, we reflected on how this summer marks the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The CEO of BET, Ms. Debra Lee, gave the Humanitarian Award to our ancestors for their labor and persistence, giving the physical award to Myrlie Evers-Williams, civil rights activist and widow of Medgar Evers. As she accepted the award and spoke, I had a powerful reflection. Just yesterday, my sister and I went down to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial (I've been, but she had never gone). We talked about the strength it took those people involved in the movement to fight for the rights we have today, and how we have to honor their legacy by being all that we can with dignity and grace. Many of us get that, but a good part of us don't. Phylicia Rashad gave an excellence speech, honoring Dr. Maya Angelou and Ruby Dee who we recently lost, as well as Bobby Womack and others in the past year that have passed on. Tyrese was going into a rendition of "If You Think You're Lonely Now," but  it was cut off.

Robin Thicke then came back with his song, "Forever Love," yet another desperate attempt to get Paula Patton back. Now, I don't know what actions he's doing behind the scenes to save his marriage, but it seems to me all of these public appearances and songs aren't going to cut it! He needs to actually PROVE that he's changing and can be the man that Paula wants. I'm sure she's used to him singing his heart out, and maybe that worked once upon a time (I would swoon too if a man sang to me!). But now, it's getting old.

Floyd Mayweather then presented the award for Best Female Hip Hop Artist to Nicki Minaj. NOW, I knew that Nicki was probably going to win, but it was nice to see Iggy Azalea nominated and know that she could've won, too. Then Nicki gets up on the stage, being overly dramatic, talking about how she writes her own music (throwing shade at maybe Iggy or some other rappers), and how won the award five years in a row. But let's be real Nicki. Literally for five years, I've been saying how you have been GIVEN this award EVERY. YEAR. The nominees every year have always been people no where close on her level, and no competition at all. That's like someone running uncontested in a race, and saying "Oh, look what I did!" I respect you as an artist, but humble yourself a little bit.

The night ended with a pre-recorded performance of "Partition" from Beyoncé with a special verse from Jay-Z from the On The Run tour! I literally got into a debate about it with my aunt. Point blank, BET did that for ratings and to keep people watching throughout the night. How do I know? Because half my timeline was so excited for it, and then was disappointed when they saw that it was a pre-recorded performance. I don't know how you DIDN'T know it would be pre-recorded. Bey and Jay JUST had a performance Saturday night in Cincinnati. Did you really think that they were flying to L.A. just to fly back out for the next performance?! Sure, BET could've done things differently, but that was THE NETWORK'S choice. And Bey and Jay STILL got paid. For a tape. I'm just saying.

Anyway, I had a good time watching, and an even better time interacting with people on Twitter, and looking at all the crazy memes! The show had its wack moments, but overall was pretty good! It's still my goal to be there one day, interviewing and working behind the scenes! I found out that a girl that used to go to my church was there working, and it motivated me all the more. During my vacation, I plan to refocus and figure out a plan to get to where I want to be. Always grateful for my progress, and now I'm ready to take it to another level!

Sound off on your opinions on the awards below!

Images via BET / Rap Up / Pop Crush / Getty