Last night was the MTV Video Music Awards, and I quite enjoyed myself watching! With high energy performances on deck, the night was definitely one to look forward to. Of course, it started with the Pre-Show with  Sway and other MTV correspondents interviewing the hottest celebs on the red carpet including Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Lopez, and more!

Ariana Grande opened up the show with "Break Free," which is still growing on me. Nicki Minaj then hit the stage with a short performance of her newest single "Anaconda," which I have to admit is my guilty pleasure song, especially when I'm working out and hitting my squats! The ladies then came came together with Jessie J for "Bang Bang!" Nicki had a dress malfunction with the quick change she had to do to get ready for her part of the song, but she managed to hold it together so she didn't flash anybody, thank goodness! Overall, the performance was great, and was an awesome way to open the show.

Gwen Stefani and Snoop Dogg presented Best Female Music Video to Katy Perry for "Dark Horse" featuring Juicy J. I can't say I ever really watched the video, so I can't really say whether she deserved it or not. From the clips I've seen, it looked really detailed, though. Taylor Swift then hit the stage with "Shake It Off." I don't really like this song by her, but she still gave her all. The most memorable part of the performance though was Taylor throwing a little jab at Nicki Minaj's dancer getting bit by an anaconda, when Taylor refused to jump off the stage into her dancers' arms, and potentially injuring herself. It was funny. Afterwards, Ed Sheeran won the Best Male award for "Sing."

Jay Pharaoh did impressions throughout the night, that I was really not feeling. He wasn't all that funny to me, and it seemed like MTV was making him an interim host, without actually giving him full hosting duties. Someone I follow on Twitter said it best: either have a host or don't have one at all.

Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels presented the video for Best Pop Video to Ariana Grande for her smash hit, "Problem," with Iggy Azalea! I absolutely love Ariana, so I was very happy for her. Aftewards, Artist to Watch nominee Sam Smith performed his hit "Stay With Me." I had heard the song before, which is absolutely beautiful, and his voice is incredible. In fact, I was so in awe by his live performance, I went and bought his album on iTunes during the commercial break (IT'S AWESOME!).

Common had a moment of silence for Michael Brown and the city of Ferguson, Missouri, before presenting Best Hip Hop Video to Drake for "Hold On, We're Going Home"with Majid Jordan. Uzo Adoba, Taylor Schilling and Laverne Cox from Orange Is The New Black presented Usher who performed "She Came To Give It To You," featuring Nicki Minaj. It's not my favorite song by him, but Usher still killed the stage! His moves were flawless and his performance was explosive!

Nina Dobrev and Trey Songz presented the Best Rock Video to Lorde for "Royals," which I wasn't aware was considered rock. Don't get me wrong, it's a good song. I just don't know if she should've won it.
Chloe Grace Moretz and Dylan O'Brien presented 5 Seconds of Summer who performed their hit "Amnesia." I've seen their name plenty of times before, but never really listened to them before. I definitely liked the song, though.

Jay Pharoah presented the award for Artist to Watch to Fifth Harmony, which I'm convinced was bought by Simon Cowell for publicity. They're nice girls, and I enjoyed them on the X Factor. They actually can sing, but I don't think they deserved this. Then again, this award was one where the fans "voted," so it's basically a popularity contest. Sam Smith honestly should've taken this one, though.

Iggy Azalea then performed "Black Widow," with Rita Ora, which actually did a great job of showcasing Rita's skills as a singer! Her vocals on the hook were great. Overall, I really liked the song and the performance. Demi Lovato and Jason Derulo then presented Maroon 5 who performed "Maps" outside. I don't listen to them regularly, but whenever I see them perform and Adam Levine sing, I love it!
The Video of the Year award then went to Miley Cyrus for "Wrecking Ball," where she allowed a homeless friend to bring to light homelessness in America. It was a very beautiful, selfless moment that I was actually proud of Miley for!

Then came the moment we had all been waiting for....literally! The winner of this year's MTV Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award Beyoncé killed the stage with her setlist with a medley complete of songs from her latest self-titled album, Beyoncé, including "Mine," "Flawless," "Partition," and even "Blue," which she never performed before! It was the perfect performance! The setlist was leaked a while before, but I was still excited and in awe the entire time! Jay-Z and Blue Ivy were there, and presented Bey with the award after her performance! To see Blue herself just in awe of her mommy and congratulating her was a precious moment! The show ended right after that, which was PERFECT. That's the way it needed to end!

Overall, a great show. The performances, of course, are always the best part. MTV got a few of these awards wrong, but I didn't care. I was so ready for Bey nothing else really phased me! I enjoyed watching.

What was your favorite moment of the VMAs?

8:52:00 AM

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

5:00:00 AM

I'm still reeling off of the craziness that was last night's MTV's Video Music Awards! From Miley twerking to the *NSYNC reunion, there was a LOT to talk about, and my entire timeline was going off all night!

The pre-show, hosted by various MTV correspondents including my favorite Sway, had appearances from Robin Thicke, Miley Cyrus, Emeli Sande, Lady Gaga, and more! Danity Kane even showed up on the red carpet to make the official announcement that they are back!!! Well, minus D.Woods. She has "other projects," but she needs to put that to the side because DK is about to blow back up, and I'm so excited! Their new song, "Rage," will be released soon, and I can't wait to hear!

During the pre-show, we also saw the first Moonmen of the night given away, one to Pink and Nate Reuss for Best Collaboration on "Just Give Me A Reason," and the other to Thirty Seconds To Mars for Best Rock Video ("Up In The Air"). New artist Austin Mahone performed his hit, "What About Love," and my favorite new singer, Ariana Grande, took the stage as well! Love her voice! I do wish that her stylist changed up her outfits though. Those little short sparkly dresses are cute for Nickelodeon, but the girl is 20! Let's throw something different in! She still did an amazing job though...her vocals are incredible!

As we all as know from the promos, the VMAs were held LIVE in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center.There was no host, which was cool, because in past years, hosts at these award shows don't really get all that noticed like they used to anyway. Lady Gaga opened up the show with her newest song "Applause." Now, yes, Gaga is always a tad bit...different with her performances, but that's part of why I respect her. Though I wouldn't call myself a monster by no means, her talent and artistry can't be denied. The girl did different outfit changes on stage, giving different looks from her career so far! Overall, I loved the performance, and thought the song opened the show with a pretty big bang!

One Direction gave out the award for Best Pop Video to Selena Gomez for "Come and Get It." Other awards that were revealed (but not given stage time) were Best Art Direction (Janelle Monae for "Queen"), Best Choreography (Bruno Mars, "Treasure"), Best Cinemotography (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, "Can't Hold Us"), Best Direction (Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z, "Suit and Tie") and Best Editing (JT again for "Mirrors"), and Best Visual Effects (Capitol City, "Safe and Sound").

The next performance was from Miley Cyrus, and surprisingly, Robin Thicke. Miley twerked all over the stage as she performed "We Can't Stop," and continued on acting a fool as she sang "Blurred Lines" with Robin. 2Chainz and Kendrick Lamar came out moments later to perform "Give It To U (Remix)" with Robin, but my mind was still stuck on Miley. One, who at MTV thought that it was a great idea to join Miley and Robin together?! They are two completely different artists, and it just didn't work! Robin, "Blurred Lines" is probably one of, if not the best song of your career so far (maybe behind "Lost Without You"), and you chose Miley to share your moment with? You had to have known better, and look what happened! Miley was a pure mess, dancing around, backing it up on Robin like he's not married WITH a kid! I realized though that we the public encouraged her. Her dancing to "Wop" was cute and fun, and made me like the song a little more. We basically gave her the A-OK to complete dance around like a ho onstage (sorry, that's the word that stuck with me). "Oh it's just Miley, just little Hannah Montana twerking," but she went way too far last night! Miley said in interviews before the show that her performance would be bigger than the Britney-Madonna kiss some years back, but it wasn't. It was disgusting and annoying to watch, and I actually like the girl! I know that she's trying to shed her Disney image, but this isn't the way to go. If you want people to take you seriously as Miley, you have to take yourself seriously first! Billy Ray and Tish, PLEASE come get your daughter. *rant over*

Iggy Azalea and the Queen Bee Lil Kim presented the Best Hip Hop Video to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for "Can't Hold Us!" Of course, people went off on Twitter because Macklemore and Ryan are white, and people feel like they don't represent the hip hop genre with their style of music. I don't know if I buy into the white privilege thing completely when it comes to the VMAs. Yes, there have been some questionable choices, but people expected Kendrick Lamar to win for "Swimming Pools" in this category were fooling themselves. Yes, LYRICALLY, Kendrick Lamar is better than Macklemore. There's no denying that. In terms of the VIDEO (this, after all, is the VIDEO Music Awards), Macklemore had him beat. I wish people could see that these awards are not based off artist's music, but the videos they set around their music. Check the Grammys next year. I guarantee Kendrick's coming home with a few! Until then, calm down folks!

Kevin Hart got on stage to joke around a bit, which entertained the crowd He kept saying that he wasn't the host, but MTV should've paid him like he was! He was definitely on stage a couple of times thoughout the night! Kanye West then performed his song, "Blood on the Leaves," mostly in the dark as a silhouette. Even though I would've loved to actually SEE him, his energy on stage and the subject matter overrode that! He KILLED it! Later, Pharrell, Nile Rodgers, and Daft Punk presented the Best Female Video to Taylor Swift for "I Knew You Were Trouble." I was genuinely happy for her because I love the song and the video! However, when she accepted the award, she gave a shoutout to the unknown ex this song was about. I could make a guess on who it was, but I'll leave that be. It was just unnecessary, and disappointed the mini Swiftie in me. Ed Sheeran presented Best Video with a Social Message went to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for "Same Love." It's an amazing song and great video, so I wasn't that upset about it beating out Beyoncé's "I Was Here."

Up next was the main event, and hands down the best moment of the entire show! Jimmy Fallon paid tribute to Justin Timberlake with the Michael Jackson Vanguard Music Award! Though he said that he felt like he didn't deserve it, he truly does. When he started singing his classic songs like, "Sexy Back," "Like I Love You," "Cry Me A River," and more, I realized that his music truly is timeless! These are songs that we're going to be rocking to when where 40 and 50, telling our kids, "You don't know nothing about that!" The performance, to me, is going down in VMA history! And THEN, he brought out *NSYNC!!!!! They only performed a minute medley of "Girlfriend," and "Bye Bye Bye" and yes, you could tell who was out of shape, but that made my LIFE! I grew up listening to them, and I was so excited the whole time, screaming, singing loud, and dancing right along with them! It was the best. They really should rethink the reunion tour! Just one good time for the fans!

Best Song of the Summer went to One Direction for "Best Song Ever." NBA basketball player Jason Collins and A$AP Rocky announced the next performance. Jason, who announced that he was gay this year, was reading from the teleprompter, but A$AP was standing away from him like he was diseased, and even made weird looks. It was so awkward. I really wished that they had picked someone with a little more sense and maturity to announce the next performance. A$AP took away from that a little bit. They announced Macklemore & Ryan Lewis who performed "Same Love" with Mary Lambert. Jennifer Hudson also took the stage with them towards the end, kind of stealing Mary's shine a little bit, but it was still a very nice performance. 

Emeli Sande and Adam Lambert presented the New Artist Award to Austin Mahone. I don't know his music, because it's not for my age range, but he seems to be doing well with the tweens andDrake who performed "Hold On, We're Going Home," and "Started From The Bottom." It was a good performance (even if Rihanna wanted to act like she was so bored throughout the show).

teens. Go him! T Boz and Chilli  then announced

Best Male Video went to Bruno Mars for "Locked Out Of Heaven." Moments later, Selena Gomez then announced him singing "Gorilla," which was weird for me. It's a sexy song, but I don't find Bruno all that sexy (he's like a cute little big brother or something). It was a cool performance though, and his vocals are amazing! I will give him that!  Video of the Year went to the one and only Justin Timberlake for "Mirrors," revealing that the video was a tribute to his grandparents. His grandfather passed away in December, and he dedicated the award to his granny. Allison Williams then announced Katy Perry who closed the show with "Roar." It's a catchy song but Katy has done way better in terms of performances and songs! I'm sure this song will do well because Katy always does well, but it's not her best. Maybe I'll catch on later. That always happens with me anyway.

The show was great. Had it's stale moments, especially after the JT performance (though that should've been the end of the show anyway). However, there were a lot of great moments, and overall I enjoyed it a lot! You can check out clips from your favorite moments and performances on MTV! 

What did you think of last night's Video Music Awards?

Images via MTV

5:45:00 PM

Last night was the biggest night of the year for BET—the star-studded BET Awards 2013! Of course, I’ve been reviewing this show since I started The Spotlight, so, for the fifth time, here we go!

The pre-show, hosted by Angela Simmons and Bow Wow (they really did fire those other 106 & Park hosts, huh?), was simply the pre-show. Nothing bad. Nothing great either. You watch to see if your favorite artists will be interviewed or if you’ll see them on the red carpet. We saw stars like Mindless Behavior, J. Cole, Big Sean, Charlie Wilson, and power couples like Robin Thicke and Paula Patton, as well Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade. Tamar Braxton even took the first award for the night--the Centric Award for "Love and War!" And her post-baby body looks great! Congrats to her! The performances were nothing spectacular to me, mostly because I don’t listen to or know anybody who performed really. After a while, it all starts to sound the same, so I just waited for the show to begin.

Check out more about the BET Awards below!

Chris Brown opened up the show with the electric "Fine China," the smooth Aaliyah-assisted "Don't Think They Know," and "Love More" with Nicki Minaj. I could see that he’s been working on his vocals a little bit! It wasn’t the best opening, but it definitely got the show off to a good start! Chris Tucker, the host of the night, came out grooving with Ray Chew and the Ray Chew Orchestra. Of course, he cracked his jokes on everyone. Well everyone that he could, because half of everyone weren’t in the seats yet! Ehh, what can you do?

Best Male R&B/Pop Artist went to Miguel for his hot track "Adorn" and album Kaleidoscope Dream. I would have loved to see Justin Timberlake take it, but Miguel definitely has busted his butt this year, putting out great music, so good for him. Afterwards Robin Thicke rocked the stage, performing “Blurred Lines,” with Pharrell, and looking absolutely gorgeous!

Kendrick Lamar took the Best New Artist Award, only he didn’t physically accept it because he was back stage about to perform. Now, I’m not sure what was going on, but between commercials and another award acceptance, he definitely could’ve came out to snag his award real quick! After Gabrielle Douglas accepted her Young Stars Awardfor her amazing wins with the U.S. Olympic gymnastic team, Kendrick hit the stage, giving the crowd one of the best performances of the night! He rapped “m.A.A.D. City,” and then went into “Don’t Kill My Vibe,” with the legendary Erykah Badu. It was an AMAZING, soulful rendition, one that I said Kendrick needs to record and put on iTunes ASAP! And anybody who thought it was boring or unnecessary is crazy!

Later, Chris Tucker came out with his own little performance of Michael Jackson’s "Human Nature." Though I knew that he was probably going to talk about Michael since they were so close, it was a little weird because “Human Nature” is one of my favorite MJ songs, so it was just…weird. But I appreciate him sharing his memories.

Throughout the night, we saw performances from BET’s Music Matters artists, which stars like J.Coleand Melanie Fiona have been a part of. Singers Austin Brown and Curtis Fields (who showed the power of technology playing guitar on his iPhone!) took the stage. The only thing I hate about when the Music Matters artists perform, is that BET ALWAYS cuts them off! Let them have their moment to shine, so that people can see who they are and what they have to offer!  

Later, a choir accompanied R. Kelly, singing a mix of some of his greatest hits and collaborations (a tad bit awkward with “Bump & Grind!). R. Kelly hit the stage singing a medley of  classics like "I Wish," "When A Woman's Fed Up,"  and "Ignition Remix.” Definitely wasn’t expect that, but it was cool. Moments later, La La Anthony and Meagan Good presented the award for Best Gospel to Mary Mary! The Subway Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year went to Lebron James and Gabrielle Douglas, as well.

Mariah Carey then hit the stage, singing her song “Beautiful” with Young Jeezy and Miguel. Miss Mariah was DEFINITELY lip syncing with all of her extra hand motions that we’ve come to know and expect, but she looked AMAZING doing it! The song went straight into Jeezy’s "RIP," which was a very awkward transition, but Jeezy still did a good job with it.

The cast of The Real Husbands of Hollywoodlater turnt up and presented Jamie Foxxwith the Best Actor award for his work in Django Unchained. Columbus Short took the time to promote Diane Latiker who has made an impact on her community of South Chicago with her Kids Off The Block foundation, as well as youth Joshua Williams who came up with Joshua's Foundation that feed and help thousands across this country. I always love these segments, because these are just regular people making an impact. It

goes to show you that you don’t have to be famous or rich to change people’s lives!

The cast of Best Man Holidaypresented the Best Female Hip Hop Artist to....who else...Nicki Minaj. It’s come to be expected. Though I don’t take anything away from the work that she’s done, I want a viable female hip hop artist to come out that will give her a run for her money! We also got an exclusive clip of Best Man Holiday, which actually looks like it will be good! I wasn’t sure about a sequel coming out almost 15 years later, but I can’t knock these black actors and actresses getting their money!

Later, Miguel performed "How Many Drinks" with Kendrick Lamar, keeping the audience on their feet as they wondered if he would attempt another disastrous jump. But he kept both feet on the ground, thank God! Taraji P. Henson and Quvenzhané Wallis  presented Kendrick Lamar with the Best Male Hip Hop Award, able to say his speech from before. He accepted so humbly and thanked GOD for all of his achievements thus far. I respect him as an artist for sure!

Presented by Justin Timberlake, Charlie Wilson was given the Lifetime Achievement Awardfor his career the Gap Band as well as his own solo career. The video featured clips from Monica, Snoop Dogg, Pharrell, and Steve Harvey. India Arie then sang "There Goes My Baby," and Jamie Foxx sang the Gap Band "Yearning For Your Love." He definitely messed up a good bit, but I still got love for him! Stevie Wonder came out with "Burn Rubber On Me" and killed! Of course, Charlie got up and sang "You Are,” as well "Beautiful" with Snoop. Justin even got on the mike with "Signs "and "You Dropped A Bomb on Me,” along with Pharrell. The performance ended with the whole crew and everybody in the audience jamming to "Outstanding." Congrats to Uncle Charlie for his well-deserved award! All of these years in the game, and he is still relevant! Amazing talent! Hands down, the best performance of the night!

Later, J Cole took the stage perfoming "Crooked Smile" and "Power Trip" with Miguel, before Miss Tamela Mann took us to church with "Take Me To The King." Afterwards, Ciara performed “I’m Out” with Nicki Minaj (the video premiered earlier that night), and “Body Party” which has officially grown on me! She got a little crazy with the vocals at the end, but she did a really good job! Ciara is definitely making a big comeback this year!

Best Collaboration went to A$AP Rocky for his hit "Problems" with Drake, Kendrick Lamar and 2 Chainz. Miss Debra Lee then presented the Humanitarian Award to Dwyane Wade for his work under his foundation Wade’s World. He thanked his family and (his words) “Miss Being Mary Jane herself, my beautiful black queen, Gabrielle Union.” It was so precious!

The show then took it to the Islands with a dancehall mix featuring Chaka Demurs and Pliers, Dawn Penn, Elephant Man, and all the rest of them folks on stage! It was a hot performance, and completely unexpected! Anything can happen, BET kept boasting. Later, Chris Brown took the Fandemonium Award for the fourth year in a row. Good for Team Breezy, but still shoutout to the Beyhive! Buzzzzz!!!

2 Chainz later hit the stage with his song "Feds Watching,” which went into "Problems" with A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar (Drake didn’t make it this year.) Drake later won the Coca Cola’s Viewer’s Choice Award for “Started at the Bottom,” which was presented by a little too eager fan! I don’t blame her for being excited, though.

The cast of The Game presented the last award for Best Movie to Think Like A Man, which was a little surprising with the success of Django Unchained. However, it did give the cast an opportunity to plug the sequel, so I can’t be mad at that. Janelle Monae closed the show with her song “Q.U.E.E.N” with Erykah Badu. Some might have called it a boring ending to the show, but I actually really liked it! Janelle brings a great energy, and definitely closed the show on a high note!

Overall, the show was pretty good! The performances were, for the most part, really awesome and entertaining. I definitely enjoyed watching and live tweeting with you al too!  One day, I’ll be there live with my media credentials and can REALLY report the business! Until next year!

What did you think of  the BET Awards 2013?

Images via BET and UPI/Jim Ruymen

7:44:00 AM

One of the biggest nights for MTV is the Video Music Awards, the night to honor artists with the classic Moonman in different categories!

As always, the event kicked off with the pre-show. The star-studded red carpet featured appearances from top celebs like One Direction, 2 Chainz, and The Wanted and we even got a performance  from new X-Factor judge Demi Lovato (I love her)!

Before the main event even started, three Moonmen were given out. Demi Lovato won the first official Moonman of the night for Best Video with A Message for her song "Skyscraper." DJ Calvin Harris snagged one for Best Electronic Dance Music (EDM) Video for "Feel So Close," and the ever so popular British-Irish boy band One Direction got a Moonman for Most Shareworthy Video for "What Makes You Beautiful." Between these guys and Justin Bieber, girls FALL OUT!


On the red carpet, Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose officially announced that they are indeed expecting a baby. It's something we already knew, but it's nice to have some confirmation. Congratulations to them!

Now on to the main event!!!! Rihanna opened the show with "Cockiness" before rolling into the crowd to sing and party to "We Found Love." She killed it! I wish that she had performed "Where Have You Been" instead of "Cockiness," but since that's her new single, she wanted to sing that, I guess.

MTV brought back Kevin Hart (take notes BET! Stick with what WORKS...just saying) to host the show. This crazy fool came out as the "president" of the show with little people as his security! Of course, he wouldn't be himself if he didn't crack some jokes. He proceeded to talk about the need for forgiveness on some mistakes on Drake and Chris Brown's beef (they were both present last night btw), Frank Ocean's coming out (funny but tasteful, at least to me), Snooki and Baby Lorenzo, and the HUGE elephant and the room, the Kristen Stewart and Robert Patterson cheating scandal (He had to be expecting that!). I was absolutely dying the whole night! I love Kevin as a host, and if the execs over at BET had any sense in their heads, they would bring him back next year for the BET Awards.



Katy Perry presented Best Pop Video to One Direction for "What Makes You Beautiful." No surprise there. Pink then came out to perform her new song "Blow Me One Last Kiss." I also found out earlier that she is the newest face to grace the CoverGirl brand, in addition to Ellen DeGeneres, Sofia Vergara, Janelle Monae, and more! I love it!

Rita Ora and Demi Lovato presented Best Male Video to Chris Brown for "Turn Up The Music." Though I love Chris to death, it was kind of surprising because I always expect Justin Bieber to win just about any award he's up for, but he didn't. Congrats Chris! Zoe Saldaña presented what I thought was the best performance of the night (maybe I'm biased), Frank Ocean who sung "Thinkin Bout You." Besides some grass and fire behind him, Frank had a microphone and an acoustic guitarist to back him up and he sung the HELL out of that song, hitting that falsetto amazingly! I really love him.

Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg presented the award for Best Rap Video to Drake and Lil Wayne for "HYFR." Again, no surprise there. Figured it would be either him or Nicki. I did need Lil Wayne to quit acting like he didn't want or need to be there with those headphones on all night though! After this award, One Direction hit the stage and performed "One Thing."

The Wanted and Rebel Wilson (who is absolutely hilarious to me!) presented the Best Female  Video to Nicki Minaj for "Starships." Now I like Nicki and 75% of her music. However, I'm going to need her to stop being so over the top every time she accepts an award! Not taking away from her win at all, but all this "I didn't--Oh my god--I can't believe--". Nicki, you know that you are the biggest female rapper out right now. Stop doing all of that, and just calmly go up to the stage to get your award!  And I'm sorry, but why is it when one person in Young Money wins an award, EVERYBODY has to come on stage?! Goodness. Afterwards, 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne performed "Yuck" and "No Worries." I'm just going to keep my mouth closed on that one. Green Day also hit the stage with "Oh Love," and I was rocking out!

The night also featured a new look at Breaking Dawn Part 2 (the end of the Twilight saga which looks mad intense!). Several members of the cast were there (including my boo Taylor Lautner), excluding Kristen Stewart for uh...obvious reasons!

The award for  Best New Artist went to...One Direction for "What Makes You Beautiful." Shortly after, the Women's Gymnastics Olympic team brought out Alicia Keys to perform "Girl on Fire," with Nicki Minaj. Now I love Alicia, and I like the new song, but she was all the way OFF KEY last night! The best part of the entire performance was when Gabrielle Douglas came out to do flips across the stage with ease (the whole time I was thinking please don't fall on that slippery stage!). She KILLED it for the short seconds she was there!

The most coveted award of the night, Video of the Year, went Rihanna for "We Found Love," which was greatly deserved. It was a great visual with a deep story line. What we didn't see was Rihanna greet Chris Brown with a kiss (on the cheek or on the lips...has yet to be determined!) Now there are rumors of Karreuche and Chris being done (again, not confirmed!). If that's the case, I would honestly love to see them together. I know that people may not agree, but that love connection is definitely still there. Honestly, if that incident hadn't happened, those two would probably still be together. Maybe they could give each other a second chance.

Taylor Swift ended the show with "We Are Never Getting Back Together." I wouldn't have placed her at the very end of the show, but she did a good job! Overall, it was a great night, and I had a lot of fun watching and tweeting as always! And a big shoutout to MTV for starting the show early so people could watch President Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention! Hopefully one day, I'll be on that red carpet (interviewing of course!). A full list of the winners and their acceptance speeches can be seen here! Congrats to all!

Images via MTV/Reuters

6:52:00 AM

Every year since I started Spotlight, I have been recapping the BET Awards, giving my two cents on BET's biggest event of the year. So, of course, I had to keep up the tradition!

Last year's 2011 BET Awards, hosted by Kevin Hart, was pretty good, at least to me. I have come not to expect jaw-dropping amazing shows from BET, but they do good. This show was good too. Not amazing, but good. From the different performances to special appearances to the Whitney tribute, the show was good to watch. I have my negatives, of course, but the good ultimately outweighed the bad. Check out my review of the BET Awards 2012 below!



As always the pre-show kicked things off. Hosted by Rocsi and Terrence J (their last since they're leaving 106 & Park), along with Big Tigger and Tamar Braxton, we got to see celebs hit the red carpet, as well as different performances from artists who haven't quite reached the main stage (some for good reason). There were performances from MGK, the OMG Girlz, and others. It's just the pre-show, so I didn't pay too too much attention. I wasn't interested in most of the music, just the celebrities that the hosts talked to. 


The first award of the night, the Centric Award, was given to Common. There was also a premiere of Willow Smith's new video for her song, "I Am Me," which she said symbolizes who she is as a person and an artist, and how she doesn't look to others to validate her and her decisions. While I'm not feeling her overall look, she's experimenting with different styles and finding herself I guess, so all power to her.

Now on to the main show. Now, throughout the ENTIRE pre-show, they kept hyping up this opening performance, saying that it was one that we didn't want to miss. I figured it would be Kanye West and it was with the rest of GOOD Music. From the way they talked about it, I was expecting something MAJOR. "Mercy" is a good song, but the performance itself didn't get me hype like that. Kanye also performed "Too Cold," but again, it wasn't live to me. 

Next, the show's host Samuel L. Jackson came out with his own mix to "Ni**as In Paris" with Spike Lee. Spike FREAKING Lee. They were a hot mess with that! And Spike, you don't ever get to say anything to Tyler Perry about coonery and buffoonery ever again, because that's exactly what you gave tonight. Sam, overall as a host, did not impress me. He's a legend in film, I felt like he was invisible the entire night. He wasn't memorable.

Meanwhile Best Group went to Jay-Z and Kanye for obvious reasons. Though I wasn't in love with the performance, their album was great. Usher then took the stage with "Climax." A little pitchy, but I love that song! Next, Taraji P. Henson announced Best Actor is Kevin Hart . Congrats to him! After, 
it was announced that Serena Williams and Kevin Durant took Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year.

Next, Cedric the Entertainer announced Best New Artist which went to Big Sean who brought his mom out as his date, and shouted her out on stage.

BET had the gospel segment earlier than usual, with Amber Bullock, Yolanda Adams, Y'anna Crawley, and Jessica Reedy performing the gospel hit "You Brought the Sunshine." These ladies KILLED! Nothing like a gospel song! Afterwards, newlywed Meagan Good presented Best Male R&B Artist to Chris Brown, who kept his speech short, sweet, and to the point! Definitely was afraid that he was going to say something smart, especially with this diss track about Drake coming out, but he humbly accepted it and kept it moving.

After a performance from Charles Perry, a part of BET's Music Matters program, Nicki Minaj hit the stage with "Champion" and "Beez In The Trap." No "Starships." Guess she had to get hard since it is BET, but she did a good job. Then one of the greatest moments of the night for me as a fan was when Slaughterhouse announced the Best Collaboration Award which went to WALE AND MIGUEL for "Lotus Flower Bomb!" I've been a major fan since 2008, and I've seen him go higher and higher every year. For him to win a BET Award was a major moment in his career! Now of course, many said that he shouldn't have won, since Beyoncé was nominated, and Jay and Kanye, among others. But people don't realize that even though I'm sure they're grateful to be recognized for their work, they no longer really need a BET Award to validate their careers! If they get it, they get it. If they don't, they don't.  So let my man have his moment! 

The funniest part was when BET came back with the famous Real Husbands of Hollywood skit from last year! This year it featured Kevin Hart again, along with Faizon Love, Anthony Anderson, Fabolous, and Samuel L. Jackson. This was the funniest thing that Sam Jackson was a part of all night! And I found out that the skit is actually going to be a show on BET next spring!

After, LaLa Anthony presented Yolanda Adams the Best Gospel Artist Award, where Yolanda made a good point to tell all of the people in the room to "use their gift responsibly!" We were then blessed by a classic performance from D'Angelo, who killed it! Mindless Behavior and Mike Epps then presented Best Female R&B Artist to Beyoncé!!! When BET slipped Mindless Behavior a terrible and tacky Lauryn Hill joke about her tax evasion charges, Bey quickly got that in check quickly and politely, saying that it was artists like her that are the reasons why she can be in R&B. Sometimes I want to hit whoever is in charge of the lines at these awards. 

Kevin Hart did a little stand up, and presented Maybach Music, who performed Wale's "Bag Of Money" and Meek Mill's "Black Magic!"

After, Busta Rhymes presented Best Female Hip Hop Artist which of course, goes to Nicki Minaj. For the THIRD year in a row. Now, I'm not saying that the girl doesn't deserve an award. She is very talented, and, no matter if you like her or not, she is the biggest female rapper out right now. However, for the past three years, BET has been handing her this award and throwing in people who we haven't heard of, or haven't put out anything, JUST so this girl can get this award. She hasn't had viable competition. I want Missy, Eve, hell, Azealia Banks, and other people who get really make this award a competition rather than just a giveaway. I feel like I say this every year, so I'm done saying it, but I had to get that out. 

Tyler Perry later presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Maze feat. Frankie Beverly whose career spans over four decades! Joe, Tyrese, and Faith Evans did a medley of the group's hits, and were amazing! Best performances of the night! Frankie and the band busted out with classics "We Are One" and "Before I Let Go." As I was watching everybody jam in the audience, I was thinking to myself, "Who is going to be getting lifetime achievement awards when I'm in my 40s?" We have some greats, but not enough. Not as many as in the decades before us. And artists coming after 2010? Slacking. Just my opinion. 

After the performance, Kerry Washington and Jamie Foxx presented Video of the Year to Jay and Kanye for "Otis." We found out that apparently Jay was supposed to perform with the group, but he and Bey were held up in traffic, which is why they didn't walk the red carpet either. Kerry and Jamie also presented a clip of their new movie "D'Jango Unchained" which also stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson

Chris Brown, who did not get arrested for gun possession in spite of the rumors, performed "Don't Wake Me Up" and "Turn Up The Music." I was not feeling that spray paint on his body, but he sang live and danced. It wasn't his best performance, but it's Chris! I still love when he takes the stage.

The Humanitarian Award was presented to Rev. Al Sharpton presented by Debra Lee. We may joke about his finger wave or whatever, but he has definitely worked hard over the decades to stand against injustice throughout the country.

Throughout the night, there were small tributes to legends like Donna Summer, Adam "MCA" Yauch of the Beastie Boys, Etta James, and more who we lost since last year's Awards. The biggest one of the night--the tribute to Whitney Houston! It was amazing! Mariah Carey spoke on Whitney's vocals and performances, as well as their friend. Monica sang Whitney's hit from The Preacher's Wife, "I Love The Lord,' while Brandy hit the stage singing "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody". BET got it right. I said to myself, if Brandy and Monica aren't a part of this, as big a role as Whitney played in their lives, it would be a problem. But they got it right!  Her brother Gary Houston performed "Where You Are" and mother Cissy Houston sang "Bridge Over Troubled Water," and I had to break out tissue, especially when cameras flashed to Pat and Bobbi Kristina crying on each other's shoulders. The cast of Waiting To Exhale, Angela Bassett, Lela Rochon, and Loretta Devine, said a few words before Chaka Khan ripped the stage with "I'm Every Woman" which Whitney covered. It was a great tribute to me! As always, you can't please everybody, with many saying on Twitter that they wanted 

Terrence J and Rocsi and a fan presented the Viewer's Choice Award to Mindless Behavior which was a shock and a half because they beat out Wale, Jay and Kanye, and Beyoncé. But I stick to what I said before. Jay, Kanye, and Bey are not pressed over a BET Award. So let the babies have it and feel on top of the world. Everybody wants that.

Brandy and Lauren London and announced that Lauryn is on The Game as it goes into its six season. I don't see the show without Melanie and Derwin, but get your paycheck Lauren. Still think this should be the last season, though. The pair announced Video Director of the Year went to Beyoncé and Alan Ferguson (Solange's boyfriend).

Tyga performed with Cash Out for the final performance before going into his hit "Rack City" to end the night. The final award went to Chris Brown, who won the Fandemonium Award for the third year in a row! And thus, the end of the awards! Overall, it was a pretty good show. I had my issues, but BET did well. In my mind, no award will ever be worse than the 2009 one, so I've been pretty good with BET since. I liked this show...a lot of exciting moments! What did you think of the BET Awards 2012?

Images via BET

6:00:00 AM

*SPOILER ALERT! This review covers ALL of the 2011 MTV Music Video Awards!*

I started doing my review to MTV's Video Music Awards when I first started the blog, after doing a review on the BET Awards. So, of course, I'm keeping up the tradition! The VMAs is one of MTV's top events all year, along with the Movie Awards, so my eyes were glued to the TV!

The VMA pre-show was just like the BET pre-show. Just ehh. Sway hosted with Selena Gomez at the JW Marriott in LA. Guests included the cast of Jersey Shore, Rick Ross (ahem, Wale better get his air time next year MTV), Demi Lovato, Taylor Lautner and more. There was a disaster of a performance by Cobra Starship and Sabi, who I had heard of, but never heard the song they did. And now that I have, I'll pass. They can't sing, and their performance didn't impress. And I'm the only one who saw when they cut in front of Amber Rose and Wiz Khalifa in the paparazzi area? Why weren't they on stage from the beginning, MTV? That design in that hotel was way too much.

Another thing I noticed was that MTV continued to ask people about their problems with each other, i.e., asking Rick Ross and DJ Khaled about Kreayshawn, Tyler the Creator about Bruno Mars, who's stupid behind proceeds to go in on him (Somebody please get this boy a decent publicist. I'll talk more about him later). I really didn't like that. Like we all know that people have issues with each other, but that doesn't mean you have to worsen the situation on your red carpet.

More after the jump!

The first moonman of the night, Video with a Message, went to Lady Gaga for "Born This Way." Deserved! Nicki Minaj, who felt the need to top Gaga last night apparently with that crazy getup, premiered a sneak peek of her video "Fly", which premiered moments later on MTV.com. But the best and most talked about news of the night, at least on my Twitter timeline, was the news that BEYONCÉ'S PREGNANT!!!!! Yes, it's true this time! She confirmed it herself in the paparazzi area when she grabbed her stomach! I screamed in my room like I was right there seeing it myself when I saw the picture. I'm so excited for her and Jay-Z!

The awards started off with what was SUPPOSED to be a "historic" performance by Lady Gaga. Now, as I've said on numerous occasions, I'm used to Gaga being...Gaga, but last night was a mess to me with that Jo what's his face persona. She started her performance off with this long monologue, and I was just like, "Gaga, go ahead and sing!" It was just too much. And was I the only one who thought about Amy Winehouse's ex Blake when I saw Gaga? I just didn't like it. She eventually performed "You and I," which I love, but her man look just threw me off the rest of the night.


Kevin Hart opened up the show. Not as host, because MTV felt they didn't need one this year, which was obviously false because the presenters this year were extremely corny. If Kevin had've hosted the VMAs that would have been AMAZING! I was definitely feeling MTV throwing shade at BET, like "We got your host, and Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and Kanye actually took the time to come to our show! Why else would they REALLY pick Kevin Hart. I don't really think MTV is his crowd, but they did it anyway to indirectly say, "We have the best award show. What?"


Jessie J and her band, who served as the house band, killed it, even with that Bedazzled leg cast she had on. I commend her though for coming out after breaking her foot. I don't blame her for missing her opportunity, because now I might just buy her album. Her voice is amazing and I was with her all night...until she's sang "No Scrubs." Never again, Jessie. Just...don't.

Jonah Hilll and Nicki Minaj presented the Best Pop Video to Britney Spears for "Till The World Ends," and she, of course, "wasn't expecting it." Girl, get out of here. They were giving you an award later on in the night, and a tribute (Talk about that mess later). Jay-Z and Kanye performed "Otis," with a lot of smoke and a flag. And I was disappointed. I said it on Twitter, and one of my followers commented, "But that's all the video was." And I know, but I expected more like some fire and hella motorcycles. I guess I was too excited.

The Best Rock Video went Foo Fighters for "Walk," and Nicki Minaj got the Best Hip Hop Video for "Super Bass." People were upset at that, but it's like people don't understand the way these award shows go. It's popularity, and even though "Super Bass" is not even really hip hop, at the end of the day, Nicki Minaj is getting hers over at MTV regardless. Justin Bieber, of course, received Best Male Video for "U Smile." Why people acted so surprised on Twitter, I don't know. Because I surely wasn't. Bieber Fever is still alive and well! Best Collaboration went to Katy Perry and Kanye for "E.T." And Katy had the nerve to say to Kanye, "This is your first moonman right?" And Kanye calmly said, "Naw, I got more." That was my laugh of the night! Like boo, that was your first moonman. Don't try to play him!

Then we had the Pitbull and Ne-Yo performance of "Give Me Everything", with that unknown girl that reminded me of Cassie. It was a hot performance, though. Pitbull is definitely trying to get some spotlight back. Then Adele mesmerized the crowd on "Someone Like You," with her magnificent voice. And all she did was stand there and sing. She's that amazing, she can do that! I gave her the best performance of the night UNTIL....Christopher Maurice Brown took the stage. Yes! Chris KILLED with a performance of "Yeah 3x" and "Beautiful People," as well as a dance montage to different songs of the decades from artists like Wu Tang Clan and Nirvana. AND, he flew through the air with his dancers, flipping and carrying on! It was just a great performance. Say what you want about him, but you can't say that he doesn't put on a great show. (Seeing him again in September!!!!) 

The Britney tribute was a pure mess, and forgettable. It was already upsetting that she was getting one in the first place, and Aaliyah wasn't for her 10th year anniversary. I didn't need a full on performance, but a video montage would've been nice, MTV. Especially after all the times she's been on your red carpet. Anyway, by the time the Britney tribute started, it was over. It was a bunch of costumed dancers, wearing her outfits from over the years dancing to a mix of her songs like America's Best Dance Crew. No artists came out and actually sang for her. Like what was the purpose of that anyway. What I didn't know is that she was winning won an award named Michael Jackson (the Michael Jackson Vanguard something, something or other), which Lady Gaga presented to her.

What made me laugh is that after all that, it was still about Beyoncé! Britney got up there, gave her little speech (which I heard threw shade at Bey, but I wasn't paying that close attention), and then proceeded to announce Beyoncé for her performance! I said to myself, "How do you have a "tribute," no one actually sings your music, and then you go up there only to present Beyoncé?" That just showed me who the King really is haha! Bey killed in her Motown-like performance of "Love on Top, and THEN  threw her mic down and flashed that baby bump like BOOM! Yall better watch the throne!!!! My night was done.


There was also a performance by Young the Giant (???). I don't listen to them, so that was background music as I worked on this review. Lady Gaga received the Best Female Video for "Born This Way," again no surprise, and deserved! I really do love that song. Best New Artist went to Tyler The Creator surprisingly for "Yonkers." Part of me thinks MTV did it just to see if he would say anything more about Bruno Mars. But congrats to him anyway. He's a unique artist, and very rarely do unique artists win at these things. Unless you're Lady Gaga. What was A PURE MESS was how he brought all of Odd Future up there, and then proceeded to curse in his speech. I was embarrassed for my people. I like what I've heard from Tyler, but good goodness! Where is his publicist to tell him how to act?! Image is EVERYTHING sir!

The Amy Winehouse tribute, which featured Russell Brand, a unreleased song of Amy's with Tony Bennett, and  a performance by Bruno Mars of "Valerie," was really good. I would have personally loved if Naya Rivera could have came in and done her cover of "Back to Black," but it was a good tribute regardless. Definitely touching.


Video of the Year went to Katy Perry for "Firework." And then Lil Wayne ended the show with "How to Love" and "John," which I had never heard of because I don't listen to him like that. And tonight proved why. How do you go from "How to Love," which was too somber for an end performance anyway, by the way, and then go to a full rock performance? The dumbest transition ever. I would have rather he just cut out "How to Love" all together. And those leopard jeggings he had on, of course, showing off his drawers? It was just a mess to me. Definitely not something I would've ended the show with.  In my opinion, Bey should have closed out the show, especially since she flashed that baby bump! But I don't work for MTV, so hey.

Overall, the VMAs were good. The performances were definitely the best part of the night (minus Wayne). A lot of comparison last night to the BET Awards. I won't do it, even though I'm tempted. I enjoyed both this year. However, one actually had Beyoncé and the other didn't soooo.....haha I enjoyed myself. Thanks to my timeline for keeping entertained, and shoutout to MTV for putting on a pretty good show!

8:08:00 AM