BET's borderline ghetto awards show

Last night I watched the BET awards live. Yes, it will air no less than 20 times before Friday but I wanted to see it first. Plus, I didn't have anything else to do.

Before it started I was on the phone with someone and told them that's what I'd be watching. They called it the "ghetto awards show." And I didn't feel like arguing—yes, there is a point in the day when I just get tired of shit talking—so I let him have that. If I had the strength I would have asked him what makes the show ghetto. Is it because black people are in charge and anything black-run has a ghetto stigma attached to it? People are so quick to call black-owned things ghetto, but when they open their business they expect everyone to support. Whatever.

Anyways, I watched the show and about half way through I was like.. man, this is kind of ghetto. By the time 50 Cent's big performance came around, I was through. They say that 100,000 people voted on what song 50 should perform. He has anti-gravity chicks swirling in mid-air hanging onto fabric and when it's time for him to rap the first verse, there's no background vocals. The track playing in the background was an instrumental that only had a hook in it. Clearly 50 wasn't prepared for this. He kept saying, "yeah, come on... yeah.." Then he dropped the f-bomb on live TV.. "What the fuck?" He walked into the crowd and dapped everyone up.. then the chorus came back and he sang along. So, the second verse he was prepared to rap for himself. (I think...) But how about the DJ who was standing there as the instrumental played... he was just chilling as if he has NO control over the music. PLEASE oh PLEASE don't tell me that we have to put up with non-stop lip syncing AND phony DJs that stand behind turntables like a prop! If that DJ was in control, we would have seen him listening to his headphones, cuing the correct song or shuffling through CDs, since vinyl is played out. Oh.. so 50 sat down on the stage before the song ended.. Before the music stopped you could hear him say into the mic, "it doesn't matter anymore."Which I thought was funny! It sure as hell didn't.

In all fairness, this wasn't too different from what happened to Ashley Simpson on "SNL" when her band "played the wrong song" and she did the Ho Down dance. But 50 wasn't the only artist with sound issues last night. I'm sitting there like, this NEVER happens at the MTV awards.

Overall I liked the show. There were too many "surprises" and Mo'Nique and Beyoncé got old to me.. but whatever. I loved Don Cheadle's speech, T.I.'s speech (he apologized for fighting with Luda's manager after Kevin Lyles's party) and Diana Ross's speech (she told young female singers that she's proof that you don't have to be raunchy and strip down to have longevity in this business). While I kind of think Diana's out of touch with the industry in this regard, I thought it was awesome that a legend in the game said that to all of these girls struggling to be half naked and "classy" at the same time. It's hard! I know I can't do it.

Anyway.. that's what I thought. BTW, I watched the show on my new flat screen TV and it made everyone look so fat! A coworker of mine says that HD and flat screens have that effect on people. Half way through the show I was like, what are these chicks eating? Ashanti, Lil Kim and Beyonce looked way more hippy than before. But today I saw pictures online and they're not that bad.. Except for Lil Kim.. And Jennifer Hudson's kangaroo pouch was still visible in photos. I love her though. She was my favorite star last night. I thought she was believably shocked at the awards that she won. Good for her!

I don't think BET's show is ghetto, but it sure as hell isn't executed as flawlessly as other shows and being new isn't really an excuse in year seven. It's walking the ghetto line. It's kind of in the territory of where I live. My section of the street is okay, but if you walk a few blocks away, watch out. There's plenty of room for improvement, kind of like my street. Ghetto awards shows that can't be helped and should be avoided are VIBE Awards and Source Awards, hell even the Soul Train Music Awards.