BET Awards: Chris Brown shines?
EMBATTLED SINGER CHRIS BROWN PAYS TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL JACKSON, by Brad Wete
LOS ANGELES (Music Mix) – As far as I’m concerned, there’s only been one Michael Jackson tribute. On Sunday (June 27) Chris Brown finally got his shot at paying homage to his fallen idol, Michael Jackson, at the BET Awards 2010. Jackson’s brother Jermaine introduced Brown, who popped up on stage in a blue shirt, black slacks, white socks, and Jackson’s trademark black loafers. It was a spot-on pull from Jackson’s look at 1988′s Grammy Awards.
He started of performing Jackson’s Bad smash “The Way You Make Me Feel” and then changed into a sequined black jacket and donned a glittered white glove for Thriller‘s “Billie Jean.” Brown’s obviously the only singer capable of doing Jackson’s moves justice. He popped, spun, and moonwalked as the “King of Pop” did for decades. The performance’s most touching moment came when Brown started to sing Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.”
Within a few lines he got too choked up to finish the track, bursting into tears. Because last year’s BET Awards happened just days after Jackson died, they were not able to put together a proper tribute to the legend. At this time last year Brown was also dealing with the repercussions of his assault charge for beating his ex girlfriend Rihanna. Even though a Chris Brown tribute to Jackson seemed obligatory, I’m not too sure it would’ve been appropriate for the embattled talent to make the awards ceremony. A year later, people may still question BET’s rationale.
Did you see Brown’s tribute? You glad he got to perform for Michael? How did he do? Weigh in below.
MORE NEWS FROM BET AWARDS…
KANYE WEST RETURNS TO SPOTLIGHT (Story by Simon Vozick-Levinson): Kanye West just finished performing his new single “Power” to open the 2010 BET Awards. Even more than usual, all eyes were on Mr. West tonight: This was his first major televised appearance since that ill-fated open mic moment during the MTV Video Music Awards last September. So how did he do? The man definitely still knows how to make an entrance. Dramatically backlit, West stood on top of a periodically erupting volcano set piece with images of majestic mountain peaks projected behind him.
Shades and shadows hid most of his facial expressions, so all we could see was his stylish red suit and enormous chain. But that body language was all Kanye. Striking a defiant pose, he began bellowing out the thoroughly unapologetic lyrics to “Power.” For some reason, the network kept bleeping those lyrics, but it sounded as if he was already self-censoring all the profanities from the song. (They inexplicably muted Dwele’s recorded backing vocals, too.) That’s because Kanye is a consummate professional.
If he left viewers thinking he’s shouting mad, ready to take on the whole world at once, that’s exactly the impression he wanted to leave. “Power” is an angry, conflicted, brilliant song. As I’ve said before, it’s a very unconventional choice for a comeback single. And tonight, Kanye West gave it a masterful rendition that pulled no punches. As he reached the song’s eerie “beautiful death” coda, he boldly gestured for applause from the crowd — and he got it. This audience, at least, seemed 100 percent ready to welcome West back with open arms. After watching that performance, so am I. How about you? Sound off in the comments below.
June 28th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Well as the saying goes, “You can please some of the people some of the time but you can please all of the people none of the time.” Up until MJ passed away, he was constantly being blasted for the many alleged child molestation claims and yet the minute he died, now everyone is on his tip. Well considering all them mess MJ was accused of, why Chris Brown you ask? Why not? Regardless of what MJ did or didn’t do with those little boys, he was a legend and he still deserves his props. And by that same token, regardless of what Chris Brown did or didn’t do, he is still one Hell of a performer and I can’t think of a better person for the job than him and apparently neither could BET or his family. I am certain that if Janet or Jermaine had an issue with Chris representing their brother, they would have shut down that before it even started. And considering how much Usher likes to imitate MJ’s moves, even HE must have said “Let Chris have it!” If we ousted every entertainer and athlete that did something we didn’t approve of, there would not be enough teams for the NFL, NBA, or MLB and the awards shows—both music and movies—would only be an hour long. With all the mess that goes on in the world of entertainment and athletics? PLEASE! Give me a break! And Hell, truth be told, the main ones yelling the loudest probably have more dirt skeletons in their closets than the people they are blasting! Hell, Charlie Sheen put a knife to his wife’s throat but we still watch his show, Tiger Woods cheated on his wife multiple times and may have an illegitimate child as a result but yet his return to the game of golf garnered the highest spectator ratings ever, Mike Tyson served time for rape and he was allowed to return to boxing, Ben Roethlisberger is accused of raping that young girl and his team is standing behind him, Warren Moon was blasted for smacking his wife but he still continued to play ball, and the list goes on. Again, I do not condone Chris Brown’s actions by any stretch of the imagination. I was in an abusive relationship my first marriage so the fact that I can still be objective about this subject should speak volumes. What a person does in his/her personal life should not have a damn thing to do with his /her professional life.