P atti LaBelle was the recipient of the BET Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s BET Awards. The Elton John of modern soul, Cee Lo Green, dressed as Patti LaBelle, kick off the tribute in a spiky black wig and a shimmering jacket, he absolutely slay “Somebody Loves You” as part of an all-star tribute to Patti. Marsha Ambrosius and Shirley Caesar also took part in the tribute, turning in fiery, soulful performances, before LaBelle herself took command of the stage to bring her tribute to a rousing climax with “Love, Need and Want You” and, “Lady Marmalade.”
I must give Kelly Rowland kudos for owning the BET Awards’ stage last night. Her talents were finally, fully exposed during her passionate performance. Kelly was so fly, so dope, so fierce, in her floppy hat and stylish black suit that the question that naturally came to mind was: “where has this person been all these years Kelly?” Off coarse, whispers in the industry circle last night pointed to Matthew Knowles. It’s always haunted Mr. Knowles only interest was to make his daughter a superstar — but was his management approach to Kelly one of neglect or one involving anti-competition? What we do know is that Kelly broke ties with Matthew Knowles and is now seeing much more success than she when she first became a solo artist.
Other notable moments were: Jill Scott and Idris Elba flirty, musical theatre performance; Snoop Dogg and Warren G. did “Regulate” honoring their fallen comrade Nate Dogg; soul singer, Ledisi honoring Teena Marie with a moving musical tribute; the musical Ministry of Mali Music sounded great; Donnie McClurkin, Deitrick Haddon, and Mary Mary tribute to the late Walter Hawkins; and last but certainly not the least, Kevin Hart, I could see him coming back next year to host, he was fun. He killed with the parody: “The Real Husbands of Hollywood,” featuring Anthony Anderson, Bobby Brown, Jermaine Dupri, Nelly, Nick Cannon, and Tami Roman from Basketball Wives.”
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