The Black Entertainment Television awards 2016 has come and gone but memories would still live on in the minds of scores of people who stormed the United States of America from all over the world to be a part of this year’s edition of the music festival.
Essentially meant to celebrate African Americans and other minorities in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment, the award brought together a galaxy of stars for a four-day nonstop fun, music and sport.Saturday Beats highlights some titbits of the show.
Mike Epps and Katt Williams are unarguably, among the top rated comedians in the US. And when the two shared the same headline spot on the first night of the four-day BET experience, most people expected fun and it was what they got – in large dose.
African art takes spotlight
Day two of BET experience would certainly be unforgettable in the minds of Africans who were part of Sounds of Africa exhibit at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. South African designer, David Tlale, used the platform to showcase incredible African designs that left many people oohing and wowing the talent he displayed with his collection.
Nigeria’s Laolu Senbanjo got heavy nods when he was featured in Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ visual album. But body painting is not only what Laolu knows how to do, he could still do wonders with the guitar and he delivered two numbers to the excitement of the crowd that watched his performance.
Yemi Alade goes missing
Part of BET Experience day three activity was the announcement of some of the nominations of the award.
Among them was the Best International Act: Africa category which had the likes of South Africa’s Black Coffee (who won the award), AKA (South Africa), Wizkid (Nigeria) Yemi Alade (Nigeria) Diamond Platnumz (Tanzania), Mzvee (Ghana) and Serge Beynaud (Cote DÍvoire) in the category.
Yemi Alade, who had flown into LA for BET, was conspicuously absent during this announcement which made so many people wonder if she had known she was going to lose out that she decided to ‘respect’ herself and stay back in her room in order to avoid any awkward moment.
Also, it looked as if AKA was not happy he lost out to his fellow countryman. When the African stars were called to the stage after the announcement, AKA sat tightly on his seat as he stayed glued to his curvy girlfriend and OAP, Bonang Matheba
And Falz wins!
Up and coming Nigerian singer cum actor, Falz, was exceedingly excited when he was nominated in the Viewers’ Choice category of BET 2016. And when the presenter, Jidenna, announced Falz the winner, the young man practically jumped to the stage, followed closely by his manager, who apparently didn’t want to be left out in that moment of fame and spotlight.
Jidenna, Omo Naija
If not that his name is an easy give away, Classic Man singer and 2015 Grammy nominee, Jidenna, could easily pass for an American with his suave looks and demeanour. Interestingly, he seems not to have forgotten his roots as he awkwardly tried to say some Nigerian parlance like ‘Igbo Kwenu’ and Omo Naija, while onlookers at the red carpet hailed and cheered him on.
Snoop on the loop
Another big treat of the BET Experience was the celebrity Basketball competition which had many international artistes on the court.
Top on the list was Snoop Dogg who is known for his contributions in the hip hop world. But Snoop is not all about music. At the competition, Snoop kept scoring slam dunk after slam dunk all through the event, which made people to feel that the artiste is also a professional basketball player.
Beyonce, the electrifier!
Flaunting a sequined body suit, Beyonce opened the BET gala show with a superlative performance of her song, Freedom. She electrified the stage with her energetic display and the tempo went a notch higher when she was joined on the stage by rapper, Kendrick Lamar.
Moments later, during the award proper, it was Beyonce’s mother, Tina Knowles, that came to pick the singer’s trophy which she won in the Video of the Year category of BET. Knowles explained during the acceptance speech that Beyonce quickly had to hop on a privet jet to attend a concert in London.
Prince comes alive
American singer, Prince who died few months ago practically came alive as so many artistes paid tribute to him while performing his songs at the BET 2016. Top on the list was Stevie Wonder.
Also, Janelle Monae, who Prince mentored, displayed an incredible performance of the late singer’s hits,Delirious and Kiss to Pop Life before closing it with I Would Die For You.
Prince’ ex, Sheila E, also had a high energetic performance. Jenifer Hudson also stole the show with her performance of Prince’ Purple Rain. She was joined on stage by the legendary Root.
No show for security personnel
There were security men that manned every point during the BET Experience activities. As exciting as most of the activities were, one would have expected the security officials to at least, take a sneaky peek of any of the shows and catch a glimpse of the fun. But no! They minded their business, pretended as if nothing was happening as they carried on with the task of ensuring peace and safety of the guests.
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