As you may have heard, they gave out some awards in L.A. last night. The 2012 BET Awards promised to come up big with star power, performances and a brand new host in Samuel L. Jackson and for the most part, they did. This year boasted a star-studded Whitney Houston tribute as well as Humanitarian Awards for the Rev. Al Sharpton and a well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award for Frankie Beverly and Maze. The show moved along slowly in its first hour, despite the highly touted performance by D’Angelo – his first on U.S. TV in 12 years – then picked up speed with the presentation to Frankie Beverly and Maze that featuring the legendary band taking the stage themselves. But much of the night’s drama was the Awards’ front row dynamics with Solange, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kanye and Kim Kardashian all seated together. Here’s our take on the nights highs and lows:
Biggest Winners: Jay-Z and Kanye, not just because they won two awards for their collaboration “Watch The Throne” but because they were clearly BET Awards royalty with front row seats, plenty of camera time and the baddest chicks on the game on their arm – that is if you include the reality TV game.
Biggest Loser: Chris Brown, who’s slimmer appearance led to much speculation on Twitter. Although he won two awards, his performance was a lackluster repeat of the same he’s done at several other shows.
Most Underwhelming Comeback: Sorry to say, but D’Angelo’s highly promoted comeback was either the wrong song, the wrong part of the show or just maybe not ready for prime-time as the soul singer’s return wasn’t the momentum changer that it should have been.
