Kanye Feels the T-Pain at BET Awards
T-Pain has a knack for showing up in the right place at the right time.
“I’d like to thank T-Pain for gettin’ on the record with me,” said Kanye West, a two-time winner Tuesday at the 2008 BET Awards, upon accepting their award for Best Collaboration on the Graduation tune “Good Life.” “This man’s a genius. What he does, what he writes…we’re blessed to be in this man’s presence.”
The 22-year-old rapper-producer, a featured artist on no less than 18 singles (so far) in 2007 and 2008, entered the evening with a leading five nominations, although his shared win with West was it for now.
West was also named Best Male Hip-Hop Artist for the second time, his first win in that category coming in 2005, when Late Registration was still a new album.
Alicia Keys, the only female winner who was in the house tonight, was named Best Female R&B Artist, and took the opportunity to let the moment sink in.
“I just wanna say that we are so incredible, we are such an incredible people,” the platinum-selling songstress said coyly. “We are so beautiful and fly, and everybody wants to be like us…I mostly want to thank all of you that are watching and standing here right now. Without you…I really really appreciate you very much.
“I want to dedicate this to all the other nominees, because we put so much heart and soul into everything.”
The three-hour ceremony at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium was about as straightforward as it gets (albeit a great deal more inspirational than your standard kudosfest).
Effects-heavy performances by Usher (on his suggestive single “Love in This Club”) and Best Male R&B Artist Chris Brown (a “With You”-”Take You Down” medley) and a frenzied hootenanny featuring T-Pain, Flo Rida, Rick Ross, Ludacris and Big Boi provided the evening’s liveliest moments.
(And it may just be us, but it sure seemed as if a lot of tonight’s presenters, especially Sean “Diddy” Combs, were all hyped up about someone named Barack Obama.)
“I want to dedicate this award to the end of the word can’t. That word is dead, we don’t know that word. Obama, y’all,” Keys reminded the crowd at the end of her acceptance speech.
But while the ceremony didn’t lack for schtick, nor did it lack for touching moments.
“This is hard for me to accept tonight. We did an incredible job, I feel, but it’s hard to do this with my brother not being here,” Bun B, the surviving half of Houston rap duo UGK, said in tribute to his departed longtime partner Pimp C, who unexpectedly passed away in December.
UGK’s “International Player’s Anthem (I Choose You)”, featuring Outkast, was named Video of the Year. During the untelevised portion of the festivities, UGK was deemed Best Group, as well.
Well-deserved honors were also handed out to prolific producer Quincy Jones and Motown icon Al Green, whose most recent album, Lay It Down, earned the renowned soul singer his first Top 10 slot on the Billboard 200 since 1973.
“The Al Green sound is Saturday night and Sunday morningand it is forever,” John Legend said in feting this year’s recipient of the BET Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I’m so honored and humbled by the academy of BET Awardswhat y’all laughin’ at?” Green began, acknowledging that he wasn’t exactly sure who decides on the winners, either.
“I want to thank all the people that stood by me when I put out the wrong record, when I put out the right record and all of you who’ve been so faithful. I’ve been doing this 30 years. You’ve been so faithful, I should at least let you see my eyes.”
And with that, he whipped off his sunglasses, to much applause, and said, “Thank you so much, bye-bye!” before easing into his biggest hit, “Let’s Stay Together.”
Jones, one of the founders of the Institute for Black American Music, received the Humanitarian Award for his philanthropic efforts over the years, including his continued work with his Listen Up Foundation, which has teamed with the Nelson Mandela Foundation to build more than 100 homes in South Africa.
“It is a brilliant honor for me to be here tonight,” the dapper 75-year-old said.” I just want to say that I understand what it feels like to be on the bottomI come from the south side of Chicago, so don’t nobody tell me about ghet-to.”
“Somehow that never leaves you…Always ask why, because you cannot separate your life” from others. And, quoting Tolstoy, he continued, “Nobody has to starve while I eat.”
And to the youngsters in the crowd: “When it rains, get wet. Live your life, baby, and live it real…They say you can’t get an A if you’re afraid of getting an F…I promise I hope to always live up to this honor…”
The evening was further highlighted by performances from Rihanna; Best Gospel Artist Marvin Sapp; Keys, who led a ’90s revival with appearances by TLC’s T-Boz and Chilli, En Vogue and SWV; Ne-Yo; Keyshia Cole; Young Jeezy; Nelly, Ciara and Jermaine Dupri; and hip-hop’s current savior, the million-record-selling Lil Wayne.
Here’s the complete list of winners from the 2008 BET Awards:
- Video of the Year: UGK featuring Outkast, “International Player’s Anthem (I Choose You)”
- Best Male R&B Artist: Chris Brown
- Best Female R&B Artist: Alicia Keys
- Best Male Hip-Hop Artist: Kanye West
- Best Female Hip-Hop Artist: Missy Elliott
- Best Gospel Artist: Marvin Sapp
- Best New Artist: The-Dream
- Best Group: UGK
- Best Collaboration: Kanye West featuring T-Pain, “Good Life”
- Best Video Director: Erykah Badu and Mr. Roboto
- Viewers’ Choice Award: Lil Wayne featuring Static, “Lollipop”
- BET J Award: Raheem DeVaughn
- Best Actor: Denzel Washington
- Best Actress: Halle Berry
- Female Athlete of the Year: Candace Parker
- Male Athlete of the Year: Kobe Bryant
Tom Returns to the Scene of the Crime
Tom Cruise went back to where it all began Friday.
We could mockingly lead you astray for pages and pages as to what that means, but you all know: The microscopically examined movie star sat down next to Oprah Winfrey today for the first time since…yeah, that.
And except for the fact that Cruise is now the remarried father of a 2-year-old daughterwho does, in fact, partly resemble himwith a recent flop under his belt rather than a box-office topper, not a whole lot has changed.
Speaking from the sanctity of Cruise and Katie Holmes' Telluride, Colo., manse on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the actor's breakthrough role in Risky Business, Oprah asked her pal about "the couch" and his relationship with Katie Holmes, Scientology and his beliefs, Brooke Shields, Matt Lauer and making movies.
This time, of course, she also got to ask about that in-house sonogram machine, whether he believes in God, whether Suri is his and whetherknowing that hindsight is 20/20he would now think twice about putting his feet (not to mention his heart and soul) on the furniture.
"That was a moment and it was real," Cruise said, referring to the infamous couch jump that seemingly set off the spiral of "What's with him?" gossip.
"But I don't know if I would…knowing what I do nowyeah, I get it," he said, referring to the 24/7 media frenzyof varying degrees of verisimilitudethat ensued. "I just felt that way [about Holmes]and I feel that way about her. That's just how I felt."
Besides, "You were egging me on!" he challenged the daytime queen.
So knowing what he knows now about the Internet's wily ways, Cruise might not have been so…expressive. But what about all those other things?
- On his feelings for "Kate": "I can't even articulate it, what it's like, that feeling and the connection and just who she is and what she means to me. It's very special and, I think you know, Suri was born a year to the day that I met her."
- And to those who say what they have isn't real: "That's laughable to me."
- On the sonogram machine he set up in-house to monitor his child in utero: "You just want the baby to be as safe as possible."
- On the especially freaky-deaky rumors that Suri is not his child: "Someone compares your daughter to Rosemary's Baby…It's one thing to say stuff about me…this is off the charts."
- His faith: "I believe in God. There's no way you can be up here [gesturing to his beauteous surroundings] and there isn't a God."
- On Nicole Kidman, and rumors that she's been pushed out of Connor and Bella's life: "That's ridiculous. We share custody." They don't exactly all gather round the table together due to everyone's busy schedule, but…"We share custody whenever."
- On his own relationship with Connor and Bella, who at times seem to belong to his former life: "They're good people, my children. I'm proud of them. I don't want them to worry. They know I'm there. No matter what, I'm always there."
Oprah's two-part interview with Cruise continues Monday from her Chicago studio, where the topic of conversation will revert more to his career accomplishments and what made him "Tom Cruise" in the first place.
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Tom Returns to the Scene of the Crime
Tom Cruise went back to where it all began Friday.
We could mockingly lead you astray for pages and pages as to what that means, but you all know: The microscopically examined movie star sat down next to Oprah Winfrey today for the first time since…yeah, that.
And except for the fact that Cruise is now the remarried father of a 2-year-old daughterwho does, in fact, partly resemble himwith a recent flop under his belt rather than a box-office topper, not a whole lot has changed.
Speaking from the sanctity of Cruise and Katie Holmes' Telluride, Colo., manse on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the actor's breakthrough role in Risky Business, Oprah asked her pal about "the couch" and his relationship with Katie Holmes, Scientology and his beliefs, Brooke Shields, Matt Lauer and making movies.
This time, of course, she also got to ask about that in-house sonogram machine, whether he believes in God, whether Suri is his and whetherknowing that hindsight is 20/20he would now think twice about putting his feet (not to mention his heart and soul) on the furniture.
"That was a moment and it was real," Cruise said, referring to the infamous couch jump that seemingly set off the spiral of "What's with him?" gossip.
"But I don't know if I would…knowing what I do nowyeah, I get it," he said, referring to the 24/7 media frenzyof varying degrees of verisimilitudethat ensued. "I just felt that way [about Holmes]and I feel that way about her. That's just how I felt."
Besides, "You were egging me on!" he challenged the daytime queen.
So knowing what he knows now about the Internet's wily ways, Cruise might not have been so…expressive. But what about all those other things?
- On his feelings for "Kate": "I can't even articulate it, what it's like, that feeling and the connection and just who she is and what she means to me. It's very special and, I think you know, Suri was born a year to the day that I met her."
- And to those who say what they have isn't real: "That's laughable to me."
- On the sonogram machine he set up in-house to monitor his child in utero: "You just want the baby to be as safe as possible."
- On the especially freaky-deaky rumors that Suri is not his child: "Someone compares your daughter to Rosemary's Baby…It's one thing to say stuff about me…this is off the charts."
- His faith: "I believe in God. There's no way you can be up here [gesturing to his beauteous surroundings] and there isn't a God."
- On Nicole Kidman, and rumors that she's been pushed out of Connor and Bella's life: "That's ridiculous. We share custody." They don't exactly all gather round the table together due to everyone's busy schedule, but…"We share custody whenever."
- On his own relationship with Connor and Bella, who at times seem to belong to his former life: "They're good people, my children. I'm proud of them. I don't want them to worry. They know I'm there. No matter what, I'm always there."
Oprah's two-part interview with Cruise continues Monday from her Chicago studio, where the topic of conversation will revert more to his career accomplishments and what made him "Tom Cruise" in the first place.
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Major NCIS shake up
Late last night, TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello put in print words that NCIS fans didn’t want to see: “NCIS Star Goes AWOL!” As soon as the news hit the Internet, my inbox was flooded with emails asking if I knew who was set to leave the show at the end of the season. I poked my spoilers sources but no answers yet.
NCIS fans will remember that around the same time last year, we heard that Mark Harmon wanted out because of creator Donald P. Bellisario. The latter accepted to reduce his involvement on the show so that Harmon would stay. So who is it this time? Could it be Harmon? Let’s analyze the situation and make our predictions.
In his announcement, Ausiello says that it’ll be a major cast member (aka a series regular) and that the person will exit the series in a dramatic fashion. He uses the word “actor” and not “actress” but any Ausiello reader knows that he loves to blur the lines; so the choice of word here could mean either male or female. The gossip columnist also adds that this departure will create repercussions that will be felt not only next season but possibly beyond.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs: If Gibbs leaves the show, it would indeed create major repercussions. Not only is he the lead character but he is the heart and soul of the series. When Harmon announced he wanted to quit last season, fans tried to imagine the series without him and it was not a pretty sight. I doubt it’s Gibbs because the series would suffer from it too much but we never really know for sure, eh? If it is Gibbs, that would mean that Tony would become the team leader. We pretty much know how that would go since Tony was put in charge when Gibbs resigned from NCIS. I don’t think this can be classified as “a departure that will create repercussions that will be felt for years” since we know what we would get. However, if Tony is not put in charge, it would create more ripples.
Anthony DiNozzo / Abby Sciuto / Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard / Timothy McGee / Ziva David: All of these characters are great for various reasons. Their departure would be tragic but I’m not sure it would create a major effect. We (the fans) all thought getting rid of Kate was a terrible decision, yet our mourning of her was over pretty quickly. The only way I see the departure of one of these characters create a major stir that would have ripple effects beyond last season is if it’s more tragic than Kate’s demise.
Jenny Shepard: Even if Jenny is not a major character, she still is a regular. I think her departure would create the most impact within the series, of course, depending how they deal with it. Imagine that Jenny dies in a tragic death. The team would want to find out who killed her and seek revenge (like they did for Kate). Since NCIS would be left without a director, they would try to promote from within first. Gibbs was acting director once, so why not him? Gibbs becomes director, Tony would become team leader, and someone else would be hired on the team. This musical chair game would have a major effect on the show since it would change the dynamics of the series. Then again, since Jenny is not that important to the show, maybe she’s not the one leaving…
Personally, I would prefer that either Ducky, Ziva or Jenny leaves because they would be the easiest to replace (Jimmy could take Ducky’s position; since Ziva replaced Kate, someone could replace Ziva; Jenny could be replaced by someone from outside or Gibbs). I care for all three and would prefer that no one leaves and that my favorite NCIS team stays intact.
As soon as I get more clues and/or the name of the person leaving the show, I’ll inform you either in a post or in Spoilers Anonymous.