Wednesday, July 3, 2013

2013 BET Awards - TV

(C) 2013 by Rych McCain, All Rights Reserved. No part of this column may be reprinted, re-posted or duplicated without written permission from Rych McCain Media/Syndication. Violation is subject to applicable laws.

2013 BET Awards - TV

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

www.twitter.com/rychmccain and Facebook

BET Awards 13

Dazzles Again!

Photos by Rych McCain and BET

Nokia Theatre in "Downtown Live" LA

Unless otherwise notified, you can automatically assume that the BET Awards are a smash hit every year. This year’s show falls right in line with all of the other outstanding awards broadcasts. Emanating on air from the Nokia Theratre in the Downtown Live section of Los Angeles, this year’s offering brought together the best of the best for a full evening of celebration.

Host Chris Tucker

The only sore point of the night was the disappointing hosting job done by Chris Tucker. One critic labeled it "Lackadaisical." He just didn't have the "fire" to heat the show up!

Chris Brown

Singer Chris Brown kicked off the festivities performing a medley of his hits including his current single "Fine China" and a special performance of "Don't They Know" with vocals from Aaliyah. He was joined by a flying in on stage Nicki Minaj for a roosting performance of "Love More." This year marked Brown's fourth year in a row winning the "Fandemonium" Award.

BET AWARDS '13 nominees Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Olympic medalist Gabrielle Douglas all took home two awards.

Gabrielle Douglas

Miguel

Kendrick Lamar

"House of Lies" and "Iron Man" actor Don Cheadle presented the evening's first award for Best Male R&B/Pop to singer Miguel who then performed his solo number "How Many Drinks" with Kendrick Lamar and joined Mariah Carey during her performance of "Beautiful" featuring Young Jeezy.

Mariah Carey

After the broadcast, the naysayers and boo birds jumped all over Carey for lip-syncing. These folk need to get over it. Most singers lip sync for live shows to avoid technical problems and other mishaps. If the woman would have gotten up there and messed up, they would be complaining about that! Notable performances of the evening were Robin Thicke, who performed his new hit single "Blurred Lines" with Pharrell and T.I. Ciara and Nicki Minaj debuted their new single "I'm Out.”

Beenie Man & Guest

The producer’s surprised this year’s viewing audience with a Caribbean music tribute featuring reggae artists Beenie Man who performed his hit "Who Am I," Dawn Penn's club anthem "No, No, No" and reggae classic "Murder She Wrote" by Chaka Demus and Pliers. As if that wasn't enough, Elephant Man jumped on stage for the finale singing "Pon Di River." This was followed by Best New Artist and Best Hip Hop Artist winner Kendrick Lamar who made three stage visits during the night performing his songs "M.A.A.D City" and "B*tch Don't Kill My Vibe" featuring Erykah Badu and "Problems" with A$AP Rocky and 2 Chainz.

Tamela Mann

Aside from Mariah Carey, the other real singer of the night was gospel superstar Tamela Mann who brought the house down with her smash hit "Take Me To The King."

Pharrell, Justin Timberlake and Uncle Charlie Wilson

Justin Timberlake presented R&B legend Charlie Wilson with the Cadillac Lifetime Achievement Award. India. Arie opened the moving tribute to Wilson with "There Goes My Baby" while Jamie Foxx did his rendition of the favorite "Yearning For Your Love." The legendary Stevie Wonder then took center stage and fired the audience with the funky "Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)." Wilson joined Timberlake, Snoop Lion and Pharrell for 2003's "Beautiful," a hit that reintroduced Wilson to a new generation of fans along with knock-out renditions of "Signs," "You Dropped A Bomb On Me" and "Girl You Knock Me Out," bringing the crowd to its feet.

In addition to the show bringing out nine Oscar-nominated actors, including winners, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker and Stevie Wonder, the cast members of the upcoming "The Best Man Holiday," Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Sanaa Lathan, Terrence Howard, Regina Hall, Melissa De Sousa and Harold Perrineau made a mass promo appearance. In addition to presenting the award for “Best Collabortion,” Forest Whitaker and Michael B. Jordan spoke about their Sundance Film Festival winning, "Fruitvale Station." Cast members Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Meagan Good and Gabrielle Union, came out to promote their highly anticipated "Think Like A Man 2" which will hit theaters in June of 2014. Moving memorandums were made to Kris Kross member Chris Kelly and blues great Bobby “Blue” Band.

Ciara

R&B singer R. Kelly surprised fans with a choir singing his hits acappella along the aisles of the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. He sang a medley of his songs including "I Wish," "When a Woman's Fed Up," "Ignition (remix)" and more. Ciara teamed up with Nicki Manaj on her hit "I'm Out" then slowed things down while she bumped and grind her was through "Body Party." Q.U.E.E.N. of the night, Janelle Monae closed the show with a hot performance of her hit single with sultry singer Erykah Badu for a black and white fantasy, accompanied by a snow-white poodle.

BET Awards 13 List of Winners:

In addition to all of these spectacular moments, the full list of BET AWARDS '13 winners are:

Best Female R&B/Pop Artist
Rihanna

Best Male R&B/Pop Artist
Miguel

Best Group
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Best Collaboration
A$AP Rocky f/ Drake, 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar – Problems

Best Male Hip Hop Artist
Kendrick Lamar

Best Female Hip Hop Artist
Nicki Minaj

Video of the Year
Drake – Started From The Bottom

Video Director of the Year
Benny Boom

Best New Artist
Kendrick Lamar

Best Gospel Artist
Mary Mary

Best Actress
Kerry Washington

Best Actor
Jamie Foxx

YoungStars Award
Gabrielle Douglas

Best Movie
Think Like A Man

Subway Sportswoman of the Year
Gabrielle Douglas

Subway Sportsman of the Year
LeBron James

Coca-Cola Viewers Choice Award
Drake – Started From The Bottom

Centric Award
Tamar Braxton – Love and War

Best International Act: Africa
Ice Prince (Nigeria)

Best International Act: UK
Emeli Sande

(You DID Hear It From Me!)

Twitter@rychmccain and Facebook

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Being Mary Jane - TV

By Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist

www.twitter.com/rychmccain and Facebook

DONT FORGET TO TUNE-IN

WHAT SOME CRITICS ARE SAYING

“BEING MARY JANE” COULD BE BET’S BIGGEST HIT EVER

1. It’s no holds barred. Nothing is hidden for the imagination at all whether it’s sex scenes or uncomfortable situations which occur in her daily life.

2. It’s so real. There are no made for TV drawn out plots that come out of nowhere and confuse the viewer. It’s literally a diary of how this successful, beautiful young black woman is trying to make her life easier and better for not only herself but the people who depend on her in the workplace and in her family.

3. The acting is so pure. One of the biggest criticisms of shows from outfits like BET or Tyler Perry is that the product is just really cheap, from the sets to the actors, who don’t seem to have been previously trained at their profession.

But you will NOT get anything like that from this show. The acting is on point and grasps the viewer’s attention because of the real, raw emotion of the various storylines involved. The show could air on AMC, USA, TNT or NBC, ABC, CBS, it’s not a typical “black production”. (Not to say that other black productions aren’t deserving of high recognition but a lot of critics believe that there’s not enough invested into making high quality black programming)

~JESSIE KARANGU