June 29, 2016 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
BET Awards Full of Prince tributes and Political Moments
By MESFIN FEKADU
AP Music Writer
T
he BET Awards — or
“The Prince Tribute
Show” — featured
emotional and en-
ergetic
performances
from Sheila E., Stevie
Wonder and Jennifer
Hudson honoring the
Purple One, along with
political statements on
issues ranging from ra-
cial injustice to the U.S.
presidential election.
Sheila E., jamming on
the drums and guitar,
singing and dancing
without shoes, closed the
three-hour-plus show at
the Microsot Theater in
Los Angeles with “Let’s
Work,” ‘’A Love Bizarre,”
‘’The Glamorous Life,”
‘’America” and more.
She was joined by “Pur-
ple Rain” actor Jerome
Benton and Prince’s
ex-wife, Mayte Garcia,
who danced alongside
the background danc-
ers throughout the set.
They ended by raising a
purple guitar in the air
as the audience cheered
them on.
Hudson, rocking a
white-hooded
blazer,
and Wonder, clad in a
purple suit, sang “Pur-
ple Rain” — a month ater
the piano-playing icon
performed the song with
Madonna at the Billboard
Music Awards, which
BET dissed on Twitter.
This time, Hudson was a
vocal powerhouse, deliv-
ering screeching vocals
while Wonder played
piano and Tori Kelly was
on guitar while a photo
montage of Prince ap-
peared on the purple-lit
stage.
Janelle Monae was an-
imated and funky as she
danced and ran through
Prince tunes, including
“Kiss,” ‘’Delirious” and “I
Would Die 4 U.” Bilal was
sensual and passionate
during “The Beautiful
Ones,” even lying on the
loor while singing near
the end of the perfor-
mance. The Roots backed
Bilal, and the band was
also behind Erykah Badu
as she performed “The
Ballad of Dorothy Park-
er,” singing sotly as she
grooved in place.
Ater singing an origi-
nal song, Maxwell went
into “Nothing Compares
2 U,” changing some of
the lyrics while honor-
ing Prince.
Though
the
BET
Awards were heavy on
PHOTO BY MATT SAYLES/INVISION/AP
Jesse Williams’ iery, six-minute speech on racism and racial justice brings audience to its feet
Sheila E., left, and Mayte Garcia stand on stage following a
performance in tribute to Prince at the BET Awards at the Microsoft
Theater on Sunday, June 26, 2016, in Los Angeles.
honoring the icon who
died on April 21, the
show went from Prince
to political throughout
the night.
“Grey’s Anatomy” ac-
tor Jesse Williams, who
earned the humanitarian
award for his eforts as
an activist, gave a iery,
nearly six-minute speech
that brought the audi-
ence to its feet.
“We’re done watching
and waiting while this
invention called white-
ness uses and abuses us,
burying black people
out of sight and out of
mind while extracting
our culture, our dollars,
our entertainment like
oil, black gold, ghettoiz-
ing and demeaning our
creations then stealing
them; gentrifying our ge-
“
about gun violence and
brought up the recent
Orlando shooting at the
Pulse nightclub.
“We all need to take
stance against gun vio-
lence. You can make a
diference,” Lee said on-
stage. “Use your voice
and vote.”
When “Empire” star
Taraji P. Henson won
best actress, she encour-
aged the audience to vote
against
presumptive
Republican presidential
nominee Donald Trump.
“I’m really not political
but it’s serious out here,
and for those who think
that, you know, ‘Oh he’s
not going to win’ — think
again. So we really need
to pull together and turn
this country around,” she
Clinton has a past with
BET: She appeared at
BET’s “Black Girls Rock!”
event in April and told
the audience “my life has
been changed by strong
black women leaders.”
The BET Awards wasn’t
all serious, though. Be-
yonce kicked of the show
with a surprise perfor-
mance featuring Kend-
rick Lamar and multiple
background
dancers
of her song “Freedom,”
dancing in a pool of wa-
ter to the song’s heavy
beat. At one point, La-
mar and Beyonce kicked
the water and danced in
sync, drawing a heavy
applause from the audi-
ence.
Beyonce won video of
the year and the fan-vot-
ed
viewers’
choice
award
for her hit “For-
mation.”
Her
mother,
Tina,
accepted
the
awards and said Beyonce
had to quickly leave the
show ater her perfor-
mance for a concert in
London.
It’s serious out here, and for those
who think that, you know, ‘Oh he’s
not going to win’ — think again
nius and trying us on like
costumes before discard-
ing our bodies,” he said
onstage.
Williams
was
in-
troduced by BET CEO
Debra Lee, who spoke
said.
Co-host Tracee Ellis
Ross said she was sup-
porting Hillary Clinton
and reminded viewers
several times to “get
yourself
registered!”
SHOWTIMES
See BET on page 11
The Week of
Friday, July 1 through
Thursday, July 7, 2016
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