Posted June 25, 2008 — The Hottest Ticket on Television, the BET AWARDS, brought together the best in entertainment, music and sports for its annual “family reunion.”
Rapper Kanye West was named Best Male Hip Hop Artist and won Best Collaboration for “Good Life” featuring T-Pain. UGK scored the Best Group nod and also earned Video of the Year for “International Player’s Anthem (I Choose You)” featuring Outkast.
Usher opened the show with a sultry rendition of “Love in this Club,” while Ne-Yo’s high-energy performance of “Closer” included tons of impressive choreography and a cameo by Jabbawockeez from MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew.”
Young Jeezy and Kanye gave an electrifying showing of “Put On,” and T-Pain performed a medley of songs, featuring Flo Rida, Rick Ross, Big Boi, DJ Khaled and Ludacris. Girl power was definitely in the house, as Keyshia Cole sang “Heaven Sent” and was joined by Lil’ Kim for “Let It Go,” and Alicia Keys performed “Teenage Love Affair” and then accompanied some of the best girl groups of all time – SWV, En Vogue and TLC – for performances of their hit songs.
Marvin Sapp gave a truly inspirational and powerful rendition of “Never Would Have Made It,” and other show-stopping performances included Rihanna, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown’s sizzling dance with Ciara, and Nelly’s medley with Jermaine Dupri and Fergie.
In addition, Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton and Maxwell performed a moving tribute to legendary R&B icon Al Green, this year’s recipient of BET’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Green brought the house down with his own performance of “Let’s Stay Together” and “Love and Happiness.”
Quincy Jones, celebrated producer/arranger/composer, was also honored with BET’s prestigious Humanitarian Award for his outreach to young African-Americans through the Listen Up Foundation.
Get the complete list of winners.
Catch the encore Friday at 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT).