Stars shine at the BET awards
Ludacris won 'Best Collaboration' for Runaway Love, his song about wayward girls in trouble, with Mary J. Blige. Though he's know for songs about partying and wild behavior, he got serious as he talked about the impact of Runaway Love. ''This was much more than a song, this was a movement,'' the rapper-actor said. ''People say there's no content in hip hop. This song is proof that there's content in hip-hop.''
That wasn't as evident when 50 Cent took the stage to perform his new hit, Amusement Park, which was bleeped several times and ended with a shout-out to his sponsor, Vitamin Water.
Perhaps with that performance in mind, Ross, as she accepted her Lifetime Achievement Award, implored performers to keep it clean.
''I have tried to keep the standards high,'' she said. ''We do not have to say the F-word, we do not have to pump and grind, we do not have to some of these things to have longevity in our career. ... I will do the diva master class for you!''
Show host Mo'Nique made a splashy entrance of her own. Introduced by boxing announcer Michael Buffer, who shouted, 'Are you ready to jiggle?,' she was joined by a bevy of plus-sized dancers in matching silver minidresses as they performed Beyonce's song Deja Vu music-video style. The comedian, who has hosted the show twice before, previously opened the show with a booty-shaking rendition of Beyonce's Crazy in Love.
Other performances punctuating the three-hour ceremony were T.I., followed by R&B crooner Ne-Yo, wearing a white suit and matching fedora, singing his hit Because of You before being joined by the rapper Fabolous on their current hit, Make Me Better. And Lil' Kim made a surprise appearance as Diddy and Keyshia Cole dueted on the hit, Last Night. Nominees and winners were chosen by a panel of media and entertainment-industry executives.
