Grammy® Award-Winning Rapper T.I. Takes Center Stage for Long Awaited Comeback Performance at the BET AWARDS '10

NEW YORK, June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Every year BET brings you the hottest awards show on cable television and this year will be no different.  Hosted by entertainment superstar Queen Latifah with performances by Nicki Minaj, Drake, Trey Songz and Diddy-Dirty Money the BET AWARDS '10 promises to bring the house down!

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Newly added to the line-up is the highly anticipated and explosive return of the "King of the South."  Multi-platinum, rap heavyweight T.I. will hit the stage in his first, televised performance since his release.   BET is pulling out all the stops this year bringing you the biggest and best in music, sports, television, and entertainment.

Six-time GRAMMY® Award-winning artist and philanthropist John Legend will be awarded the 2010 Humanitarian Award for his work to end poverty through education.

It's impossible to contain that much star power and entertainment into one night.  In celebration, BET will highlight some of the greatest moments from the past nine BET AWARDS in a one-hour special titled, "Smash!! The Best of the BET Awards," premiering on June 14 at 10:00 P.M.* Full performances from "Smash!! The Best of the BET Awards" will be available on BET.com/BETAwards.

Do you remember when Monique did Crazy in Love?  What about the reunion of the girl groups TLC and SWV?  How about when Usher defied gravity by dancing on the wall? Or Michael Jackson with James Brown?  All of these moments and more took place on the BET AWARDS stage!  The show will not only feature clips from past shows, but also behind-the-scenes commentary from the celebrities and staff who made many of these unforgettable moments possible. It's going to be an hour that you won't want to miss.

The BET AWARDS '10 will broadcast live from the Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium on Sunday, June 27, 2010 at 8:00 P.M.*

BET INTERNATIONAL will also premiere the BET AWARDS in the 54 countries across the UK, Middle East and Africa on Saturday, July 3, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. GMT; 8:00 P.M. BST; 9:00 P.M. CAT; 10:00 P.M. KSA.

BET has once again teamed with Cossette Productions, the famed producers of the GRAMMY® Awards and the nine record-setting BET AWARDS shows, to handle production of the telecast.  Stephen Hill, President, Music Programming and Specials, BET Networks, along with Lynne Harris-Taylor, Vice President of Specials, BET Networks, will executive produce the telecast.  

Additionally, BET has secured a deal with the Upfront Market Group who will be providing a 360 degree camera for extra glitz and glamour for the BET AWARDS red carpet coverage.

For continuous BET AWARDS '10 updates, please visit: http://www.bet.com/betawards. Stay on the pulse of any and everything relating to the BET AWARDS '10 through our Twitter page at www.twitter.com/BETAWARDS (hash tag: #BETAWARDS) and Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/TheBETAwards.

*all times ET/PT

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom, Middle East & Africa and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

SOURCE BET Networks