Tenth Anniversary BET Awards Called the Rise of the Phoenix and is Night of Comebacks for Kanye West, T.I., Chris Brown

LOS ANGELES, June 28 /PRNewswire/ -- There was not a dry-eye in the house at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Sunday, June 27, 2010 when Chris Brown took to the BET AWARDS '10 stage to honor the late Michael Jackson. Kanye West opened the show with a monumental performance of "Power" atop a smoky crag of rocks marking his return to the Awards show spotlight and circuit.  King of the South T.I., backed by Travis Barker on drums and flaming pyrotechnics, tore the house down with his first national TV performance since being released from prison.  Brown, West and T.I.'s show-stopping performances at this year's tenth anniversary BET AWARDS '10 provide platform for these three artists to re-emerge from the ashes for the negative publicity they recently faced to reclaim their status as superstars.

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Just two days after the one-year anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson introduced Chris Brown who channeled the legendary Michael Jackson while dancing to classics like "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Remember The Time," "Billie Jean" and an out-of-this-world silhouetted-in-white-lights version of "Smooth Criminal."  But it wasn't until Chris Brown fell to his knees visibly broken down in tears, tortured with what could only be described as self-reflection during his own rendition of "Man In The Mirror," did the audience come to his rescue and help him finish the song in an ominous choir of song that would have truly made Michael Jackson proud.

Later in the show, when accepting his 2010 Fandemonium Award, Chris Brown said, "I just want to say, I let you all down before and I won't do it again."

Trey Songz's soulful performance of "Yo Side of the Bed" illustrated just why he was named the 2010 Best Male R&B Artist before transitioning into Prince's classic "Purple Rain," which led into one of the undeniable standout performances of the night.

Legendary musician Prince was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award and his tribute was a performance of a lifetime.  Beginning with a remote video message from a legend himself Stevie Wonder, Janelle Monae dazzled with her signature feminine tomboy threads and eccentric dance moves on "Let's Go Crazy."  Esperanza Spalding jazzed up the room with her electric upright bass and Afro while singing "If I Was Your Girlfriend" before Alicia Keys crawled barefoot on her piano bringing Prince to his feet with "Adore."  But it was Patti LaBelle who literally kicked off her heels, which Prince caught, to honor the pop culture icon with his classic "Purple Rain."  Chaka Khan was also on hand to help pay respects

Additional highlights of the 10+ performances include: El DeBarge bringing the audience to their feet to dance in the aisles during his medley of his classics like "All My Love" and "Rhythm of the Night;" Usher, dressed in all white levitating high above, commanding the BET Awards '10 stage with a sizzingly sultry performance of "There Goes My Baby" backed by a 12-piece string section; Alicia Keys, poised at a black piano adorned with blue lights, opening up her medley of hits with "No One" followed by "Try Sleeping" before being joined onstage by Kim Burrell on "If I Ain't Got You;" 10-year-old Gabby Wilson singing a shockingly spot-on rendition of Alicia Keys' "Fallin'" on her 10th birthday to help Queen Latifah introduce Keys' performance; Monica dressed in a gravity-defying black ensemble dueting with Deniece Williams.

Ludacris and DJ Khaled closed the show with a high-energy performance of "My Chick Bad" followed by beats from an asylum-straight-jacket-bound Nicki Minaj.  Bringing a rock-fueled edge to the final song of the night with Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, T-Pain and Diddy on "All I Do Is Win" was Motley Crue's Tommy Lee backed by a drumline.

This year's in memoriam tribute was led by Todd Bridges paying respects to his former co-star Gary Coleman followed by a photo montage of those who passed this year and a Teddy Pendergrass tribute performance by Tyrese who sang "Come Go With Me" and "Close The Door."

In continuing the good that BET's S.O.S.: Saving Ourselves telethon started back in February 2010, which raised over $1 Million for Haitian relief efforts, the BET AWARDS '10's contained a special Haiti memorial performance of "Are You Listening" from gospel greats Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Yolanda Adams, Marvin Sapp, Kim Burrell and Karen Clark Sheard.

In addition to all of these spectacular moments, those lucky enough to bring home a 2010 Tenth Anniversary BET Award were:

Best Female R&B Artist: Alicia Keys

Best Male R&B Artist: Trey Songz

Best Gospel: Marvin Sapp

Best Female Hip Hop Artist: Nicki Minaj

Best Male Hip Hop Artist: Drake

Best New Artist: Nicki Minaj

Best Collaboration: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind"

Video of the Year: Beyonce featuring Lady Gaga "Video Phone"

Video Director of the Year: Hype Williams

Best Actress: Mo'Nique

Best Actor: Idris Elba

YoungStars Award: Keke Palmer

Best Movie: Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Subway Sportwoman of the Year: Serena Williams

Subway Sportman of the Year: LeBron James

Centric Award: Monica

Best International Act: Dizzee Rascal (UK)

Humanitarian Award: John Legend

Lifetime Achievement Award: Prince

Viewers' Choice Award: Rihanna featuring Young Jeezy "Hard"

Fandemonium Award: Chris Brown

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