Lil Wayne and Drake To Perform on the BET AWARDS '11

NEW YORK, June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Rap heavyweights Lil Wayne and Drake join Chris Brown, Jill Scott and Alicia Keys  as performers for this year's BET AWARDS '11.  Lil Wayne, who is set to release his ninth album "Tha Carter IV" this August, received five nominations this year in the "Best Collaboration," "Best Male Hip Hop Artist," "Video of the Year," categories as well as two nods in the "Coca-Cola Viewers' Choice" category. Also taking center stage at the BET AWARDS '11, breakout talent Drake will go head-to-head with friend and mentor Lil Wayne in the "Best Collaboration," "Best Male Hip Hop Artist and "Coca-Cola Viewers' Choice" categories.

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The highly-anticipated BET AWARDS '11, hosted by comedian Kevin Hart, airs live on Sunday, June 26 at 8 p.m.* from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA and is guaranteed to be the hottest ticket on television.

For the inside scoop on nominations, star-studded appearances and an exclusive BET AWARDS '11 performance announcement, tune in and watch  SHINING STARS: THE BET AWARDS NOMINATION SPECIAL, hosted by BET's Pooch Hall ("The Game") and R&B songstress Kelly Rowland, on Wednesday, June 15 at 7:30 p.m.*

For continuous BET AWARDS '11 updates and to view a complete list of Awards nominees, please visit: www.bet.com/BETAWARDS, www.twitter.com/BETAWARDS (hash tag: #BETAWARDS) and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheBETAWARDS.

*All times are ET/PT.

About BET Networks:

BET Networks, a subsidiary 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 and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

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