The Chris Brown Awards

by Shardae Jobson

The 2010 BET Awards was a celebration of the new talent out there that for what is worth may actually be around the next ten years--which is quite a big deal in popular music, as even Prince reassured us we were in good hands (who would've thought? Yet, I had would say the same if Janelle Monae just did a rendition of my own hits like the star she is). There were no awards given to Beyonce (okay, one, Video of the Year) and Jay-Z, and while Alicia Keys won one, she's often a little more subdued than her "Put In a Love Song" co-star. The trophy winners that really took the stage were the newcomers Nicki Minaj, Drake, and Trey Songz, and even B.o.B. when he performed "Airplanes" with Keyshia Cole (who didn't quite grab us on the track the way Hayley Williams does on the original recording). All four have been hustling for some time for the spotlight, and this year's BET showcase cemented their place as the new singers and rappers of mainstream R&B and hip-hop to take even more notice of--make some room Honey B and Jigga.

There was confirmation of a Michael Jackson tribute at the ceremony in commercials, in light of the one-year anniversary of his untimely death that still brings a tear or two, and last year's somewhat disorganized but recognizably rushed shout-outs to the gloved one. Some may had been quick to already know the one to perform the tribute would be Chris Brown, yet his name wasn't even uttered as when the segment, introduced by Jermaine Jackson, started with a huge screen of a man expertly imitating the classic moves of MJ's past (including an awesome black & white, virtual reality segment), sure enough it was Brown.

Now, Chris Brown has been the number one pick of MJ impersonators of his generation, especially once Usher became a dad and (once) married man. He would've likely done the same exact everything last year if it hadn't been for the infamous violent altercation with Rihanna that has since drastically change his public persona that for many, even a very adept MJ tribute, can't fix what went down that February before The Grammys in L.A.

As I'm sure by now if you even know who Chris Brown is, the tribute was set to end with him singing the encouraging, tough love song (that would become too convenient for what would follow)"Man in the Mirror". Brown, instead of singing, was completely losing it, barely getting the lyrics out of his mouth. He was apparently so overcome with emotion and heavy cries, he stumbled on stage, he was down on bended knee. Brown was looking like a man desperate for anything good to come to him after a year and half later of his overt wrongdoing of not only hitting his former girlfriend, but a woman period.

The moment he unfolded slowly but surely like an unwanted, guileless fortune from a cookie, it was an uncomfortable moment because it was still surprisingly too raw of a revelation of how quickly Brown tarnished his career, and the intense under and overtone of his actions that provoked the "tears" in the first place. The well-intended Michael Jackson tribute at this year's BET Awards in seconds became The Chris Brown Show. Brown had turned a homage into a live broadcast of his mea culpa that was more convincingly abrupt and even disturbing than his few television interviews about the incident that promptly followed Rihanna's weeks later. Brown's yen for forgiveness was true and full of sadness as the audience there and at home saw one of the few really, well-rounded talents of song and dance in today's music; his grief also came across too much, too late.

Brown may still have to search for a larger percentage of the public's sympathy or at least acknowledgement that people can change and be good again, though celebrities at the event when spoke about it, chose to be politically correct giving him high props. The domestic violence issue with Brown was never a hinder to his obvious talent. His talents are a given when witnessed and are still as good as when "Run It" was released. What really sucks about the whole situation as we watched Brown fall apart on a nationally televised event was that the five minutes he chose to beat his girlfriend to a borderline pulp when he should have acted like a bigger man and got out the car to cool off, he one-handedly destroyed his career and now has to resort to using a tribute for a man completley unrelated to the what happened to seek redemption.

While the issues of Rihanna pushed us towards a more compassionate angle, and Rated R was a artistically crafted glimpse into her feelings, it's all still very enigmatic what came about since the incident. What can be agreed is that Brown still has awhile to go, and here's hoping he won't ever became a monster to another female again.

There are thousands, unfortunately, thousands of men and women going through what transpired between Brown and Rihanna, his performance was representative that while people make "mistakes", why did they have to happen in the first place? Brown's maudlin ending returned the original triggered question of was every punch and bite really worth it?