BET AWARDS 2008 PERFORMANCES: MY REVIEWS....

Chris Brown performed a combination of two of his hit singles - ballads 'With You' and 'Take U Down':

Now Chris's performance disappointed me. It was blah. Though, he didn't channel Michael Jackson as usual but when Ciara came in for their sexy dance routine of 'Take U Down', it was just awesome. Ciara's moves were slick, sexy and smooth. If it weren't for her part, Chris's performance would have been totally forgettable.

The massive upset of the night was when Queen B was a no-show for a rumoured performance of Usher's 'Love In This Club' remix (alongside rapper Lil Wayne). Instead, Usher wounded up performing the original version on his lonesome:


The performance was a disappointment, almost as if his heart wasn't in it. His lipsynching was terrible. His dancing competitor is Chris Brown, who was also watching him in the audience and Usher's performance had no defiance to it whatsoever. If anything, Usher performed like a defeated man knowing that he's no longer the no 1 performer in music whose clearly lost his touch. Happens to the best of them I guess. That white chick as his backing dancer is fierce. I remember her from the Destiny's Child tour (from 2004). Ya'll know the bit where they dance to a random selection of R&B and Hip Hop songs whilst they're backstage changing outfits? That is where I remember her from.

It's sad when I end up saying that Ne-yo's performance of 'Closer' shitted all over Usher's performance with triple diarrhea for added effect:


I was seeing a lot of heavily-inspired Smooth Criminal but this is probably the most complex I've ever seen Ne-yo get when it comes to mastering choreography. Good job.

Keyshia Cole performed latest single 'Heaven Sent' before breaking into her last year smash 'Let It Go'. As rapper Lil Kim is featured on the original song, she joined Keyshia on stage to perform the track:


Keyshia sounded really messy but she activated herself which kind of made up for her poor vocal delivery but not quite. I like how her hair magically grew from her Red Carpet Arrival. Lil Kim, meh, an embarrassment to herself.

Meanwhile, Alicia Keys entertained us with a all girl Group tribute where she performed on stage with the legendary TLC, SWV and En Vogue. Here's her performance with TLC as they sang their classic smash 'Waterfalls':


This performance made me very sad because I kept telling myself that Lefteye should have been here, especially since she touched the group with her talent, beauty and uniqueness. T-Boz sounded really sick. Her voice was almost non-existent.

Alicia sang her latest single 'Teenage Love Affair' before singing SWV's 'Weak' with the group as well as En Vogue's 'Hold On' in which they came out as well:


I was pretty shocked to see all FOUR original members of En Vogue. Dawn was killing it. That was my 90's fix when R&B music couldn't go wrong. Sometimes I'll go back in time and give myself crazy memories. It would have been great if Jade, Brownestone and Xscape were part of the 90's girl band tribute because they too deserved it just as much. It would have been better if Alicia stayed out the way and allowed the groups to sing their song without interference. That as well as having a longer stint on stage.

Rihanna performed latest smash 'Take A Bow':


It was really cute seeing boyfriend Chris Brown singing along to the song. She sounded great - just like the record. As much as I like TAB, I'm starting to get tired of it but she did a nice vocal job nonetheless.