Now I can finally weigh in (I tried the night of the show but I think this site was down or something). But, the repeat aired tonight and I turned to it right when Alicia was singing so it's been on my mind. Warning, this will be a long post:

First, I loved how humble and soft-spoken Prince comes across while wearing a shirt with his face on it. lol I also got a chuckle at how he let everyone know he just arrived but caught glimpses of the show at his hotel and limo on the way there! lmao I don't blame him (if Kanye can open the show then leave, Prince sure as hell can just show up for his tribute!)

I did not love how Trey just made himself apart of the tribute even though he wasn't asked. Did he REALLY think no one was going to perform "Purple Rain," arguably Prince's signature song? He didn't think it might be redundant?? I'm glad Prince didn't pretend to like his rendition. lol But, on the flip side, it's a nice compliment that this young artist wanted to tribute Prince that badly that he just said, "screw it--I'mma do my own lil tribute!!" lol

I'll just say, in my dreamworld the tribute would have looked something like this: Andre3000 - "Housequake"; Maxwell - "When 2 R In Love"; The Heavies - "Mountains"; Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - "Diamonds & Pearls"; Robert Randolph & the Family Band - "Play In the Sunshine"; Alicia Keys - "Under the Cherry Moon" (she could highlight her piano playing & I think it would fit her vocal range). Also, I'd really like to see a good Gospel artist try "The Cross."

Ok, back to reality: I didn't like Alicia Keys' solo set (although her voice sounded stronger during her solo performance than on "Adore") but I liked that she finally got a chance to sing "Adore" and as a tribute, no less. She's been going on about this song for the longest. She could not hit the notes (none of these women could, which is really strange), but she made up for it with passion, IMO. She tried her very best and I like that pregnant and all, she wasn't about to miss the opportunity to pay tribute to her musical idol.

Janelle is another one who had great energy. She was a lot of fun, even if she isn't quite a polished act just yet. I just wished she could have done the splits or played guitar or something.

Patti is Patti, what else can you say? She "shows out" and it was entertaining even though I did not like her rendition of "Purple Rain" at all. It had a certain comic value, though. And Prince sure loved the theatrics lol

Esperanza was a long snore for me. I keep forgetting she was even part of the show, to be honest.

The tribute was not techinically great. However, Prince seemed to really enjoy himself and they all performed their hearts out. So, there was a sweet and endearing quality about it all. Overall, I think it was a pretty classy, if disjointed tribute. It could have been A LOT worse (imagine more from Trey and the like *shudders*)

The one thing that could have given the tribute a proper perspective was a better video montage at the start. I wanted a longer video segment that featured great moments from his career and showed how long it spans. I'm talking Prince on American Bandstand and Soul Train; Prince receiving his Oscar for "Purple Rain"; Prince winning tons of Grammys, American Music Awards etc! Show all his album covers! Mention how many #1 songs he's had! Show him at the Super Bowl doing "Purple Rain"! Show him playing different instruments and emphasize that he's a singer, songwriter, musician, dancer, etc. In truth, they could have just showed a nice long video montage, let Stevie talk and then had Prince perform--we wouldn't have needed anyone else to do his songs at all!

At any rate, he looked fantastic and at peace. He seemed to really appreciate the love and that was nice to see. Congratulations, Prince!!

bettybop said:

The one thing that could have given the tribute a proper perspective was a better video montage at the start. I wanted a longer video segment that featured great moments from his career and showed how long it spans. I'm talking Prince on American Bandstand and Soul Train; Prince receiving his Oscar for "Purple Rain"; Prince winning tons of Grammys, American Music Awards etc! Show all his album covers! Mention how many #1 songs he's had! Show him at the Super Bowl doing "Purple Rain"! Show him playing different instruments and emphasize that he's a singer, songwriter, musician, dancer, etc. In truth, they could have just showed a nice long video montage, let Stevie talk and then had Prince perform--we wouldn't have needed anyone else to do his songs at all!

At any rate, he looked fantastic and at peace. He seemed to really appreciate the love and that was nice to see. Congratulations, Prince!!

I REALLY agree with this. No, the performances weren't "Prince-perfect," but they were genuine and heartfelt. I actually enjoyed Esperanza the most followed by Patti, Alicia and Janelle. However, I do think that there could have been more performances. To properly honor Prince, they really needed to do something longer. They could have even had different artists sing his songs throughout the show. Maybe songs from different decades. As a lifetime achievement award for someone who has achieved so much in his lifetime, I definitely thought the montage could have been better. This was a golden opportunity to acknowledge how multi-faceted Prince is for those who are not as aware of him beyond the obvious. It wouldn't even have cost much money if they had a good graphics and research team.

Some things I would have done -

1. Acknowledge P as a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, businessman, philanthropist, Web innovator.
2. List his number one albums and songs (They did this for Alicia Keys as artist of the decade but couldn't do it for an artist whose career has spanned 5 decades?)
3. List hits he's written/produced for others
4. Highlight some of his proteges/artists he's worked with
5. List some of his recordbreaking achievements/career highlights like tours, awards, etc.
6. Show the covers of all his albums
7. Include clips of artists commenting on him about working with him or his influence on them(This could have been achieved through archival footage if BET was too cheap to film original interviews).

nursev said:

Erika2k8 said:

Once again

the tributes where amazing, I liked some more than others but they where performed from an honest place ,so good on all of them! lool Prince looked happy and sexy.

Its all good.

Even Trey Muthafuggin Songz? Me thinks not

LOL....Now that's the truth! Ruth! If Trey would have been like 16 years old...I would have a degree of compassion. But he's freggin 25 years old. Da hayel...is he tone death?

bettybop said:

Esperanza was a long snore for me. I keep forgetting she was even part of the show, to be honest.

At any rate, he looked fantastic and at peace. He seemed to really appreciate the love and that was nice to see. Congratulations, Prince!!

You too huh? I was talking to someone and told them who gave the tribute and twice I forgot to mention Esperanza. She was uneventful in my opinion. Although some genuinely liked that performance, I think more are just infactuated with that stand up bass (that she misses notes on) and her soft voice. I do think she has potential though her voice reminds me of an Amel Laureux. Kinda how Bria's voice "wants' to sound.

If you missed it here's a good link...

http://mog.com/blog_posts...486/mogbar

After their performance, Prince received the Lifetime Achievement Award

luv4u said:

nursev said:

Alittle one-just a generic thank you-no name dropping

He should of given props to the org

Reel said:

nursev said:

Even Trey Muthafuggin Songz? Me thinks not

LOL....Now that's the truth! Ruth! If Trey would have been like 16 years old...I would have a degree of compassion. But he's freggin 25 years old. Da hayel...is he tone death?

Tone deaf, honey. Tone deaf.

the problem here is none of you understand what took place in front of you. prince did want to be there, which is why he was super late. the reason why the montage was't any good was because prince set it up that way. he gave bet the footage to show everone. he made it plain to bet that he was not interesred in being paid tribute by them. thats is why i said from the begining that they should honor someone else like the jacksons.

It was probably discussed over one of the 3 seperate threds on BET but I dont see it so here it goes: who was the chick sitting in Prince's seat next to Shelby during El DeBragre's performance? Was she just a pretty seat filler to avoid having an empty seat on the front row when cameras panned through? It would have been go to see El jamming with Prince in the front row when he came through the audience singing Rythm of the Night. LOL

gyro34 said:

luv4u said:

He should of given props to the org

But that would mean he likes us ain't gonna happen

Genesia said:

Reel said:

LOL....Now that's the truth! Ruth! If Trey would have been like 16 years old...I would have a degree of compassion. But he's freggin 25 years old. Da hayel...is he tone death?

Tone deaf, honey. Tone deaf.

Trey "Tone Deaf" Songz

jackson35 said:

the problem here is none of you understand what took place in front of you. prince did want to be there, which is why he was super late. the reason why the montage was't any good was because prince set it up that way. he gave bet the footage to show everone. he made it plain to bet that he was not interesred in being paid tribute by them. thats is why i said from the begining that they should honor someone else like the jacksons.

I will say this about the montage: I didnt find it to be fantastic but it wasnt terrible. There may have been an issue of copyrights adn what not. Some blamed it all on Prince - which is getting old and just dumb as hell. More than anything else , it was probably just the half assed way BET does almost everything. (See the program with Vivica Fox and one of those worthless Simmons chicks that is supposed to review what the stars wore to the show - low budget, tacky, and a simply horrible production with Fox stepping on everyone and being a complete clown. ONly BET would air that hot mess).

I remember some award show did a video montage that damn near upstaged Prince before he came out to accept the award. I think it was the AMA back in the 90's - sems as though Troy Beyer was the presenter. It showed alot of the moments and the classic photos/album covers/magazine covers. but that part I liked most was it flashed every split Prince ever did in a video or concerts in a continuous run that seemed to take about half of a minute - it was so cool. Anyone recall that montage?

crusader said:

I will say this about the montage: I didnt find it to be fantastic but it wasnt terrible. There may have been an issue of copyrights adn what not. Some blamed it all on Prince - which is getting old and just dumb as hell. More than anything else , it was probably just the half assed way BET does almost everything. (See the program with Vivica Fox and one of those worthless Simmons chicks that is supposed to review what the stars wore to the show - low budget, tacky, and a simply horrible production with Fox stepping on everyone and being a complete clown. ONly BET would air that hot mess).

I remember some award show did a video montage that damn near upstaged Prince before he came out to accept the award. I think it was the AMA back in the 90's - sems as though Troy Beyer was the presenter. It showed alot of the moments and the classic photos/album covers/magazine covers. but that part I liked most was it flashed every split Prince ever did in a video or concerts in a continuous run that seemed to take about half of a minute - it was so cool. Anyone recall that montage?

That might have been the soul train awards from 92 if that was Troy Beyer (though I maybe wrong). One thing I didn't understand was when Stevie Wonder said it was long overdue that Prince got a lifetime award. Ummm dam Prince has been getting honors like these for about 30 years now (he is in the Rock & Roll hall of Fame).

Brofie said:

It was probably discussed over one of the 3 seperate threds on BET but I dont see it so here it goes: who was the chick sitting in Prince's seat next to Shelby during El DeBragre's performance? Was she just a pretty seat filler to avoid having an empty seat on the front row when cameras panned through? It would have been go to see El jamming with Prince in the front row when he came through the audience singing Rythm of the Night. LOL

She was a seatfiller. Every seat has to be occupied. Even the entertainers seat when they get up to accept an award or go to the bathroom or whatever...

[Edited 6/30/10 12:31pm]

Don't know whether my question has already been asked, I wonder:

Is it possible to get his outfits on a some site?

I just love what he wears

jackson35 said:

the problem here is none of you understand what took place in front of you. prince did want to be there, which is why he was super late. the reason why the montage was't any good was because prince set it up that way. he gave bet the footage to show everone. he made it plain to bet that he was not interesred in being paid tribute by them. thats is why i said from the begining that they should honor someone else like the jacksons.

This sentence doesn't make any sense. If he DID want to be there, then why would be late and give them a shitty video montage? Did you mean to type that he did NOT want to be there?

The 4 female singers did not really do Prince justice, but their hearts were in the right place. In a way, they all made him look better because they couldn't perform his songs as well as he can.

Chaka Khan was there - would it have been so hard to perform I Feel For U?

The tribute was 2 songs from Purple Rain and 2 from SOTT. Even the montage was (mostly) from Purple Rain. The whole thing seemed "off" to me, but his acceptance speech was one of the nicest and most humble I've heard.

Se7en said:

The 4 female singers did not really do Prince justice, but their hearts were in the right place. In a way, they all made him look better because they couldn't perform his songs as well as he can.

Chaka Khan was there - would it have been so hard to perform I Feel For U?

The tribute was 2 songs from Purple Rain and 2 from SOTT. Even the montage was (mostly) from Purple Rain. The whole thing seemed "off" to me, but his acceptance speech was one of the nicest and most humble I've heard.

Yeah the tribute was pretty much mediocre on the lower end. Not sure why Chaka didn't perform "I feel for you"...that would have been great. I do know that she absolutely HATES Melle Mel's intro to that song. Maybe she was scared that the BET audience and rappers were all going to start chanting CHAKA KHAN LEMME ROCK YOU...LEMME ROCK YOU CHAKA KHAN.

Ummm. Next up Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award !?

Velvet123 said:

I believe Alicia Keys is secretly in love with Prince. Seriously last interview she had always says that she wants to work with Prince or something. I think it was an Oprah, where she called out on Prince and said she wanted to work with him.

You see that Prince looked over to Swizz Beatz with that "I got your girlfriend climbing on pianos for me" look. That performance and her speech at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction makes it clear she got it bad!

jackson35 said:

the problem here is none of you understand what took place in front of you. prince did want to be there, which is why he was super late. the reason why the montage was't any good was because prince set it up that way. he gave bet the footage to show everone. he made it plain to bet that he was not interesred in being paid tribute by them. thats is why i said from the begining that they should honor someone else like the jacksons.

Prince also caused the oil spill in the Gulf and blamed it on BP.

Se7en said:

The 4 female singers did not really do Prince justice, but their hearts were in the right place. In a way, they all made him look better because they couldn't perform his songs as well as he can.

Chaka Khan was there - would it have been so hard to perform I Feel For U?

The tribute was 2 songs from Purple Rain and 2 from SOTT. Even the montage was (mostly) from Purple Rain. The whole thing seemed "off" to me, but his acceptance speech was one of the nicest and most humble I've heard.

Chaka had just flown in from Amsterdam and was unable to rehearse for the show.

HonestMan13 said:

Prince also caused the oil spill in the Gulf and blamed it on BP.

why wouldnt that surprise me

As with the case with all the Award shows, I wasn't really interested in seeing the show. But I peeked in every once in a while. I enjoyed the little girl who sang the Alicia Keys song, Chris Brown, I walked away from the t.v., for me I could have cared less about his tears, real or not, it was suppose to be a tribute to Michael Jackson, not a feel for me moment. It made me feel manipulated which ticked me off. I loved the Smooth Criminal homage, El Debarge, Tyrese doing Teddy Pendergrass. I didn't understand the bare acknowledgement of Lena Horne looks like an inside industry thing, her not thinking anyone was good enough to do her biopic, maybe, it was still cold though. After that, the next time I clicked in I was too mesmerized by being able to see Prince's gorgeous eyes (no sunglasses for once) to notice anything else. He looked so personable. Patty did it her way nothing less then I'd expect, since she couldn't hit Prince's note like he could, she hit her own like she can as a true Diva Professional should. I loved Alicia's black outfit. Prince's acceptance speech was perfect given the atmosphere.

jackson35 said:

the problem here is none of you understand what took place in front of you. prince did want to be there, which is why he was super late. the reason why the montage was't any good was because prince set it up that way. he gave bet the footage to show everone. he made it plain to bet that he was not interesred in being paid tribute by them. thats is why i said from the begining that they should honor someone else like the jacksons.

Is that you Jermaine???

bellanoche said:

bettybop said:

The one thing that could have given the tribute a proper perspective was a better video montage at the start. I wanted a longer video segment that featured great moments from his career and showed how long it spans. I'm talking Prince on American Bandstand and Soul Train; Prince receiving his Oscar for "Purple Rain"; Prince winning tons of Grammys, American Music Awards etc! Show all his album covers! Mention how many #1 songs he's had! Show him at the Super Bowl doing "Purple Rain"! Show him playing different instruments and emphasize that he's a singer, songwriter, musician, dancer, etc. In truth, they could have just showed a nice long video montage, let Stevie talk and then had Prince perform--we wouldn't have needed anyone else to do his songs at all!

At any rate, he looked fantastic and at peace. He seemed to really appreciate the love and that was nice to see. Congratulations, Prince!!

I REALLY agree with this. No, the performances weren't "Prince-perfect," but they were genuine and heartfelt. I actually enjoyed Esperanza the most followed by Patti, Alicia and Janelle. However, I do think that there could have been more performances. To properly honor Prince, they really needed to do something longer. They could have even had different artists sing his songs throughout the show. Maybe songs from different decades. As a lifetime achievement award for someone who has achieved so much in his lifetime, I definitely thought the montage could have been better. This was a golden opportunity to acknowledge how multi-faceted Prince is for those who are not as aware of him beyond the obvious. It wouldn't even have cost much money if they had a good graphics and research team.

Some things I would have done -

1. Acknowledge P as a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, businessman, philanthropist, Web innovator.
2. List his number one albums and songs (They did this for Alicia Keys as artist of the decade but couldn't do it for an artist whose career has spanned 5 decades?)
3. List hits he's written/produced for others
4. Highlight some of his proteges/artists he's worked with
5. List some of his recordbreaking achievements/career highlights like tours, awards, etc.
6. Show the covers of all his albums
7. Include clips of artists commenting on him about working with him or his influence on them(This could have been achieved through archival footage if BET was too cheap to film original interviews).

I agree with the bolded parts especially. It would have been fantastic if they showed some of the songs he's written for others like "Nothing Comares to U," "Manic Monday" and "I Feel For U". I like the idea of having a Prince-themed evening, too....hell, make a night of it! I just doubt that someone unfamiliar with his work would have been able to get a glimpse into his greatness by watching this tribute. But, I'm sure there will be better tributes to Prince in the future. And, like I said, this could have been much worse....it's BET after all.

Reel said:

bettybop said:

Esperanza was a long snore for me. I keep forgetting she was even part of the show, to be honest.

At any rate, he looked fantastic and at peace. He seemed to really appreciate the love and that was nice to see. Congratulations, Prince!!

You too huh? I was talking to someone and told them who gave the tribute and twice I forgot to mention Esperanza. She was uneventful in my opinion. Although some genuinely liked that performance, I think more are just infactuated with that stand up bass (that she misses notes on) and her soft voice. I do think she has potential though her voice reminds me of an Amel Laureux. Kinda how Bria's voice "wants' to sound.

Yes! Amel Laureux is who she reminded me of as well. Since all of these women seemed to struggle to hit the high notes that he hits with ease, maybe someone like Corrine Bailey Rae would've been an interesting choice. She can get up there and might have brought an interesting interpretation to a song like "Got A Broken Heart Again" or "When You Were Mine". I remember she did a little write up about one of his 02 shows, so she is a fan.

I think the key to a real slamming Prince tribute might be less involvement from HIM! lol

[Edited 7/1/10 8:10am]

babynoz said:

jackson35 said:

the problem here is none of you understand what took place in front of you. prince did want to be there, which is why he was super late. the reason why the montage was't any good was because prince set it up that way. he gave bet the footage to show everone. he made it plain to bet that he was not interesred in being paid tribute by them. thats is why i said from the begining that they should honor someone else like the jacksons.

Is that you Jermaine???

Lmao!! Nah, I think it's Joe!

Dreadful tribute. Prince deserves much better.

and that Tray (??) or whatever his name is horrible!