dreamer218 said:

jumanji2016 said:

lrn36 said:

Agreed. It makes me realize that Janelle probably doesn't get Prince. He made it quite clear that he regretted a lot of the crazier things he did in his career because it wasn't really necessary. The power of the music was enough. Stuff like that should stay in the past where it can be appreciated. Outside of that, I think she really captured some of the youthful energy of Prince in the early 80s.

I think she definitely "gets" Prince. I think this was just her way of paying homage and utilizing the confidence that Prince gave her. Historically, Janelle has worn full tuxedos for most of the duration of her career and has just recently begun showing more skin since she turned 30 last December by exposing a bit of midriff with her usual pantsuits. So for her to even consider this looks speaks VOLUMES and is a true testament to her love for this man.

I agree - she not only gets him, but WHO ELSE could she be paying homage to in this getup?? This is the one & only time to be this bold, & I love that she did it - go for it

She opened for him when I saw him in December 2013. The tee shirt has her face and his face on the front. (I believe there was a different shirt for each night of the three-night run, featuring each opening act on the front with Prince.) He thought she was terrific. She got him bigtime.

CalhounSq said:

jumanji2016 said:

lrn36 said: I think she definitely "gets" Prince. I think this was just her way of paying homage and utilizing the confidence that Prince gave her. Historically, Janelle has worn full tuxedos for most of the duration of her career and has just recently begun showing more skin since she turned 30 last December by exposing a bit of midriff with her usual pantsuits. So for her to even consider this looks speaks VOLUMES and is a true testament to her love for this man.

I agree - she not only gets him, but WHO ELSE could she be paying homage to in this getup?? This is the one & only time to be this bold, & I love that she did it - go for it

Exactly...Janelle posted this message some hours ago:

"Nothing about this night was easy mentally. It's been emotionally unpredictable. But when we stepped on that stage I felt your presence. Unexplainable.
I did it all in the name of you. You fought for us. And for that I owe you so much.
There will never be another #Prince I.E. The GReATEST ROCKSTAR TO WALK THE EARtH. My hero. My family. 💜"

I can't imagine how difficult these months have been for people who were close to him.

[Edited 6/30/16 6:30am]

[Edited 6/30/16 6:30am]

nursev said:

babynoz said:

She was great IMO.

Not to make U Jennifer lovers mad...she can sing but sometimes its too much

Ain't that the truth... She's got passion, but damn... Tasteful restraint is one of the more underrated qualities of great performers... Start off at 10 and there's no where to go... I've never heard her sing anything that didn't make me think, "Dial it back a few notches."

migmigmig said:

Appropos of the conversation about the tendency to scream-sing Purple Rain:

**

Imagine if the tribute version had consisted of a person at a piano, alone on stage, playing and singing it softly. Imagine the impact of that. Well executed, it would've absolutely killed.

**

Missed opportunity for sure.

I agree. I don't like it when they make it sound like a singing contest, bringing out the technical aspect rather than the essence of the song. It was a very vulnerable song originally and I think that should be preserved. The way Larry Graham sang it last Friday at the London tribute was well balanced and very moving, very close to how Prince used to sing it. Then a woman (not sure who she was) took over and even though she was a fantastic singer, she kind of "belted it out" a little and it kind of changed the atmosphere. Larry joined in again for the chorus... and it balanced it all out again and it was beautiful. Their music was spot on, nearly exactely the same as the original. There's a footage of it here which doesn't really do justice to how it really was when there, but gives a rough idea https://www.youtube.com/w...oZ4hF3f75I

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

cindymay said:

Yes she clearly wanted to celebrate his provocative and funny side. Prince was her mentor and friend after all. Jamie Foxx' expression lookin' at her butt was priceless

...

Yes! It so very was!

All that did was make me recall Jamie's BUTT OUT JEANS skit from In Living Color.

morningsong said:

cindymay said:

Yes she clearly wanted to celebrate his provocative and funny side. Prince was her mentor and friend after all. Jamie Foxx' expression lookin' at her butt was priceless

But I love this picture more...I think it captures her feelings a lot.

[Edited 6/29/16 6:08am]

That is a beautiful picture.

YAY! The picture's back..

[Edited 6/30/16 22:34pm]

It sucked

Layzie said:

BET did that. They killed it, backed up the car, and ran over it again. They had everything you could ask for. His former bandmates, proteges, actual vocalists, everything. MTV shouldn't even bother doing a tribute.

Maxwell was absolutely AMAZING. I loved Janelle's energy. Sheila and Mayte almost made me cry at the end.

I agree - BET told us not to worry and they were right. I loved it. Loved it! Not just the amazing and thoughtful performances but the sets were amazing with the lighting and pictures etc. Even the pacing worked for me because like someone else said, this way was something like 30-40 minutes. Sheila closing the show was the very best part. Thanks BET!

I was on a plane when I read that Mayte was present at the tribute. As soon as I read it, I lost my sh*t, (startling the woman behind me) and began bawling. My husband has another story to tell about my famdom... ("Let me tell you about that time Prince almost got us kicked off an airplane...")

Anyway - my thoughts on the tribute...

"Ballad of Dorothy Parker" - wondered why Erykah seemed to be whispering/ not using a bigger voice. The Roots were alittle off to begin with, however by time that bridge dropped everyone was in the groove. I believe there was some nervousness, expectation to live up to proper tribute in this first set. Something may have been going on behind the scenes. I'm glad Bilal committed to going in on the end of "The Beautiful Ones", all that writhing and unbuttoning sold the performance IMO. Stevie and Tory were just ok... honestly, at this point, I just want to hear Prince and Vanity in duet on that song as it was meant to be. I liked J. Hud doing "Purple Rain", it was what was needed for the service, and I'm not even a J. Hud fan at.all.

Maxwell was good, he may have been nervous (with all that hand shaking), maybe he knew he would get dragged in the media if he didn't get it right. His insertion seemed like an afterthought anyway but I loved the 66 days part. So poigant.

Janelle Monae was stellar in mirroring Prince. She really made up for the 2010 Lifetime Acheivement performance, which I thought was all over the place. I loved all the songs she did, especially that "Pop Life" was included.

Although Janelle was good, they saved the best for last with Sheila and crew. She did her thing... I just finished her book and I get it now. Then came out Mayte with the twins. I'm so glad she participated, I really needed to see her on stage - for closure and all that. She was such a big part of P's life... I got to see Jerome too! (I was wondering about him, but too scared to ask on the org). The ending was everything.. perfect with the purple cloud and white light.

BET, you really did our man justice.

[Edited 6/30/16 20:34pm]

kpowers said:

morningsong said:

kpowers said:

It sucked

Really? Really? REALLY?!? Alright that's it you've officially lost it.

I mean it made me depressed, couldn't watch the whole thing

the only thing i disliked about the BET awards is that my fantasy where prince popped out at the end and played a flashy riff on his guitar and beamed us all that amazing grin.... that didn't happen.

I thought it was good.

I think for me, the most perfect tribute would be

Lenny Kravitz doing Let's Go Crazy with The Revolution backing him up.

Have Usher sing Adore, have the New Power Generation perform U Got The Look with Sheena Easton popping up and Morris Day

I mean, I can go on and on but I think getting Lenny to open a show, ANY show with him doing Let's Go Crazy, with The Revolution, would be BAE!

I thought they all did a great job. Artists are all different, they did a good job in their own way honoring Prince.

I thought Janelle was one of the best. Jennifer Hudson was good but sometimes she yells too much. Sheila E - awesome, high energy, just like Prince would do it.

Prince had some really good taste in women, they are all beautiful.

It is nice to see that all the ladies support each other. They all loved the same man and now he is gone. wow, that hole will never be filled.

The tributes were great. I saw an interview that Sheila did and she said it took them two and half days to practice. I think Madonna had 1 week to put together her tribute which was garbage compared to what the BET Awards did. Sheila E.'s tribute was the best of the night.

musicfan77 said:

I thought they all did a great job. Artists are all different, they did a good job in their own way honoring Prince.

I thought Janelle was one of the best. Jennifer Hudson was good but sometimes she yells too much. Sheila E - awesome, high energy, just like Prince would do it.

Prince had some really good taste in women, they are all beautiful.

It is nice to see that all the ladies support each other. They all loved the same man and now he is gone. wow, that hole will never be filled.

I agree...too much oversinging like she usually does.

GhostChick said:

I thought it was good.

I think for me, the most perfect tribute would be

Lenny Kravitz doing Let's Go Crazy with The Revolution backing him up.

Have Usher sing Adore, have the New Power Generation perform U Got The Look with Sheena Easton popping up and Morris Day

I mean, I can go on and on but I think getting Lenny to open a show, ANY show with him doing Let's Go Crazy, with The Revolution, would be BAE!

Yes on what you said...Kravitz with the Revolution backing him, OMG. And Usher doing Adore would have killed it! And Morris with the Time, hello. I heard Sheila say Morris and them were invited, but some could not make it due to other obligations. IDK. I thought Sheila E. did a great job, and Mayte was so good. I cried. The tribute was good and as a Prince fan I appreciated it. But seeing his pictures in the background of the first performances, and then Sheila lifting the guitar up at the end, I lost my shit. The tribute made me cry, for the love they were giving him. But also for the fact that WTF, he is gone and shouldn't be. And no one can do those songs like him, no one. Man!!!

To me, whart was especially rewarding about the tribute that it included so many songs that weren't hit singles.....Dorothy Parker, Housequake, Baby I'm a Star, Erotic City to name a few. With Sheila E.'s tribute, I kept getting more excited with each unexpected song choice that the tv got so amped up that my family was concerned . I was just delirious!

cindymay said:

musicfan77 said:

I thought they all did a great job. Artists are all different, they did a good job in their own way honoring Prince.

I thought Janelle was one of the best. Jennifer Hudson was good but sometimes she yells too much. Sheila E - awesome, high energy, just like Prince would do it.

Prince had some really good taste in women, they are all beautiful.

It is nice to see that all the ladies support each other. They all loved the same man and now he is gone. wow, that hole will never be filled.

I agree...too much oversinging like she usually does.

I actually detest her version of "Purple Rain", and I never will thoroughly enjoy many of her tributes unless it's to a Gospel singer with a similar voice. I do not hate Jennifer, I am aware she is wonderfully talented, but very unnecessary. It was a "home-going" performance, not a tribute, which is fine. I just think it's not appropriate. Sing something else, don't butcher Purple Rain with your heartfelt hymn reliance. It's not the song for it. I felt that way when Patti sang it for his tribute as well.

CAL3 said:

nursev said:

Not to make U Jennifer lovers mad...she can sing but sometimes its too much

Ain't that the truth... She's got passion, but damn... Tasteful restraint is one of the more underrated qualities of great performers... Start off at 10 and there's no where to go... I've never heard her sing anything that didn't make me think, "Dial it back a few notches."

'Tasteful restraint', lol.... singing Purple Rain, no less, GOOD LORD, y'all just haters. Or maybe it's just fuzzy memory but...

Have any of you heard Prince's 20 minute screechfests on Purple Rain? Especially during the mid 80's Purple Rain era years. I don't mind differing opinions, but facts are facts: When did Prince himself ever exercise 'tasteful restraint' live on Purple Rain. I dare anyone to reference a Prince recording from the 80's where he exercised tasteful restraint on Purple Rain? What are people thinking? Y'all smokin crack.

positivity88 said:

Sheila. E. is still a badass! I couldn't watch this Sunday, and but I've watched it 7 times now. And good God it's funky. I've cried at the end every time. If I have the chance to see Sheila live soon, I'm going!

Greatest thing she's ever done. I'm buying tickets to see her too.

sheila did amazing !!

XxAxX said:

the only thing i disliked about the BET awards is that my fantasy where prince popped out at the end and played a flashy riff on his guitar and beamed us all that amazing grin.... that didn't happen.

You right kpowers, He not here no more!

[Edited 7/3/16 12:22pm]