andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Singer/actress JENNIFER HUDSON has triumphed at the seventh annual Black Entertainment Television (BET) awards.

The Oscar-winning star picked up two prizes at the ceremony at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium on Tuesday, where she was named Best Actress and Best New Artist for her role in Dreamgirls.

After performing alongside original Broadway Dreamgirl Jennifer Holliday on And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going from the musical-turned-movie, Hudson was shocked to have been awarded the gongs, telling the audience, “I can’t believe I’m still winning awards!”

Hudson’s Dreamgirls co-star Beyonce also picked up two awards for Irreplaceable – which was named Video of The Year – and Best Female R&B Artist, despite being nominated in six categories.

O Jays singer Eddie Levert paid a moving tribute to his late son, Gerald, who died in November last year, by performing Wind Beneath My Wings alongside Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle and Yolanda Adams. An emotional LaBelle later described Gerald as “one of the best voices around.”

Hip hop star Ne-Yo, who was named Best Male R&B Artist, dedicated his win to the late singer, who was also nominated in the same category.

Legendary performer Diana Ross was given a Lifetime Achievement award, with Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu and Chaka Khan paying individual tributes to the star.

Ross told the crowd of her career, “I have tried to keep the standards high. We do not have to say the f-word, we do not have to pump and grind, we do not have to some of these things to have longevity in our career. … I will do the diva master class for you!”

50 Cent, T.I. Beyonce, Ne-Yo, Fabolous, Diddy, Keyshia Cole and Lil’ Kim were among the stars who performed at the star-studded award ceremony.
The full list of winners is:
VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Beyonce – Irreplaceable
BEST GROUP: Gnarls Barkley
BEST ACTOR: Forest Whitaker
BEST ACTRESS: Jennifer Hudson
BEST HIP-HOP ARTIST: T.I.
BEST COLLABORATION: Ludacris featuring Mary J. Blige – Runaway Love
BEST NEW ARTIST: Jennifer Hudson
BEST MALE ATHLETE: LeBron James
BEST FEMALE ATHLETE: Serena Williams
BEST COOL LIKE THAT: Gerald Levert
BEST GOSPEL ARTIST: Kirk Franklin
BEST MALE R&B ARTIST: Ne-Yo
BEST FEMALE R&B ARTIST: Beyonce
VIEWERS CHOICE AWARD: Birdman and Lil Wayne – Stuntin’ Like My Daddy
HUMANITARIAN AWARD: Don Cheadle
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Diana Ross.

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

It was all tears and tributes at the B.E.T Awards in Los Angeles on Tuesday night as DIANA ROSS was feted and GERALD LEVERT and JAMES BROWN remembered.

Ross used her Lifetime Achievement honour to call for young R&B stars to “keep it classy” while Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu and her kids sang her praises.

Ross added, “We do not have to say the F-word, we do not have to pump and grind, we do not have to do some of these things to have longevity in our career.”

But the night’s highlight was a touching tribute to late soul man Levert by his father, O’Jays star Eddie and pal Patti LaBelle.

The Lady Marmalade singer sobbed openly as she called Levert “one of the best voices around,” before the dead soul star’s father joined Gladys Knight, LaBelle and Yolanda Adams for a rendition of the singer’s favourite song, Wind Beneath My Wings.

R&B sensation Ne-Yo, who beat Levert to the Best Male R&B Artist prize, dedicated his award to Levert.

The night’s other tribute was staged by members of Public Enemy and funk star Bootsy Collins, who teamed up to pay their respects to James Brown.

(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.

Nominees for the first ever BET Hip-Hop Awards have been named and it looks like T.I., Busta Rhymes and Chamillionaire will be picking up an award or two when the ceremony goes down in November.

Comedian Kat Williams (who will host the awards on Nov. 12 from Atlanta’s Fox Theatre), Ludacris, Jermaine Dupri and Young Jeezy made the nominations announcement at a press conference on Thursday at the Metropolitan Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

The awards will honour the best hip-hoppers in 14 categories that include beat production, lyricism, dance, and film/visual art. Four special awards have also been set aside for producer of the year, lyricist of the year, hip-hop dance of the year and director of the year.

T.I. leads the pack with eight nods, including video of the year and hip-hop track of the year his hit “What You Know.” Busta Rhymes was right behind him with six nominations, while Chamillionaire struck five.

There is also a catgeory for best hip-hop movie, and nominees include “ATL,” “Beef: 3,” “Boss’n Up,” 50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” and “Waist Deep.”

The awards show, which will feature performances from Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, T.I. & Young Dro and Young Jeezy, will air on BET Nov. 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Chaka Khan received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2006 BET Awards held last night.

Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige and Kanye West and Jamie Foxx all walked away with two awards apiece, including a tie between Blige and West and Fox for the video of the year.

T.I. won kudos for male hip hop artist, while female hip hop artist went to Missy Elliott. Prince took home and award for male R&B artist, and Blige took home the honours for best female R&B artist.

Brown won awards for new artist of the year and viewer?s choice for his hit “Yo, Excuse Me Miss.” West’s collaboration with Foxx saw wins for video of the year and best duet/collaboration.

Other winners included: Black Eyed Peas for best group, Terrence Howard for best actor, Taraji P. Henson for best actress, LeBron James for male athlete of the year, Venus Williams for female athlete of the year, and Harry Belafonte for the Humanitarian of the year award.