THE STARS SHINE BRIGHTLY DURING BET AWARDS

(VIDEO) Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown, Jamie Foxx, and Kanye West big winners at BET Awards……

Beyonce and Jay-Z opened the sixth annual BET Awards with a performance of their new song, “Deja Vu.” The show’s opening was just a taste of what was to come as the evening featured performance by T.I., Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, Jamie Foxx, Fantasia, Busta Rhymes, Mary Mary, Ne-Yo, Diddy, Yung Joc, and Prince who brought the house down during his grand finale.

Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown, Kanye West, and Jamie Foxx were the evening’s big winners, each taking home two BET Awards. Blige took home best female R&B artist and tied for video of the year (Be Without You.) Brown won best new artist and the highly competitive viewer’s choice award. West and Foxx won best collaboration and tied with Blige for best video for “Golddigger.”

‘I’m very glad to be here. You know it’s kind of comfortable as a gospel artist being with the same category as the people you minister with, and labor with. So you know it’s kind of a little awkward for me, you know, to be with Yolanda, Mary Mary, and Smokie, cause those are my firends. You know it’s just a little awkward to be in a category nominated against your friends. So you know it’s a little awkward for me but I’m glad to be here at BET. You know it’s all this great talent .”

Some of the show’s highlights included a performance of the “Touch It (Remix)” by Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott, Lloyd Banks, and Papoose. They were later joined by Eminem who performed a freestyle verse over the “Touch It” track after coming up from beneath the stage on a riser. It was Eminem’s first appearance at the BET Awards. Later Chaka Khan was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Steve Harvey. Yolanda Adams, India.Arie, Stevie Wonder, and Prince all participated in a tribute to Khan by singing several of her hits. The diva then took to the stage to perform her classics, “Through The Fire,” “I Feel For You,” and “I’m Every Woman.” Calypso singer, actor, and activist Harry Belafonte was presented with the Humanitarian Award by BET CEO Debra Lee and Danny Glover.

“To be honest they had the thing. Also to be honest, God sent them to me. You know Bad Boy, we definitely were going through a little drought. We the only tanding boutique label. A lot of people have sold their labels and gone inside. And Bad Boy is the last man standing and God sent these two to me. And he has them Number One and Two on the charts so I give all the glory to God. It’s not me, it’s them. And it’s also their dream that is coming through.”

Backstage Kirk Franklin shared that his win in the best gospel artist category was bittersweet as he was up against his friends. He said,

Hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs also hit the press room with his two newest stars, Yung Joc and Cassie. The mogul said,