2009 BET Awards Review
June 29, 2009
Wow what an opening to the 2009 BET Awards with New Edition(Bobby Brown included) rendition of “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5 staring Michael Jackson. It was only right a legendary group such as New Edition do a tribute to the Jackson 5 in memory of Michael Jackson. Awards show host Jammie Foxx came out in a great fashion with a rendition of his own of MJ’s “Beat It”. Foxx wore a red leather jacket with all zippers and bells with the glitter glove as well. With Foxx hosting the show it all worked out by design, if anybody can impersonate Mike its is definitely Jamie. Foxx reminded us all why we should take this time and celebrate the life of Michael Jackson.
The first award of he night went to Lebron James who won Best male athlete, Best Male Hip hop went to Lil Wayne. With the first performance of the night Kerri Hilson opened up with her hit single “Turnin Me Out” and progressed into “Knock Me Down” which is her latest hit single. Hilson brought an incredible stage presents with a rock pop chick look, definitely in honor of the King of Pop. Following Kerri’s performance Neyo followed up with “Lady of My Life” in tribute to MJ. Jammie Foxx and T Pain teamed together to perform their smash hit “Blame It”. It wouldn’t be a party if Uncle Snoop didn’t drop in and please believe he did just that adding excitement to the performance. Pain came draped with his platinum diamond chain titled “Big Ass Chain”(complete nergoism).
The Best Male R&B award was won by Neyo. Beyonce blessed the audience with a heartfelt performance with a beautiful stage set decked out with angel wings, the performance brought out a ton of emotion in memory of MJ. Gospel group Mary Mary gave the audience a special treat and a little bit of Jesus by performing “God In Me”. The audience was blessed with a special surprise feature on the song with Queen Latifah making a special appearance. Taraja P. Henson left the night with the best actress award and best female artist went to Kerri Hilson. Jamie Foxx along with Neyo performed “Her Own”, Neyo dressed appropriate with a MJ’ish leather white jacket to go along with red gloves. Jamie Foxx complemented his jacket with a black leather jacket of his own complete with the rhinestones, also featuring in the performance was the rapper Fabolous.
Neyo gave viewers a special treat when he brought out some of his favorite artist which included Keith Sweat who performed a few of his hit classics, the legendary 90′s group Guy, and Bel Biv DeVoe also performed their hit smashes. Ciara performed “A Better Place” in honor of MJ, unfortunately it was terrible song selection. Keyshia came with a solid performance and a pink aura, r&b singer Monica also featured in the performance. These two talented singers make a great combination on mic, they definitely should reward fans with more projects together.The best female r&b artist went to Beyonce. Jay Z performed his new hit drop “Death of Autotune”, this brought a serious hiphop element to the show. The significance of this performance can bring music artist who use Autotune to their knees.
What an appearance by Don Cornelius, the original host of Soul Train struggled over his words. May God Bless him, cocaine is a hell of a drug. Just say no kids. Mr. Cornelius never the less introduced Tevin Campbell, Tyrese, John Gill, and Trey Songs who did a huge tribute to the Ojays who received the BET Lifetime Achievement Award. Listening to these young brothers to a rendition of “Stair Way to Heaven” nearly brought tears to the eye. Eddie Levert of the group did turn my tears into laughter when he slipped and used an explicit word when describing old times with Michael Jackson. A special highlight of the night came when Alicia Keys was presented with the Humanitarian Lifetime Achievement award. Keys has done alot of work to help and improve life for families in need located in Africa. Wyclef received the male Lifetime Achievement award for his work in his homeland of Haiti. These two artist are extraordinary talents and regular people as well. It is good to hear artist of their status giving back to the people.
Overall the 2009 BET Awards show was a well run production. It has definitely improved as far as the quality. I am very pleased and proud to say African Americans as well as others were represented well. Special prayers goes out to the Jackson family. Michael Jackson may you Rest In Peace. You will forever be loved and your legacy will live on.
Concrete TV: Chad Bell on Lebron James’ sportsmanship and Laker Vs Magic predictions
June 4, 2009
Wont say much here, i’ll let Mr. Bell, aka @LouAlcindor tell like he ever so elequently does…. Concrete TV babbbbbyyyy!! Two guys and a chic…. Video below:
*shout out to the camera guy*
Lebron James Named 2008-2009 Most Valuable Player
April 26, 2009
TheConcreteJournal.com wants to be the first to congratulate NBA Superstar Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers in being named the 2008-2009 season Most Valuable Player. James this year had a phenomenal season averaged 28.4ppg, 7.6 rpg, 7.2 assist per game, and 1.7 steals. He also led his team to the leagues best record 66-16 which is a franchise best. James and his Cavs teamates are currently leading their first round playoff series versus the Detroit Pistons 3-0.
*this announcemet is just a prediction
Nicole Scherzinger & LeBron James – ‘After Six’ Nike commercial
November 23, 2008
Ok I am not sure if I am just out of the loop because I have not seen this commercial. Lebron James has been known to make great commercials especially with Nike and this one featuring Nicole Scherzinnger is hillarious. And if I may add Nicole is drop dead gorgeous. Man! What it would be like to be Lebron for a day! Check it out..
Team USA’s quest for gold begins with a few questions
July 23, 2008
LAS VEGAS — The biggest question facing Team USA is whether it will win the gold medal, but the answer is 33 days from being realized.
So as we begin the long trek to Beijing, here are some of the questions that have arisen as Team USA starts the final phase of its quest for gold:
Q: How is this team better than the team that lost to Greece in the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan?
A: First of all, the point guard position is much more solid. Instead of Kirk Hinrich (who finished as the starter in Japan) and Chris Paul (who began as the starter), the Americans now have Jason Kidd, Paul and Deron Williams as their playmakers.
They also have added Kobe Bryant, who will concentrate on being a one-on-one defensive stopper more than a scorer.
Q: How is this team worse than the 2006 team?
A: Can’t really say the Americans are worse in any way. What they are, just as they were in Japan, is untested. They made it through last summer’s Tournament of the Americas without playing a single close game, and they won’t play a tough opponent in Beijing until their third and fourth games of the first round, when they’ll face Spain and Greece.
And when they play the Greeks, keep an eye out to see whether Team USA’s lack of size is a problem; it was two years ago when the Greeks stunned the Americans in the World Championship semis.
Q. Is Dwyane Wade healthy enough to help?
A: That’s a major, major question as camp gets under way. Wade is expected to be the team’s sixth man, but Michael Redd, Williams and even Tayshaun Prince could usurp that title if Wade is as shaky in the next few weeks as he was for Miami last season coming back from knee and shoulder surgeries.
Q. What is the general take on Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching Team USA in the Olympics?
A: That’s an open-ended question, and it probably will be best answered after we see how Coach K responds to adversity when it first arises in Beijing.
In Japan, it didn’t come until the semis, and Coach K did not acquit himself well by stubbornly sticking with a small lineup against Greece when either Dwight Howard or Elton Brand could have made a big difference.
Q: Why is Jason Kidd in the starting lineup instead of Williams or Paul?
A: Because he’s the quintessential facilitator, and he’ll bend over backward to make sure the team’s best scorers get the ball in position to put up points. He also has an undefeated record with the U.S. senior national team, going 38-0 in major competitions. He’s the only member of the U.S. team to have won an Olympic gold medal, which he did eight years ago in Sydney.
When the team’s bigwigs sat down after their 2006 third-place finish, they decided that upgrading the point was the most important adjustment they needed to make.
Q: There was a lot of drama (Stephon Marbury, Allen Iverson, Larry Brown) the last time Team USA played in the Olympics. Should we expect anything like that this time around?
A: Depends on whether this team runs into the same type of early adversity that the 2004 team did. Brown suspended two players for the first exhibition game four years ago because they were late to a team meeting, which got them off to a rough start. And when that Olympic squad landed in Germany and got trounced by Italy in its second exhibition, panic began to set in.
By the end of the first week of August, we’ll see how Team USA looks in friendlies against two very strong teams — Russia and Lithuania. If they struggle, the drama will begin to become self-evident.
Q: Will Kobe be able to subjugate his game, or at least adjust it for an entire month-plus?
A: Another open question. It’ll be interesting to see who will take the last shot if they’re ever in a tight game in the final seconds. Three guys
– Bryant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony — probably feel they most deserve to shoot for the win.
Q: Who is Team USA’s leader?
A: Kidd is the leader, for age and experience reasons. But if he struggles on the road to Beijing, it’ll be interesting to see who will try to step up and fill that position. A lack of leadership has been a problem for the U.S. in the past. In Athens, the team tuned out its leader — Coach Brown.
Q: Which Team USA member will turn the most heads in Beijing (a la Vince Carter eight years ago in Sydney)?
A: The safe guess is Anthony, who has proven the past four years to be a better FIBA player than an NBA player. The dark horse is Kobe, who never has been asked to subjugate his offensive game as he will this time.
Q: What are the keys to Team USA’s bringing back the gold?
A: The biggest key is to peak at the end, not the beginning. Only three games really matter — the quarterfinals on Aug. 20, the semis on Aug. 22, and the gold-medal game on Aug. 24.
The team also needs to keep its bigs healthy and hope they stay out of foul trouble. Aside from Howard, Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer, Team USA doesn’t have any other true power forwards or centers.
Chris Sheridan is an ESPN.com Insider. He has covered the U.S. senior national team since the 1996 Olympics.
Taken from ESPN.COM at
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&page=TeamUSA-080722
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