Los Angeles, CA – The Shrine Auditorium was filled to capacity on Tuesday night to hold the most prestigious Hip-Hop award show of the year, The BET Awards. Musicians, industry execs, and celebrities alike added to an attendance of thousands. Quite possibly the most watched show in the nation on an annual basis. To be absolutely honest, the best parts of the show next to the award winners would undoubtedly have to be the amazing performances of each individual artist that graced the stage. No matter what genre of the musical industry made its presence, the enticement of chart toppers filled the entire night, you got to admit BET provided a spectacular event this year, it was obvious they didn’t pull any stops. They also gave proper respect as the entire ceremony was carried brilliantly by D.L. Hughley.

As the night opened, Usher commenced the ceremony with an artistic performance of his hit single ‘Love in this Club,’ excluding the features of Young Jeezy. Usher carried the show on his own with proper authority. Now, you would assume that Jeezy wasn’t in attendance to perform his verse, but that wasn’t the case. With the assistance of Kanye West, Jeezy lit up the stage with his current chart topper ‘Put On’ and proved that Chi-Town and the ATL has music sense in common. Between both talented artists, their attributes definitely shined through their vivid performance. I’m actually surprised West didn’t have a fit over not being able to headline this show. But I guess winning in two categories over a list of well-deserved nominees puts him at the top regardless.

Ne-Yo exemplified the true meaning of class from a gentleman. His performance of ‘Closer’ showed superior talent. In his long line of chart toppers he’s written for other artists, this musician still finds time and ability to create a chart topper of his own, I mean let’s be honest for a second, anything he writes is a certifiable hit as soon as it hits the airwaves. Certain songs that were performed at that night were written by him.

And another stellar performance from the beautifully talented Keyshia Cole, this time, like every other time, she’s always given the audience her complete all. Her amazing voice has always carried crowd, her delivery of ‘Heaven Sent’ was vividly powerful enough to keep the audience at a total awe. After the closing of ‘Heaven Sent,’ they transcended into her next chart topper ‘Let It Go,’ a huge hit on the airwaves. Lil Kim even graced the stage and provided her lead verse to the performance. I’m just surprised she wasn’t wearing anything beyond the norm like she usually does on most award shows.

Alicia Keys definitely set the tone on an extreme high level when she re-introduced the nostalgic songs from some of the great modern female groups in R&B. After completing two of her chart toppers, she introduced the talents of SWV, En Vogue, and TLC into her performance set. It was a respectable conclusion as all three female groups including Alicia Keys finished the show with TLC’s ‘Waterfalls.’ It was undeniably an excellent tribute to the greats.

The following would have to be the performance that took the BET Awards to a whole new level in southern Hip-Hop. As T-Pain headlined the entire segment beginning with his ‘Ringleader’ track, a fitting title, wouldn’t you agree? T-Pain led the performance right into the Flo Rida chart topper ‘Low’ and directly into Rick Ross’ ‘The Boss.’ This performance goes to show that Poe Boy definitely held it down at the ceremony brilliantly. After Ross ended his segment, DJ Khaled paved his way to the stage and began his hit single ‘I’m So Hood (Remix).’ It was good to see Big Boi and Luda on stage, as it has been a while, Ross even provided a second verse delivery keeping the same vibe. Three Miami based hits in one segment; the medley was that well put. This just goes to show that 2008 is just the beginning, as the movement is extremely strong. Poe Boy made their presence felt at the awards, as they always do.

The winner of Best Gospel Artist category took the stage and performed his uplifting ‘Never Would’ve Made It’ and provided a very spiritual set. Marvin Sapp provided that missing Gospel feel. The track within itself provides that inspiration needed to bolster anyone’s spirits to an all-time high.

As Chris Brown took the stage to perform both his chart toppers, he wasn’t joined alone. 50 Cent’s girl, Ciara, joined in on the performance and provided that of an interesting segment. BET even panned the camera to Rihanna to get her reaction; I wonder what was going through her head as her man was being treated nicely by Ciara.

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award was given with such honor to a music legend. His music inspired many other artists to make their own and entertain the world. As the artists of today paid tribute to Al Green, his tracks were covered brilliantly. ‘I’m Still in Love with You’ was covered by Jill Scott, while ‘Tired of Being Alone’ was covered by the talents of Anthony Hamilton, and ‘Simply Beautiful’ by Maxwell. As Al Green graced the stage to amazingly conclude his honored segment, we got a chance to see ‘Let’s Stay Together’ and ‘Love and Happiness’ live after so long. It was definitely an experience.

It was time for Rihanna to grace the stage and she gave a powerful performance of yet a Ne-Yo written track, ‘Take a Bow.’ To be honest, she has definitely grown and improved her style over the years and it goes to show in your delivery and poise. It was still interesting how they kept panning the camera back to Chris Brown getting his reaction and response to his girl performing her hit song.

It has been quite a while since we’ve seen Nelly grace the stage or even spawned a hit. I’m not quite sure ‘Steppin’ on My Js’ has become a chart topper yet, however the performance was rather cliché. He never switches his style or his sound in producers. If I’m not mistaken, he has gone to JD several times before to incorporate the same sounds. This song sounds too close to ‘Air Force Ones.’ Even with Ciara on the feature tip, it’s still rather annoying to hear another song about sneakers. His second single ‘Party People’ closed out his segment and featured an appearance by Fergie.

As the night came to a close, what is more respectable than to grant the bestseller alive to conclude the entire night, they gave the final performance to Platinum man himself, Lil Wayne. With assistance from T-Pain, Weezy gave fans and artists his chart toppers from his platinum selling album, ‘Tha Carter III.’ Along with T-Pain, he performed ‘Got Money,’ Lollipop,’ and quite possibly the most freestyled track in the world, ‘A Millie.’

As for the winners of each award category, here is a complete list:

Best Female R&B Artist – Alicia Keys

Best Male R&B Artist – Chris Brown

Best Group – UGK

Best Gospel Artist – Marvin Sapp

Best Female Hip-Hop Artist – Missy Elliott

Best Male Hip-Hop Artist – Kanye West

Best New Artist – The-Dream

Best Collaboration – Kanye West F/T-Pain, “Good Life”

Best Video Director – Erykah Badu and Mr. Roboto

Video of the Year – UGK F/Outkast, “International Player’s Anthem (I Choose You)”

Best Actress – Halle Berry

Best Actor – Denzel Washington

Best Female Athlete – Candace Parker

Best Male Athlete – Kobe Bryant

BET J Award – Raheem DeVaughn

Viewers’ choice – Lil Wayne, “Lollipop”

Lifetime Achievement Award – Al Green

Humanitarian Award – Quincy Jones

On the real, the BET Awards gets better and better every year that passes. This year alone took the cake, between its performances and its category winners, each and every one these artists deserved their wins. Mad props to UGK for winning Best Group.

Congratulations to all winners of the BET Awards!