Love, Peace (Body) & Soul: Soul Train Music Awards Recap

I have to say that the highlights of the Soul Train Music Awards were R. Kelly’s performance and the Anita Baker tribute. The lowlights were the awkward skits between Taraji and Terrance, but I won’t dwell on that. Was it me or were there a lot of ass cheeks showing during this telecast? I’ll stop skipping around and go through the recap in the order of occurrence. R. Kelly opened the show with his new song “When a Woman Loves” and I thought he turned the place out, even though he was lip synching. That’s the way to do a creative, memorable performance for an awards show. The AMA performers should take note. I especially loved the section where he did a throwback to soul singers like Frankie Lymon and I believe that was supposed to be Ray Charles. That was a stand out performance. Why are the pedophiles and wife beaters always the greatest entertainers? I’ll have to delve into that topic deeper at a later date. FYI – I really don’t need to see a live performance from Ne-yo ever again. They just don’t do anything for me. I appreciate his talents when it comes to writing music, but I just don’t need to see his soup coolers or his milk dud head or his attempts to dance battle anymore. I loved every second of the Anita Baker tribute. Every artist sounded great. Though, I must admit, I had no idea what song Kem and Rachelle Ferrell were singing until they got to the chorus. That was a unique rendition. Was it me or did you feel like they were channeling Al Jarreau? Lalah Hathaway was amazing. She needs to thank her Daddy for that tone. (I’m sure she does.) Why wasn’t Chante Moore a part of the Anita Baker tribute? I saw her in the audience and Ms. Baker mentioned in her video package that they were acquaintances. Aw, Goapele is so cute…even though she was flirting with my man that one time, but that’s ok. I forgive her. What? Dionne Farris? Where did they find her? Her shirt was a couple sizes too small for her, but she sounded pretty good. Oh yippee! El DeBarge. I just love him. Not sure why they brought him on after the tribute was over, but at least they brought Anita back to spend some quality time with him. Ok, here we go. This is the BET I know. Why would they come back from the commercial break at the end of Eric Benet’s performance? Not that I’m pressed to hear him beg for Halle Berry to come back to him, but I’m just saying. That seemed a little unprofessional. Oh look here. There’s a note at the bottom of the screen addressed to Eric Benet fans telling them to log on to the web if they want to see the entire performance. How rude. Wish they would’ve done that for Ne-yo instead. I don’t really have much to say about Wolf Blitzer. I realize Cee-Lo in a gold moo-moo may be off-putting to some, but I kind of like it. And I love that song, but I prefer the unedited version. Apparently Tank isn’t good enough to get his entire song broadcast either. I bet Eric Benet wasn’t too happy to discover he’s been D-listed. First he has to open for Fantasia’s tour even though he’s been out way longer than she has, and now this. I like Jasmine Sullivan and think she has an incredible voice, but I prefer to see her stand still and sing. Bruno Mars did a great job with his song, “Grenade”. I enjoyed him on the guitar as well. So if we were going to compare the tributes, which we probably shouldn’t, I’d have to say the Ronald Isley tribute was a let down. Keyshia Cole was good, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention her new teeth and how distracting they are. (That goes for you too Brandy.) Did Tank almost forget the lyrics? Is Tank trying to sound like Jamie Foxx or is Jamie Foxx starting to sound like Tank. Not sure which came first…the chicken or the egg? I know they’re friends, but they really are starting to sound alike. OMG, could Freddie Jackson be any gayer. Did you see how he walked out? Jeffrey Osborne and Peabo Bryson haven’t lost their voices. Glad to hear that they still sound good. Oh, I see. That’s what they were saving Chante Moore for. Yeah, it was kind of cute to try and recreate the video, but kind of a waste of time for those thirty seconds. She should’ve sung an Anita Baker song instead.

Click here to check out the Anita Baker tribute.

American Music Awards: State of the Union

Hello my fellow Americans. The time has come to address the nation in regards to the current state of our nation’s music. We are all well aware of the economic downturn that has caused this extended recession, but it never occurred to me that the deficit would affect our music too. As I watched the American Music Awards last night, I was perplexed by the array of talent that was awarded and invited to perform. Seriously, is this the best that our nation has to offer this year? I didn’t see anything musically inspiring come across that stage. Not only did the musical content leave a lot to be desired, but the vocals were mediocre as well. Honestly, the best vocal performances of the night came from Pink and Christina Aguilera and they weren’t all that great. I’ve heard both of them sound much better before. Not to mention, they weren’t really talking about anything. Their musical selections had no meaning and they seemed to concentrate more on the spectacle of their performance. Help us please Obama. We need a stimulus package for the music industry. There’s got to be something out there that can breathe some life into the music industry that challenges artists to be more creative and produce artwork with some substance. Maybe a little bit of D’Angelo would help resuscitate the art form (if someone can get him in rehab). If not, Maxwell is going to have to release albums at a more accelerated pace. Maybe it’s just me. Can anyone actually say they saw a great performance last night? If so, let me know. I’d love to hear your thoughts.