Nominees for the 2010 BET Awards were revealed today, and the world let out a collective “WTF?”
If you were to let BET tell it, there are no other figures in black entertainment other than Jay-Z, Beyonce, and Rihanna as these three seem to appear on the show every year and make it difficult for any new talent to shine.
Jay-Z unsurprisingly led the list of nominations with 5.
Viewers Choice Nominees:
Beyoncé “Sweet Dreams”
Jay-Z “Empire State of Mind”
Monica “Everything To Me”
Rihanna “Hard”
Trey Songz Ft. Drake “Say Aah”
Young Money “Bedrock”
TUD: This one could be a tough race, seeing as how this one is based on viewer votes, but knowing that record labels have in the past hired companies to boost votes on MTV’s TRL Countdown for a particular artist, this one comes down to who has the biggest budget behind them as well as the fanbase… I think Jay-Z has this one on lock.
Best Collaboration:
Beyoncé Ft. Lada Gaga “Video Phone”
B.o.B. “Nothin’ On You”
Drake Ft. Trey Songz “Successful”
Drake Ft. Kanye West, Lil Wayne, & Eminem “Forever”
Trey Songz Ft. Drake “Say Aah”
TUD: First off, LOL at Bruno Mars not even being mentioned in this category for his contribution to B.o.B.’s “Nothin’ On You” even though he’s the only reason anybody even likes the song. That said, this award is Beyoncé’s.
Best Female Hip Hop Artist:
Ester Dean
Lil Kim
Nicki Minaj
Rasheeda
Trina
TUD: The dearth of female mc’s is made painfully obvious by this category as Lil Kim’s been nominated even though she didn’t do ANYTHING in the last year except appear on Dancing With The Stars. Ester Dean is still a no name to most people, and the same goes for Rasheeda. Trina doesn’t have the visibility of Nicki Minaj, so expect Barbie to take home this award.
Best Male Hip Hop Artist:
B.o.B.
Drake
Fabolous
Jay-Z
Ludacris
TUD: This one could be interesting. B.o.B.’s too much of an unproven rookie at this point to take home this award. Fab’s nomination is just to pad out the category. As much as we love Luda, he’s up against Drake and Jay-Z who are the obvious favorites in this category. So who takes home the award? Wheelchair Jimmy or Joe Camel? I’m hoping Jay takes it so as to keep Drake from ever having delusions of being better than Jay-Z at anything.
Best New Artist:
Justin Bieber
Melanie Fiona
Nicki Minaj
Wale
Young Money
TUD: The biggest WTF here is the Justin Bieber nomination. Has he even had a video played on 106 & Park? Then there’s Nicki Minaj being nominated twice in this category. Either way, she’s gonna take home an award…. probably all by herself.
YoungStars Award:
Selena Gomez
JJ Lewis
Keke Palmer
Willow Smith
Tyler James Williams
TUD: I don’t know who none of these people are. On to the next one.
Best Movie:
Avatar
Law Abiding Citizen
Michael Jackson: This Is It
Precious
The Blindside
TUD: The nominees in this category upset me. Avatar? Really? The Blindside??? In order for BET to have any sort of credibility in the film industry, they will let this award go to Precious.
Best Female R&B Artist:
Beyonce
Mary J. Blige
Melanie Fiona
Alicia Keys
Rihanna
TUD: This is a tough category as all five of these females did well last year. It’s safe to say that Melanie Fiona will NOT win. Alicia and Beyonce are probably the best ones to put your money on if you’re the wagering type. If your bookie needs something more specific, put $5 down on Alicia Keys.
Best Male R&B Artist:
Chris Brown
Raheem DaVaughn
Maxwell
Trey Songz
Usher
TUD: If Chris Brown wins this award, I will dance naked in Times Square. Trey Songz has this one on lock even though we all know that Maxwell should get the award.
Best Group:
Black Eyed Peas
The Clipse
Diddy & Dirty Money
The New Boyz
Young Money
TUD: Duh. Young Money. Next.
Video of the Year:
Beyoncé Ft. Lada Gaga “Video Phone”
B.o.B. “Nothin’ On You”
Melanie Fiona “It Kills Me”
Jay-Z “Empire State of Mind”
Jay-Z “Run This Town”
TUD: I think it’s pretty safe to say that Beyoncé is a shoo-in for this award.
Best Gospel:
The Anointed Pace Sisters
Kirk Franklin Presents Artists United For Haiti
Tamela Mann
Marvin Sapp
Vickie Winans
TUD: I haven’t paid attention to Gospel music since BeBe & CeCe Winans were having top 10 R&B singles… aka a LOOONG time ago. Next.
Video Director of the Year:
Benny Boom
Gil Green
Anthony Mandler
Chris Robinson
Hype Williams
TUD: Anthony Mandler directed some of the most hyped videos, doing clips for Drake, Rihanna and Jay-Z to name a few. Expect him to win this one.
Best Actress:
Taraji P. Henson
Regina King
Mo’Nique
Zoe Saldana
Gaborey Sidibe
TUD: Again, BET isn’t gonna wanna look like losers in the shadows of the Oscars, so Mo’Nique or Gabby got this one, probably Mo’Nique, seeing as how she has a show on the channel and all…
Best Actor:
Quinton Aaron
Don Cheadle
Idris Elba
Jamie Foxx
Denzel Washington
TUD: What was Denzel in? If he doesn’t win, it’ll probably go to Jamie Foxx even though Don Cheadle can act circles around just about anyone in this category.
Subway Sportswoman of the Year:
Tamika Catchings
Vanessa James
Candace Parker
Serena Williams
Venus Williams
TUD: Wait, what? Subway? The sandwich spot? I can’t….
Subway Sportsman of the Year:
Carmelo Anthony
Usain Bolt
Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
Tiger Woods
TUD: God help BET if they give this award to Tiger…
Centric Award:
Melanie Fiona
Maxwell
Chrisette Michele
Monica
Sade
TUD: The Centric award? What’s the criteria for this?? I’ll just say Sade should win, because she should win everything.
Best International Act
Kojo Antwi
Chipmunk
Dizzee Rascal
Estelle
Hip Hop Pantsula
K’NAAN
M.I.
P-Square
Corinne Bailey Rae
Sade
TUD: Again, Ill say Sade should win, but it’ll probably go to Estelle.
The BET Awards will be hosted by Queen Latifah and take place on June 27th in Los Angeles.
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