By Pete Allman

 BET AWARDS ELEVATES TO A NEW LEVEL

The 2007 BET AWARDS celebrated their 7th year of honoring individuals for music entertainment and sports, at the Historical Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

For the last five years BET has held their events at The Kodak Theater. With that thought the BET Awards emanated from the Shrine Auditorium, which was one of the reasons they returned there.

With the acclaim of award winning stars, the red carpet was graced by Beyonce', Diddy, Alicia Keys, Gladys Knight, Chaka Khan, Erykah Badu, which was also shown in the televised broadcast. Funny man Charles Murphy R&B diva Keyshia Cole, Kelly Roland, The Reverend Al Sharpton and hip hop movie stars Nick Cannon, Michael Clark Duncan, Henry Simmons and NFL super star Reggie Bush also appeared on the awards show.

In addition to the television version of BET AWARDS, XM'S, the nations leading satellite services, partnered for the first time with BET to provide the first ever simulcast of the BET AWARDS.

Its no wonder this year's show was titled the Main Event. After all they had the best announcer in boxing; Micheal Buffer. Buffer gave a brilliant introduction for Mo'Nique, when she opened with her big girls dancers like you've never seen her before.

The show had one of the warmest openings, with a brilliant performance from Jennifer Hudson of the Dreamgirls movie and Jennifer Holiday from the original Broadway show, which earned them a standing ovation. There was also an excellent performance from Stevie Wonder honoring Diana Ross who received the Lifetime Achievement Award for being the most successful singer of all time.

Don Cheadle received the Humanitarian Award for raising awareness about Atrocities being carried out it in what the United Nations says it is the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Upon his return from Sudan Mr. Cheadle appeared on ABC news Night Line. In 2007 the book Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond was published, which Cheadle co-wrote with John Prendergast, a humanitarian with much experience in Africa with the International Crisis Group.

There was an array of singers and dancers that who were some of the top talent ever shown on television. Included in the show were performances from Beyonce', Ciara, Akon, Gnarls Barkley, Chuck D and Public Enemy with the witty Flava Flav who closed the show. Other singers included Keyisha Cole, Erykah Badu, 50 Cent, among others and, we must not forget the Queen of Hip-Hop Queen Latifah who gave Mo'Nique much love and got the audience to show their respect for her opening number as well as being the host of the BET AWARDS.

The show had some great moments that were comical. One such moment was when Mo'Nique had LL Cool J slip off her shoes at the end of her performance. She also paid honor to Beyonce'

There is no question that the 2007 BET Awards has elevated itself to a new level, thanks to the innovative writing of producer Jesse Collins and the creative directing of Glen Weiss.
 
The following is a complete list of winners from the BET AWARDS '07: Best Female R&B Beyoncé, Best Male R&B Ne-Yo, Best Group Gnarls Barkley, Best Gospel Artist Kirk Franklin, Best Hip Hop Artist T.I., Best New Artist Jennifer Hudson, Best Collaboration (Song Title) Ludacris w/Mary J. Blige (Runaway Love), Video of the Year (Song Title) Beyoncé (Irreplaceable) - directed by Anthony Mandler, Best Actor Forest Whitaker, Best Actress Jennifer Hudson, Male Athlete of the Year LeBron James (Basketball), Female Athlete of the Year Serena Williams (Tennis), BET J Cool Like That Gerald Levert, Viewers' Choice Award Nominees (Song Title), Birdman & Lil Wayne (Stuntin' Like My Daddy).

In closing, one would think that the BET AWARDS is just about entertainment. Unquestionably, it is about entertainment and the struggles and history of those individuals who receive the recognition due.

The personalities that graced the Red Carpet and spoke to the press in the media room answered questions about their careers on how they achieved their success and how God played an important role in where they are today.

Ne-Yo who is writing for Michael Jackson stated. "God makes it happen for me." He gets the glory first which is why I'm here today.

Beyonce' who has had a strong foundation through church and family principles commented. "Without strong family principles and communication with God its easy to get caught up in the wrong things. Temptation is something you have to face everyday and without God I wouldn't have a strong foundation to balance my life."