The BET Awards were broadcast live Sunday night from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Big winner of the night? 22-year-old Chris Brown who walked away with five trophies, including male R&B artist, video of the year and collaboration for Look at Me Now.
Brown thanked his fans and said they are everything to him. “I know it’s been a long road. I just appreciate every blessing that’s been put in front of me.”
Brown not only won big, but he was also involved, albeit due to no fault of his own, in the most awkward moment of the night. BET changed its usual paper envelopes with tablets for the first time when announcing the winners. And when they tried to announce the Coca-Cola Viewers’ Choice Award by using a random young viewer to read the results, all went to the crapper. The young announcer went blank-faced for a second before announcing
Chris Brown as the winner. Then, to her horror a couple of seconds later, she backtracked and said, “I’m sorry, the winner is
Rihanna for
What’s My Name.” The crowd jeered as Rihanna’s song played. The co-announcer then said, “This is awkward, the winner is
Drake,” as Drake came on stage to accept “his” award.
If that weren’t bad and strange enough, BET later tweeted a congratulations to Chris Brown for winning the Coca Cola Viewers Choice Award. So, the fan was right the first time but we have no idea why the mistake was made.
Below is the complete list of winners of the night:
Best Male R&B Artist- Chris Brown
Best Female R&B Artist- Rihanna
Young Stars- Jaden and Willow Smith (tie)
Best Female Hip-Hop Artist- Nicki Minaj
Best Male Hip-Hop Artist- Kanye West
Best Group- Diddy Dirty Money
Best Collaboration- Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes for Look At Me Now
Sportsman of the Year- Michael Vick
Sportswoman of the Year- Serena Williams
Best New Artist- Wiz Khalifa
State Farm Humanitarian Award- Steve Harvey
Best Gospel – Mary Mary
Best Actress- Taraji P. Henson
Best Actor- Idris Elba
Best Movie- For Colored Girls
Best International Act, U.K.- Tinie Tempah
Best International Act, Africa- 2Face Idibia and D’Banj (tie)
Video Director of the Year- Chris Robinson
BET Lifetime Achievement Award- Patti LaBelle
Coca-Cola Viewer’s Choice – Chris Brown for Look At Me Now
Centric Award- Marsha Ambrosius
FANdemonium- Chris Brown