The Fourth Annual Black Girls Rock! Awards

Janelle Monáe, Mary J. Blige, Salt-N-Pepa's Spinderella and -- oddly enough -- Anthony Hamilton are among the honorees for the fourth annual Black Girls Rock! Awards, which take place Saturday (Oct. 17) in New York and recognize women of color making strides in arts and entertainment.

Monáe, who is currently working on the followup to her debut album "Metropolis, Suite I: The Chase," will receive the "Who's Got Next" award. The alt-R&B singer tells Billboard.com that the honor feels like a call to duty.

"Black girls have always been rockin,'" says Monáe. "I just want to make sure I'm also leading by example. I want to continue to inspire other young girls of color to be artists and express themselves creatively."

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This is a great event and it saddens me that it didn't get more media coverage. I'm pretty sure it wasn't televised. I had to scour the Internet to find a decent article on it. Young girls, especially those from ethnic minorities, don't always see positive role models that look like themselves on television. Society, as a whole, gives too much attention to women who are ignorant and/or sexually explicit. The aforementioned women are pretty entertaining, but they give impressionable girls and young women the wrong idea. I am glad this group of classy upwardly mobile sisters got together to recognize each other's accomplishments. I hope the Black Girls Rock! Awards get more attention in the future.

Instinct leads me to another flow
Every time I hear a brother call a girl a bitch or a ho
Trying to make a sister feel low
You know all of that gots to go

BET's Michael Jackson Tribute

Top black performers paid high tribute to fallen pop star Michael Jackson at Sunday's BET Awards where his sister Janet Jackson and father Joe Jackson made their first public appearances since the singer's death. The show's most moving moment came in a final tribute when Janet, a pop star in her own right, took the stage to thank the audience for turning out to honor her dead brother.

"To you, Michael is an icon. To us, Michael is family, and he will forever live in all of our hearts," said Jackson, her voice choking as she held back tears. "On behalf of my family and myself, thank you for all of your love. Thank you for all of your support, we miss him so much."

She was followed by host Jamie Foxx and R&B singer Ne-Yo singing a tender duet of Jackson 5 hit "I'll Be There," while pictures of Jackson were displayed on a giant video screen.

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Last night, BET did a touching tribute to the career of Michael Jackson during its annual award show. The channel had approximately 72 hours to add MJ tribute material to the show. I have done my fair share of event planning and I cannot imagine planning a tribute to a legend. I am sure the planning process is even more difficult under time constraints. All things considered, I think BET did a good job of memorializing MJ. The performers seemed honored to be a part of the tribute and most of them did a great renditions of MJ classics.

The passing of MJ has been emotionally draining for a lot of his fans. Since emotions are still running high, I understand why many of them were not happy with BET's tribute. There is also a strong contingent of people who think BET is an ignorant caricature of Black culture. Honestly, BET is not the bastion of ignorance that it used to be. It DEFINITELY has its faults, but it's programming isn't more outlandish than any other channel under the VIACOM umbrella (MTV/VH1). "Coonery" doesn't have a color. I hope the disgruntled fans and the BET haters open up their minds and realize that BET did the best it could.

Jamie Foxx and Ne-Yo did an amazing job singing "I'll Be There." They sounded almost as good as the Jackson 5.

You and I must make a pact
We must bring salvation back
Where there is love, I'll be there
I'll reach out my hand to you
I'll have faith in all you do
Just call my name
And I'll be there

The 13th Annual Webby Awards

The Webby Awards are given to people who have demonstrated excellence on the Internet. Established in 1996 during the Web's infancy, the Webbys are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-member body of leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities. The 13th Annual Webby Awards expands the mission of the Webby by honoring excellence in over 100+ Website, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video, and Mobile Web categories.

The video above is entitled "Bill O'Reilly's Producer" and it won a Webby in the Video Remixes/Mashups category. This spoof is even more hilarious than the original Bill O'Reilly tirade. I'm glad this award show is in existence. There are a lot of creative people on the Internet that deserve recognition. The strong celebrity presence at this event surprised me. The cynical side of me believes that most of the celebs in attendance are publicity whores. Their undying desire for attention doesn't bother me in this case because their presence brings more attention to the Webbys.

When I heard there was an award show called the Webbys, I thought the rapper named Webbie was honoring people. I'm glad I was wrong. I'm going to post a song by the Baton Rogue native anyway. Just for laughs...

You know you want it

Girl don't act like you don't want it
Girl I want it just as bad as you do

The Billboard Latin Music Awards

Panamanian reggaeton sensation Flex won eight awards, and Spanish pop singer Enrique Iglesias took home six at the Billboard Latin Music Awards. Flex's album "Te Quiero (I Love You)," which skyrocketed to number one on Billboard magazine's charts shortly after its release, won top Latin album of the year. The hit single of the same name won seven other awards, including hot Latin song of the year and tropical airplay song of the year. Mexican guitarist Carlos Santana, whose rock, salsa and jazz fusion has reinvented the musical culture for more than 40 years, was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award. Mexican rock band Mana, which walked away with four awards, joined Santana on stage for a performance that left audiences roaring with cheer as Santana sprung on a sparkling, green guitar. Cuban-American model JenCarlos Canela, 2008 Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza and Puerto Rican salsa singer Jerry Rivera were among the presenters at the show, which was broadcasted live on Telemundo.

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In high school, my friends and I used to think "Bailamos" by Enrique Iglesias was the jam. We would collectively sing that song as we returned from football practice. It was our humorous way of rejoicing the end of another tiring day. I really didn't know much about Latin American culture until I moved to Florida. The years I spent in Tallahassee and Tampa really opened my eyes. I went to quite a few Latin clubs during my college years. I unsuccessfully attempted to learn to salsa and bachata in those establishments. A few friendly Latinas tried to teach me to dance. I was usually able to turn my failed attempts at dancing into opportunities to holla...but I digress. I am a fan of traditional Latin music. Most of the contemporary stuff sounds too much like bootleg R&B/Pop. For example, reggaeton is almost the worst type of music known to man. It is second only to snap rap.

The beautiful woman gracing the top of this blog entry is the 2008 Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza. She isn't as fine as she appears in that picture, but she is definitely wifey material. I know she recently committed a snafu, but I'm not going to hold that against her. I'm sure she didn't realize the gravity of her words. Anyway, Carlos Santana performed at the Billboard Latin Music Awards and I am a big fan of his music. "Samba Pa Ti" is my favorite song in his catalog because it sets a mood without words.