Posted by | Ray Cornelius
The 2012 Soul Train Awards aired last night on BET and you can bet your last money, it was a stone gas, honey!
The show, which was taped a few weeks ago at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, celebrated its 25th year with various highlights of Soul Train’s history and its creator Don Cornelius, who tragically passed away this past February.
The night started with a red carpet pre-show hosted by Apollo Live‘s Tony Rock, reality diva Tamar Braxton and R&B newbie Luke James.
The show was hosted by Cedric the Entertainer and began with a medley of ole school hits from Soul Train’s vault featuring Johnny Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers, Tina Marie and The Gap Band. The selections were performed by Anthony Hamilton, Fantasia, Charlie Wilson, Leah LaBelle (Centric Award Winner) and Raphael Saadiq, who doubled as the Soul Train band leader.
Miguel was the first winner of the night picking up the award for Best R&B Soul Male Artist, while Ne-Yo kicked off the evening’s performances with a hot rendition of his dance hit “Let Me Love You,” from his R.E.D album.
Keyshia Cole sang her latest hits “Trust and Believe” and “Enough of No Love” and Miguel serenaded the ladies with his über sexy single, “Adorn.” The audience got a “Refill” from Best New Artist winner Elle Varner, Ashford and Simpson Songwriting winner John Legend gave us the Best He Ever Had with the Think Like A Man hit, “Tonight” while 2 Chainz lite up the stage with Uncle Charlie. Other highlights included Cedric the Entertainer’s impromptu performance of the Levert classic “Casanova” along with Eddie Levert and X-Factor winner Marcus Canty’s version of Luther Vandross’ “Never Too Much.”
But the night belonged to Tyrese, whose record “Stay” surprisingly won the Song of the Year award beating out Usher, Trey Songz, John Legend, Estelle and Wale. He later came back and performed his award winning tune along with Tank and Ginuwine of the group TGT.
This year’s The Lifetime Achievement award went to one of my favorite R&B groups of all time, New Edition. Celebrating over 30 years in the music industry, Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, Mike, Ralph, and Johnny helped define the 80’s music era with their Jackson Five-esque harmonies and dance moves. The group was presented their awards by super producer Jimmy Jam and NBA legend Earvin Magic Johnson. They later came back and tore the house down with their hit songs, “Candy Girl,” “Mr. Telephone Man” and “If it Isn’t Love” to the audience’s delight.
The show closed out with Oscar winning actor Jamie Foxx promoting his new film Django and recalling the time he hosting Soul Train with musical guest, the late Aaliyah. A virtual Don Cornelius introduced the last guest of the night, Motown legend Stevie Wonder who thrilled the audience with his classic hits “Superstition” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours.”
Click here for a full list of winners and check out the red carpet looks below:
Angie Stone, John Legend and Kat Graham
Estelle, Luke James and Marsha Ambrosius
l to r: Bobby Brown, Michael Bivins, Ralph Tresvant, Centric Paxton Baker, Ricky Bell and Ronnie Devoe
Fantasia, Miguel and Keyshia Cole
Melanie Fiona, Ne-Yo and Tamar Braxton
Tank with Ginuwine, MC Lyte and Tony Rock
Jody Watley, Trey Songz with Paxton Baker and Cedric The Entertainer, Lil Mama with Elise Neal