The day has come, y’all!
Time to bust out your hypothetical red carpet looks for the 19th Annual BET Awards (and yes, you can find anything from ballgown to B.A.P.S. on this carpet, that’s part of the fun!) and sit next to me, The Root’s Staff Entertainment Writer (Tonja Renée Stidhum, if you’re nasty), so we can get our Black Joan Rivers on with this commentary during the show! No, for real, if you do the most and dress up to watch this show on your couch, please post a picture and tag me on Instagram.
I am live-blogging an awards show for the first time since starting at The Root so please bring snacks to ease my anxiety! With all that said, what should we expect or wish for tonight?
- The most nominated person this year, Cardi B, will not only be scooping up mad awards but performing, too. Plus, Migos will be taking the stage, so there may be a collaboration somewhere. Other most-anticipated acts include Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus and Lizzo.
- The cast and crew of Queen & Slim will take the stage to debut a 90-second first-look teaser of their badass film, set to premiere this Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
- Host Regina Hall will probably do a huge musical number honoring the resurgence of black female dominance in hip-hop. It’ll also be cool to see some spoofs from the nominated movies. Imagine Regina re-imagining how the infamous phone calls in BlacKkKlansman would’ve gone if she played the lead role.
- Will Drake enter the venue with the entire Toronto Raptors starting lineup?
It’s the BET Awards and anything can happen. I’ll be there with commentary on it all.
The 2019 BET Awards will air on Sunday, June 23, 2019, at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on—bitch, you guessed it—BET.