No séances or Ouija boards were needed for BET’s resurrection of the Soul Train Awards, which returns after a 1-year hiatus as the premier event for BET's new Centric network. For the affair, they simply conjured the best and brightest B and C-list celebrities from all avenues, stirred them all up in the Georgia World Congress Center and POOF, the Soul Train Awards was reborn. Well, almost. Though the show was presented in the name of Soul Train, it lacked one crucial awards show element: AWARDS. The 3.5 hour taping consisted of more than 15 performers, yet there were only 3 categories taped, two of which went to Keri Hilson, and the other to Beyonce who accepted via a pre-taped message, while other awardees were simply announced as having won during a pre-show ceremony.
In their defense, BET Centric dedicated a large portion of the show to honoring legendary musical accomplishments by Charlie Wilson, LaFace Records, Chaka Khan, and the King of Pop Michael Jackson. As a lover of all things music I must admit: I was in a state of beautiful bliss watching the performances of the show. Returning to glory, Toni Braxton delivered the opening performance, her duet single with Trey Songz that was climaxed by an onstage kiss that seemed to leave the room in sudden awe. Chrisette Michele’s performance of Blame It On Me garnered a standing ovation and Robin Thicke’s performance of Sex Therapy made the atmosphere a little more… moist, to say the least. Other highlights include the sexy swag of Keri Hilson’s medley (Knock You Down, Slow Dance, Turnin Me On), Raheem Devaughn’s militant performance of Bulletproof, The Motown 50-year tribute (which included Boyz II Men, Johnny Gill, Melanie Fiona and Hal Linton), and I’d say the performance to watch is the presentation of Chaka Khan with the BET Centric Legend Award. This tribute performance was presented with stunning vocal covers of Chaka Khan’s hits by Erykah Badu, Ledisi, Fantasia and Angie Stone. Charlie Wilson was also honored and tributed with the voices of Keith Sweat, Ginuwine, Raheem Devaughn, Brian McKnight and Kandi Burress, before taking the stage himself with Bootsy Collins and K-Ci and Jojo to perform his hit There Goes My Baby. Presenters for the night included Tamia, Monica, Kelly Price, Deborah Cox, and Ludacris among others.
All in all, the show was pretty enjoyable, sans Terrence Howard’s dry humor, which was appropriately balanced by Taraji Henson’s quick wit. BET Centric Presents the 2009 Soul Train Awards will air on November 29, 2009 at 9PM ET, so make sure you tune in and show your support.

I would be remiss if I did not thank Kamala from Creme Magazine! She hooked a brother up with a ticket into the actual show! Also, shouts to Stephanie over at Creme, and Aaron at Red Carpet Images!

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