We are geared up to check out the 2011 BET Awards and are eagerly awaiting this year’s winners. Check out our predictions below:
Best Female R&B Artist
Marsha Ambrosius
Beyoncé
Keri Hilson
Jennifer Hudson
Rihanna
Soulhead Pick: This is a tough one since we actually feel there may be a few singers left of this list, namely Ledisi. BUT, we digress. We will go with Beyonce’ based on this list. It’s just really hard to beat B. Plus, she is performing. Could be a lock.
Winner: Rihanna. We find this pretty interesting but Ri Ri did have a strong year last year albeit a bit more edgy than some parents of pre-teen girls may like. Could this be BET’s way of changing the guard (at least temporarily) from Beyonce to Rihanna as the Queen of Pop & B?
Best Male R&B Artist
Chris Brown
Cee-Lo Green
Bruno Mars
Trey Songz
Usher
Soulhead Pick: We’re going to go with Trey on this one. That brother worked pretty hard this past year to raise his profile. With some of the most unique song names, we will go with him.
Winner: Chris Brown. We knew there was a chance for this to happen but didnt think there would such a wholesale endorsement of Chris Brown. We clearly were wrong.
Best Group
Diddy Dirty Money
Cali Swag District
N.E.R.D.
New Boyz
Travis Porter
Soulhead Pick: Again, there was not an enormous amount of quality to choose from, but given the choices, Diddy could get this one. Given recent headlines, Cali Sway could get the nod, but probably not likely.
Winner: Diddy Dirty Money
Best Female Hip Hop Artist
Diamond
Cymphonique
Lola Monroe
Nicki Minaj
Soulhead pick: We’d be extremely surprised if Nicki Minaj didnt win this one.
Winner: Nicki Minaj. As we said, we’d be pretty amazed if she didn’t win. Her acceptance speech was pretty funny too.
Best Male Hip Hop Artist
B.o.B
Drake
Lil Wayne
Rick Ross
Kanye West
Soulhead Pick: This is a really really tough one to call. We’d love to see B.o.B. win it but think Drake will get the award here. Kanye also deserves the award as does Rick, but something tells me this could be Drake’s year.
Winner: Kanye West. We were close but no cigar.
Best Collaboration
B.o.B ft. Haley Williams of Paramore, “Airplanes”
Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes, “Look At Me Now”
Kanye West ft. Rihanna, “All of the Lights”
Chris Brown ft. Tyga & Kevin McCall, “Deuces”
Waka Flocka Flame ft. Roscoe Dash & Wale, “No Hands”
Rihanna ft. Drake, “What’s My Name”
Soulhead Pick – We really liked the sultry “What’s My Name” by Rihanna and Drake but REALLY liked “All of the Lights” with Kanye. There are a number of bangers on this list for sure.
Winner: Chris Brown “Look at Me Now”. No comment.
Best New Artist
J. Cole
Bruno Mars
Miguel
Willow Smith
Wiz Khalifa
Soulhead Pick – We’d love to see Miguel win for his excellent “All I Want is You” but think of the group, Wiz Khalifa may have made a bit more noise. Bruno could take it based on several notable contributions, but we think the buzz was with Wiz this year.
Winner: Wiz Khalifa took it and the lovely Amber Rose home last night. Lucky brother.
YoungStars Award
Shenell Edmonds
Keke Palmer
Diggy Simmons
Jaden Smith
Willow Smith
Soulhead Pick – It’s tough to go against the Titan Smith clan. Our pick would be Willow Smith with Keke or Diggie coming in a close second.
Winner: Willow Smith and Jaden Smith (tie). We didn’t see the tie coming but this smelled of politics to us.
Best Gospel
Byron Cage
Deitrick Haddon
Mary Mary
Karen Clark Sheard
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Soulhead Pick: Mary Mary deserves this for getting the gospel spread to a wider audience.
Winner: Mary Mary
Centric Award
Marsha Ambrosius
Eric Benét
Cee-Lo Green
R. Kelly
Kem
Soulhead Pick – R. Kelly still delivers and should win. If not, Kem could take it since he had a great year.
Winner: Marsha Ambrosius did deserve it and she was there to receive the award.
Best International Act (Africa)
2Face Idibia (Nigeria)
D’ Banj (Nigeria)
D-Black (Ghana)
Fally Ipupa (DR Congo)
Angelique Kidjo (Benin)
Teargas (South Africa)
Soulhead Pick: Angelique Kidjo is hard to beat here. Classic and prolific.
Winner: 2Face Idibia (Nigeria) and D’ Banj (Nigeria) (TIE)
Best International Act (UK)
VV Brown
Chipmunk
Laura Izibor
Skepta
Tinchy Stryder
Tinie Tempah
Soulhead Pick – Love Tinie Tempah and hope the selection committee does too.
Winner: Tinie Tempah. Nice!
Best Actress
Halle Berry
Taraji P. Henson
Regina King
Zoë Saldana
Kerry Washington
Soulhead Pick – Regina did it again this year. We would love to see Taraji win too.
Winner: Taraji P. Henson. We almost got this one right!
Best Actor
Laz Alonso
Chris Brown
Don Cheadle
Idris Elba
Jamie Foxx
Soulhead Pick – Idris Elba
Winner: Idris Elba
Best Movie
Death at a Funeral
For Colored Girls
Takers
The Book of Eli
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married, Too?
Soulhead Pick – For Colored Girls
Winner: For Colored Girls
Sportswoman of the Year
Tamika Catchings
Candice Dupree
Maya Moore
Serena Williams
Venus Williams
Soulhead Pick – Serena Williams for coming back and destroying the competition.
Winner: Serena Williams
Sportsman of the Year
Carmelo Anthony
Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
Derrick Rose
Michael Vick
Soulhead Pick – Loved witnessing Derrick’s ascent this year.
Winner: Michael Vick was not a bad choice here.
Other Awards:
Viewers Choice Award
Chris Brown – Look at Me Now
Lifetime Achievement Award
Patti LaBelle
Humanitarian Awards
Steve Harvey