Los Angeles, 1 July 2013: It is time for celebrations in Nigeria today after IcePrince won the award for “Best International Act – Africa” at the 2013 edition of the BET Awards (30 June 2013)
Having lost out to Wizkid and Sarkodie last year, Ice Prince showed his staying power by beating former winner and fellow Nigerian 2FACE Idibia, Toya Delazy (South Africa), Donald (South Africa), R2Bees (Ghana) and Radio and Weasel (Uganda).
Commenting on behalf of BET International, Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Viacom International Media Networks Africa said, “It is thrilling to see an African artist of the calibre of Ice Prince be duly recognised alongside the biggest artists in the world at the BET Awards. We are delighted that all of the African nominees have been able to enjoy the BET Awards and the BET Experience while benefiting from this fantastic promotional platform in the world’s biggest music market.”
Music fans will be able to see the hip hop star collect his coveted award during the TV premiere of the BET Awards 13 in sub-Saharan Africa tomorrow night (Tuesday 2 July, 20:00 WAT/21:00 CAT).
Hosted by actor and comedian Chris Tucker, BET Awards ’13 saw Hollywood’s biggest stars come together to celebrate the accomplishments of their peers in music, sports and film, at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles.
The biggest winner on the night was Kendrick Lamar who took home three awards: Best New Artist, Best Male Hip Hop Artist and Best Collaboration for “Problems’” with A$AP Rocky, Drake and 2 Chainz. Miguel took home the trophy for Best Male R&B/Pop artist while Rihanna scored a win for Best Female R&B/Pop artist. Nikki Minaj was voted Best Female Hip Hop Artist.
The BET AWARDS ‘13 kicked off with an electrifying performance by Chris Brown performing a medley of hits including his current single “Fine China” and a special performance of “Don’t They Know” with vocals from Aaliyah.
Nicki Minaj made a surprise appearance, flying onto the stage and joining Brown for an energizing performance of “Love More”.
“House of Lies” and “Iron Man” actor Don Cheadle dedicated the evening to Nelson Mandela, saying, “We want to take a moment and send our prayers and thoughts to a man who literally changed the world.
This evening we would like to offer prayers and support and hope to the extraordinary Nelson Mandela and his family.”
Cheadle also presented the evening’s first award for Best Male R&B/Pop Artist to Miguel. Miguel played double duty as he performed his solo number “How Many Drinks” with Kendrick Lamar and joined Mariah Carey during her performance of “Beautiful” featuring Young Jeezy.
Notable performances of the evening were Robin Thicke, who performed his new hit single “Blurred Lines” with Pharrell and T.I. Ciara and Nicki Minaj also debuted their new single “I’m Out” on the BET Awards ‘13 stage.
BET surprised the audience with a Caribbean music tribute featuring reggae artists Beenie Man who performed his hit “Who Am I”, Dawn Penn’s club anthem “No, No, No” and reggae classic “Murder She Wrote” by Chaka Demus and Pliers. As if that wasn’t enough, Elephant Man jumped on stage for the finale singing “Pon Di River”.
Kendrick Lamar hit the stage three times performing his songs “M.A.A.D City” and “B*tch Don’t Kill My Vibe” featuring Erykah Badu and “Problems” with A$AP Rocky and 2 Chainz.
One of the most unforgettable performances of the night began with Justin Timberlake presenting R&B legend Charlie Wilson with the Lifetime Achievement Award. India.Arie opened the moving tribute to Wilson with “There Goes My Baby” while Jamie Foxx blessed the crowd with fan favourite “Yearning For Your Love”: The legendary Stevie Wonder then took the stage and energized the audience with the funky “Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)”. Wilson joined Timberlake, Snoop Lion and Pharrell for 2003’s “Beautiful”, a hit that reintroduced Wilson to a new generation of fans along with knock-out renditions of “Signs”, “You Dropped A Bomb On Me” and “Girl You Knock Me Out”, bringing the crowd to its feet.
The King of R&B, R. Kelly, surprised fans with a choir singing his hits acapella along the aisles of the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. He sang a medley of his songs including “I Wish”, “When a Woman’s Fed Up”, “Ignition (remix)” and more.
Q.U.E.E.N. of the night, Janelle Monáe closed the show with a hot performance of her hit single with sultry singer Erykah Badu.
BET Awards ’13 – Winners
Best International Act: Africa: Ice Prince (Nigeria)
Best Female R&B/Pop Artist: Rihanna
Best Male R&B/Pop Artist: Miguel
Best Group: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Best Collaboration: A$AP Rocky f/ Drake, 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar – Problems
Best Male Hip Hop Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Best Female Hip Hop Artist: Nicki Minaj
Best International Act – UK: Emeli Sandé
Video of the Year: Drake – Started From The Bottom
Video Director of the Year: Benny Boom
Best New Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Best Gospel Artist: Mary Mary
Best Actress: Kerry Washington
Best Actor: Jamie Foxx
YoungStars Award: Gabrielle Douglas
Best Movie: Think Like A Man
Viewers’ Choice Award: Drake – Started From The Bottom
Centric Award: Tamar Braxton – Love and War
Lifetime Achievement Awards – Charlie Wilson
Humanitarian Award – Dwyane Wade
Sportswoman of the Year: Gabrielle Douglas
Sportsman of the Year: LeBron James
