LOS ANGELES, L.A., Mon. June 28: Despite the successes of Jamaican-born reggae singer Sean Paul on the music this past year, he has not been nominated for a BET award.
The awards, which takes place at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles tomorrow night, has no Caribbean nominees, despite the fact that both Paul, Elephant Man and Beenie Man, have received heavy airplay on the station and a large portion of its audience is both Caribbean and Caribbean-American.Best Male R&B Artist nominees are Anthony Hamilton, R. Kelly, Ruben Studdard, Usher and Luther Vandross while the Best Female R&B Artist nominees are Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys and Monica while the musical group nominations have gone to Jagged Edge, Floetry, G-Unit, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz and Outkast.
The Best Male Hip-Hop Artist nominees are 50 Cent, Chingy, Ludacris, Kanye West, Jay-Z and Pharrell Williams. In the Best New Artist category, the nominees are Chingy, Anthony Hamilton, Ruben Studdard, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams.
The Best Collaboration nominees are Beyonce f/Jay-Z in ?Crazy In Love,? Outkast f/Sleepy Brown in ?The Way You Move, Pharrell f/Jay-Z in ?Frontin',? Twista f/Kanye West & Jamie Foxx in ?Slow Jamz? and Usher f/Ludacris & Lil Jon in ?Yeah.?
The Best Actress nominees are Halle Berry, Beyonce Knowles, Sanaa Lathan and Gabrielle Union while the Best Actor nominees are Mos Def, Laurence Fishburne, Samuel L. Jackson, Bernie Mac and Denzel Washington.
One of the Original Queens of Comedy, Mo'Nique, star of the UPN Network's The Parkers, reprises her role as the first-ever female host of the BET AWARDS telecast.
Janet Jackson, Usher, Outkast and The Isley Brothers are among the artists expected to light up the stage while Danny Glover, award-winning actor, executive producer and activist, and Rock & Roll Hall of Famers The Isley Brothers will be honored with the Humanitarian Awardee and the Lifetime Achievement Award, respectively.
BET kicks off its showcase tomorrow with a special 106 & PARK: Live from the Red Carpet, hosted by AJ and Free from 6 - 8 p.m. ET/PT. The scene then shifts inside to the Kodak Theatre for the highly-anticipated three-hour "live" awards telecast at its new time of 8 p.m. ET/PT, when BET salutes 16 categories across the music, sports and entertainment spectrum.
