The Power of Single Moments
At the BET Awards, Career Revivals and Shining Lights
2010-06-28
By Eric Easter
We will probably never know if those tears were those of crocodile, or of a man caught up in real emotion, but skeptical or not, it's hard to deny the power of Chris Brown's stage breakdown during his tribute to Michael Jackson at the 10th Annual BET Awards. Odd thing is, the tears may have been completely unnecessary. By that time the die had been cast, and Chris Brown's career was already a couple of minutes into a full turnaround. By the testimony of a family endorsement from Jermaine Jackson and then an acquittal from his own fairly spectacular performance, Brown reminded everyone why anyobody cared about his actions in the first place. At that point, the crying thing, authentic or well-planned, was only icing on the cake.
Credit Brown for a transformation, but also credit Black America for a sustained rejection of domestic violence against women, no matter how cute or famous the transgressor. In various ways, let the last year be a lesson to Chris and all of us. Welcome back, Chris.
But if you're of a certain age, it's hard to pick which revival was more dramatic, that of Chris Brown of that of El DeBarge. And since I am of that age, El gets the nod. Looking like the second coming of Billy Eckstine, DeBarge provided one of those rare moments when a comeback artist comes back with the voice you loved fully intact. No bloat, no tell-tale changes in pitch, no age-inappropriate dance moves and no attempt to be hip and young, he showed the power of good genes and more importantly, really good music. That is a pretty amazing feat given that DeBarge's moment was in the early 80s. But it only makes more striking the fact that much of the music on display during the evening - entertaining though it may be - will not stand the test of time, certainly not the test that El DeBarge passed with flying colors. Welcome back, El.
And unless you were luck enough to see Prince in concert before he blew up and became PRINCE, you may not have appreciated the moment that was Janelle Monae and Esperanza Spalding. That would understandable since you were likely mesmerized (or stunned) by Alicia Keys crawling across the piano, or blown away by Patti LaBelle. But if you smart enough to TIVO the show, you might want to revisit the earlier section of the Prince tribute. Prince handpicked the people he wanted to honor him and he did so for good reason.
On EbonyJet.com's Facebook page, most people who saw Janelle Monae were not impressed. I think Prince knew that would be the case. It was an apt reminder that uniqueness, artistry and a dedication to breaking the rules is still something out of the ordinary in today's Black music. But it was a brilliant performance, and inits quirkiness and strangeness and power, by definition more of tribute to Prince than any other performance. The same goes for Esperanza Spalding, who did what Prince respects most. She did not parrot a Prince song note for note, but relied on her considerable talents as one of jazz's leading new lights to flip "If I Was Your Girlfriend" on its head, making it another song entirely. That's how you honor Prince, by showing, as Prince said later in his acknowledgment, that "the future is in good hands."
