BET and the backstage awards

Every year, someone publicly protests the BET Awards honouring certain categories "backstage" or before the main event. There has also been disapproval that this backstage prize giving is shown during the live stream of the ceremony as though it was live when it was actually pre-recorded.

This year was no different. Fuse ODG openly expressed himself last night on Twitter. The singer posted “Dear @BET, the reason why I didn't come is because you give our awards backstage! You have no respect for our hard work and achievements”. The afrobeat musician was nominated in the Best International Act UK category alongside FKA Twigs, Lethal Bizzle, Little Simz, Mnek and Stormzy.

In 2013 when Ice Prince Zamani won the Best International Act Africa award, as Nigerians celebrated his winning, Whitenicious founder Dencia was quick to share that his award had been presented backstage and BET had edited the clip to make it appear as though it was in front of a live audience. Watch video below:

In the clip above, it was clear that there was hardly anyone in the room and the stage set up was different from the main stage where the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Nicki Minaj received their awards that year. Several people have come out to call this act disrespectful.

Let’s look at a brief history of BET. BET stands for ‘Black Entertainment Television’; it is a cable television network that specifically targets African Americans. It was created in 1980 to fill the void of black entertainment and programming on television. Pause that thought. The BET Awards were created in 2001 to commemorate the achievements of African Americans and other minorities in the entertainment industry.

READ: Winners at the 2015 BET Awards

When Ice Prince and Davido (2014) won, they were both presented their awards at the pre-show and not backstage as presumed. But for a channel that looks at celebrating African heritage, it’s disappointing that the minorities are not recognised on the big stage.

What we must remember though is that the BET Award is an American brand, which caters to Americans. And as with most cable networks in America, TV ratings points, advertising, keeping eyeballs glued to the channel are all very important. If Mafikizolo and Tiwa Savage’s performance last year at the BET experience were at the main ceremony, I hardly doubt BET’s regular audience would have been lost if they actually watch the channel for the cultural experience.

The Best International Act Africa and the Best International Act UK awards are not the only categories not given on the live stage. There are several other category awards given at the pre-show and even on the red carpet. Now, while we are happy our talented brothers and sisters are being acknowledged and honoured by this international brand, we would also appreciate if they were presented to their American peers, this way Jay-Z won’t have to send his cousin to the motherland to search for the biggest African/Nigerian acts. One of the reasons why the African acts should be presented at the main show is so people present at the ceremony are given the opportunity to recognize true talent from Africa. If the big American stars see them being awarded or performing on the main stage, they would acknowledge that the African artist is a bona-fide act because the talent is honored on the same stage as they have been.

With all being said, it is important that the organization finds a way to make viewers understand that the awards to the Best International Act Africa and UK given at the pre-show is pre recorded. They already do this by placing a text at the top of the screen that says "pre-recorded" . Peharps they should make the text bolder, and get the voice over artist to announce: "the following award segment has been pre-recorded". It would also be advisable they remove the sound effects of fake cheering and clapping, the volume of this makes viewers assume that the recognition of these categories is on the same stage as the major ones. These suggestions would avoid the confusion of whether or not the stars are given their awards backstage.