Kanye West Nails Double Win in '05 BET Awards; Newcomers Ciara, John Legend Also Come Up Winners

Kanye West Nails Double Win in '05 BET Awards; Newcomers Ciara, John Legend Also Come Up Winners

Omarion Wins Viewers' Choice

LOS ANGELES, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- BET's annual mega-salute to superlative performances in music, sports and entertainment again lit up the Hollywood skyline and the majestic Kodak Theatre, with rapper/producer impresario Kanye West grabbing awards for Best Male Hip Hop artist and for Video of the Year for his spiritual composition "Jesus Walks." First-time BET Awards nominees Ciara and John Legend each walked away with trophies, as Ciara won for Best Collaboration for her tandem with rapper Missy Elliott on "1, 2 Step," and Legend scored as Best Male New Artist. BET also used the star-studded night to honor music legend Gladys Knight with the network's Lifetime Achievement Award, and Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington and his wife Pauletta with the BET Humanitarian Award.

BET's big night exploded with amazing performances and special salutes as Hollywood power couple Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith served as hosts for the first time. Bringing the audience to their feet, a surprise reunion of Lauren Hill and the Fugees started the night off with a killer performance of their old school hits Ready or Not, and Killing Me Softly. Other superstar performers included living legend Stevie Wonder, smoking hot "Dirty South" rapper T.I. along with Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child, Toni Braxton, Ludacris, Missy Elliott, former B2K phenom Omarion, Mike Jones, Fantasia, Tye Tribbett and The Game joining in an "off the meter" throw-down that rocked the house and the homes of millions fortunate enough to have tuned in for BET's biggest show of the year. A sparkling list of Hollywood's celebrity A-List also joined the show as presenters, including Halle Berry, Tom Cruise, Alicia Keys, Steve Harvey and Mario.

The night also had some solemn moments as BET paid memorial tributes to actor Ossie Davis, attorney Johnnie Cochran, singer Rick James and rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard, all of whom died since last's BET AWARDS show.

The following is a list of all winners from the 2005 BET AWARDS:

Best Female R&B Best Male R&B
Alicia Keys Usher

Best Group Best Collaboration
Destiny's Child Ciara featuring Missy Elliott (1, 2 Step)

Best Female Hip Hop Best Male Hip Hop
Remy Martin Kanye West

Best New Artist Best Gospel Artist
John Legend Donnie McClurkin

Best Actress Best Actor
Regina King Jamie Foxx

Female Athlete of the Year Male Athlete of the Year
Serena Williams (Tennis) Shaquille O'Neal (Basketball)

Video of the Year Viewers' Choice Award
Kanye West (Jesus Walks) Omarion (O)

ABOUT BET

BET, a subsidiary of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:and)(NYSE:VIA.B), is the nation's leading television network providing quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs programming for the African-American audience. The BET Network reaches more than 80 million households according to Nielsen media research, and can be seen in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. BET is a dominant consumer brand in the urban marketplace with a diverse group of branded businesses: BET.com, the Number 1 Internet portal for African Americans; BET Digital Networks -- BET Jazz, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, specializing in a full range of event production services, including event management, venue selection, talent recruitment, sound, lighting and stage production; and BET Books, the nation's leading publisher of African-American themed romance novels under the Arabesque imprint which also publishes compelling fiction under the Sepia imprint and inspirational fiction and nonfiction under the New Spirit imprint.

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Source: BET (Black Entertainment Television)

CONTACT: Michael Lewellen, +1-202-669-4867, michael.lewellen@bet.net, or
Tosha Whitten-Griggs, +1-818-655-6712, tosha.whitten-griggs@bet.net, both of
BET (Black Entertainment Television)

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