Wyclef Jean with BET.com’s Carl Chery and Tonya Pendleton

Friday January 11, 2008 – 2:12 p.m…

“She’s a bad mama jama!” I don’t how Clef is gonna pull that one off. As we speak, Clef and the band are fine-tuning the transition between “The Sweetest Girl” and his own rendition of Carl Carlton’s “Bad Mama Jama.” It sounds rough for now, but I got $5 on it being flawless come show time.

2:44 p.m….

“Oooowwwwww!” You gotta love Stephen Hill. I mean, he’s so into it. Here he is bopping his head, pumping his fist, playing air guitar and singing along with Clef. Everybody else around is timidly tapping their feet. But not Mr. Hill, he’s getting down.

But back to Clef. While others were pretty nonchalant onstage earlier, Clef rehearses like his life depends on it. He even shouted out the person he’s honoring like they’re taping the actual show. He took the most time to prepare out of all performers. Once he got offstage, I had to ask. “Where did you get your rehearsal ethics?”

“Brooklyn,” he quickly responded.  “It’s like for me, they say there’s no business like show business. So watching the other cats before me…you know when my drummer stopped I yelled at him. I told him, ‘you can’t stop, it’s show business.’ What happens is, when the cameras are going, every show will be different, but you gotta always be able to feel it.”

–C.C.

Friday January 11, 2008 – 1:15 p.m…

Finally A Real Photo…McKnight Rehearsing Onstage 

I’m over there looking for somebody’s jacket when I hear a familiar voice. “Some way, somehow/ whatever it takes, I’ll never lay down/I’ll make sure they remember the naaaaaaamme.” I thought I saw some random basketball player walking around the theater earlier, but I just realized it was Brian McKnight himself. He’s type tall.

Ten Minutes Later…

“What’s the words again? I promised myself I wouldn’t let me down,” Brian quickly said during the intro to “Win.” See, that’s what rehearsals are all about, not looking crazy on TV. Imagine him blanking during the actual taping? Not a good look! He’s sounding good though. It’s effortless. So much so that dude is text messaging somebody in between hitting notes. He kicked his songs a few more times and then stopped by to have a brief convo with BET’s EVP of Programming, Music & Talent, Stephen Hill. Here’s how the brief exchange loosely went down.

Stephen Hill: How you like the set up?

Brian’s friend/manager/handler?: It was good, but we were looking for more pyrotechnics, strippers and all that.

Stephen right hand man: Oh, we’re saving that for Stevie Wonder.

[Laughs!]

They were joking of course. Did I mention they were joking?

McKnight After Rehearsal

–C.C.

Friday January 11, 2008 – 1:10 p.m…

So now that John Legend is off I’m here killing time, looking on as the production crew makes adjustments for the next performer. I vow to be a fly on the wall for you guys. Minus the fact that I can’t sit in the front row, take photos of female performers (not camera ready) or use my flash, I got you, people.

5 Minutes later…

What is it with jackets? Some random all-access badge wearing lady just asked me, “is this your jacket?” I guess somebody missplaced theirs. It couldn’t be Debra Lee’s though. I see her rocking the fly leather joint over there. Oh well! I wonder who’s next.

Debra Lee (BET Chairman/CEO) 

–C.C.

Friday January 11, 2008 – 12:55 p.m…

It was too good to be true. There I was sitting in the second row at Washington, D.C.’s Warner Theater as John Legend performed his classic “Ordinary People” for the 1st Annual BET Honors. To my left ladies, Idris Elba and Blair Underwood. To my right fellas, Kerry Washington and Keyshia Cole. Shoot, I even had better seats than Jill Scott (right behind me).

But you know that couldn’t last. I quickly got word that I had to move my *ss back some ten rows for production reasons I suppose. And oh, did I mention that it was rehearsal and not the actual show? I was just sitting next to Idris and them’s reserved seats.

Wishful Thinking… 

 Somebody’s name is misspelled…

 Here you go ladies…Idris Elba In The Sheet

There goes Blair…

I did manage to get a close look at Legend though. Minutes after stepping offstage, dude was right under my nose signing what appeared to be release forms. “No, I don’t wanna be on camera,” Legend told a rep. So much for that interview, uh? Moments later he looked my way hurriedly searching for his jacket. He looked pretty pissed when he momentarily thought I was sitting on it. I wasn’t. But I guess that’s why they moved me in the first place.

Nice Jacket, John!

If the actual show is anything like the rehearsals, the BET Honors should be pretty good. The list of honorees includes Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Dr. Cornel West, Janice Bryant Howroyd, Alicia Keys, Tyra Banks and Richard Dick Parsons. You’ll have to tune into the telecast on February 22nd to get the full story. In the meantime, I got a few more hours at rehearsals , so I’ll make sure to drop a few more hints before it’s all over.

–C.C.