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40th Annual NAACP Image Awards recognize Tariji, Rosario, Chandra, Halle and many othersAlthough the evening's sole openly gay nominee, Wanda Skyes, didn't win in her category (or even attend the event; Queen Latifah was also absent), the 40th NAACP Image Awards show offered an entertaining and inspiring evening last night. Halle Berry and Tyler Perry co-hosted the annual awards show that pays tribute to people of color in entertainment, on the eve of the NAACP's one-hundredth anniversary. Halle Berry sporting different looks during the Awards Beyoncé kicked it off with a great performance of her song "Halo," set against images of the Civil Rights movement. I don't think anyone was really surprised when she won Favorite Female Singer later in the evening.
Jennifer Hudson received a standing ovation when she won for Best New Artist, and proceeded to knock her musical performance out of the park.
The women who took home awards in the major TV categories include Tracee Ellis Ross (Girlfriends) for Outstanding Actress in a TV Comedy, Angela Bassett (ER) for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Chandra Wilson (Grey's Anatomy) for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and Keisha Knight Pulliam (House of Payne) for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (which kinda freaks me out because in my mind she's still 12). Chandra Wilson, left, and Keisha Knight Pulliam at the Awards Whatever quibbles I might have with Grey's occasionally, Chandra Wilson deserves every award she gets! In the movies category, the big female winners were Rosario Dawson (Seven Pounds) for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, and Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but I'll always remember her from The Division) for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. Rosario Dawson accepting her award Taraji P. Henson laughing backstage with the press after accepting her award Sanaa Lathan and Blair Underwood presented hip hop mogul Russell Simmons with the NAACP's Vanguard award (in a nice hat tip to Lathan's role in Brown Sugar — or maybe I'm just projecting).
The Def Poetry Jam tribute by to Simmons was by far the most interesting performance I've seen on any awards show in a long time. (My favorite line: "If you are the peak and we are brushes you've made, we don't live in your shadow, we grow in your shade.") It was a little disappointing, though, that four of five of the night's special awards honoring lifetime achievements etc. went to men — Russell Simmons, Muhammad Ali, Al Gore and Barack Obama (OK, so Obama didn't officially receive an award, but the night was so full of tributes to him, he might as well have) — with Dr. Wangai Maathai as the sole female recipient (of the Chairman's award for her work in environmentalism). I'm not saying these men didn't deserve the respect, just that it would have been nice to recognize the extra-special accomplishments of more people from the other gender, too. A Raisin in the Sun finally took home some trophies — for Outstanding TV Mini-Series, with Outstanding TV Mini-series Actress/Actor Awards going to Phylicia Rashad and Sean Combs, respectively. Other award winners include Slumdog Millionaire for Outstanding Independent Motion Picture, Grey's Anatomy for Outstanding Drama Series, and The Secret Life of Bees for Outstanding Motion Picture. The cast and crew of The Secret Life of Bees accepting their award See the full list of winners here. There are too many other interesting women in attendance to show, but here are a few more of my favorites at the show last night. Regina Taylor, one of the best things about CBS's The Unit (a guilty pleasure of mine). Vanessa A. Williams, of Soul Food fame. The ladies of Lincoln Heights: Erica Hubbard, Nicki Micheaux and Rhyon Nicole Brown Let me know what you thought of the awards in the comments! Submitted by on February 13, 2009 - 9:00am. |
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Thanks Sarah
This run down sure beats morning coffee (or tea in my case). The women were all looking radiant and deserved every one of the awards that they took home.
To Ms Lathan, thank you for wearing that dress....
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http://thequeerafrican.blogspot.com/
Queer Africans say aye!
Only watched the first half
Because I wanted to go watch that award-winning show Grey's.
Chandra Wilson and Taye Diggs deserve every award given to them, so I'm glad they were rewarded. Haven't seen a Raisin in the Sun, but Phylicia Rashad is awesome, so I'm sure she deserves it.
I was a bit confused about the "best new artist" to Jennifer Hudson. She was on AI FIVE YEARS ago, and she became really well known with Dreamgirls FOUR years ago. Aren't there any actually new artists they could have awarded that to?
I was a bit irritated that they couldn't find the time to actually award all the awards in prime-time. I would have rather heard the nominees for Best Actress in a drama series and seen Chandra's acceptance speech than some of the "witty" commentary and long sweeping shots of people walking onstage - or even than some of the musical guests. Or make it 3 hrs like other awards shows.
Also - there was a special award awarded to a black woman - Dr. Wangai Maathai, the recipient of the Chairman's award. She is also the first African woman to receive a Nobel Peace Prize for her environmental work, and prior to that was the first PhD awarded to an Eastern African woman from the U of Nairobi. The Chairman's award was rather inexplicably for work on climate change and was also awarded to Al Gore, which was rather lame, but it was nice to see her receive the award on TV, as I had never heard of her and she is a pretty amazing person who everyone should have heard of.
I was a bit confused on the definition of "people of color" the NAACP uses. They kept saying that phrase, and for the first portion of the night I assumed they were using it in a non-standard way to imply only people of african descent as that was the original goal of the NAACP. However, then every once in a while a hispanic person was included, but never asian. Doesn't "people of color" usually mean EVERYTHING other than non-hispanic white, ie asian, african, hispanic, and american indian? It just seems a bit odd to pull two of those out randomly.
Best New Artist
I think the New Artist designation comes with the release of your first major solo release, which for Jennifer Hudson just came out last year.
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"The problem of power is how to achieve its responsible use rather than its irresponsible and indulgent use — of how to get men of power to live for the public rather than off the public." -- Robert F. Kennedy
Wow
Gosh, I've missed Rosario Dawson. I don't think I really knew how much until I saw her in that dress. Wow.
I was so grateful to see the Secret Life of Bees finally get some recognition--the movie might not have been as compelling as I would've liked, but Sophie Okonedo's performance May Boatwright really has been underappreciated.
And I'm glad to see Chandra Wilson get some recognition for Grey's Anatomy as well. While I've given up watching Grey's, Miranda's always been the heart of the show and since Emmy voters seem reticent to acknowledge her contribution, I'm glad she gets some love, somewhere.
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"The problem of power is how to achieve its responsible use rather than its irresponsible and indulgent use — of how to get men of power to live for the public rather than off the public." -- Robert F. Kennedy
I didin't even know this was
Thanks.
Wow, Sanaa Lathan is sooooo
Saw the first half
I only saw the first half. I must say seeing Halle Berry and Sanaa Lathan in the below cleavage plunging gowns was mesmerizing. Beyonce's "Halo" was well done and she teared up a little. It was appropriate for the openning. Maybe it was the moment. Jennifer Hudson also did a lovely job singing to Muhammad Ali, and Layla Ali was looking gorgeous as usual in the audience.
It was good to see some recognition for all the cast of "The Secret Life of Bees". They all did an excellent job, and as I recall Alicia Keys learned to play cello just for the role.
I had no idea that Dr. Wangari Maathai and Al Gore had known each other for so long. It makes sense since Dr. Maathai is trying to fight against the deforestation of Africa and Mr. Gore is trying to fight climate change. Any how it was good to seem them share the award.