BET Awards
| BET Awards | |
|---|---|
 BET Awards 2016
|
|
| Awarded for | Outstanding achievements in the entertainment industry |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | BET |
| First awarded | June 19, 2001 |
The BET Awards were established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate African Americans and other minorities in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment over the past year. The awards are presented annually, and are broadcast live on BET. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by artists, and some of the awards of more popular interest are presented in a televised ceremony.
The BET Award Trophy, inspired by three words - aspire, ascend, achieve, was designed by artist/sculptor Carlos "Mare139" Rodriguez.OutKast won the first award trophy during the first ceremony in 2001. In 2007, Society Awards, the New York firm who manufacturers the award, enhanced the quality of the trophy design using plated steel and black crystal.
TV ratings (in millions):
The inaugural ceremony in 2001 was held at the Paris resort on the Las Vegas Strip. From 2002 to 2005, the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood hosted the awards. From 2006 to 2012, the ceremonires have been held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The ceremony was moved to the Microsoft Theatre at L.A. Live in 2013.
There is a voting academy made up of about 500 people from the music industry, media, and bloggers. BET sends out ballots electronically and voters nominate in all the different categories who they think should be award nominees. These are collated by a group called "Yangaroo" that works on other awards shows as well, and they narrow it to the top five nominees, and send that list back out to the academy to vote on the winner.
The BET Lifetime Achievement, Humanitarian and Ultimate Icon Award recipients, along with the nominees for other categories are announced in a press conference. At the awards ceremony a mini-documentary is shown covering the honorees' life. The awards are given out separately. The Ultimate Icon Award was created in 2015 and presented in the ceremony.
...
Wikipedia