Award shows are held under a ton of scrutiny nowadays so the overwhelmingly positive response to last night’s BET Awards makes it that much more of a triumph.

While there were numerous highlights nothing stands out more than the beautiful tribute to Whitney Houston, especially her mother Cissy’s rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” (“this one’s for you, Nip” she said as she broke into song). Not a dry eye was in the house as emotions poured out of numerous members of the crowd including Soulja Boy, who was captured with tears streaming down his face (he lost a brother recently). A refreshingly down to earth Mariah Carey opened the tribute with her own memories of Whitney, breaking down toward the end of her speech.

In addition to the tribute, heavy star power was present on the night including “millionaire’s row” seated at the front: Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Nicki Minaj and more. Jay and ‘Ye provided needed comic relief with their camaraderie (as did everyone on Twitter with constant criticism of Kim’s mere appearance at the show) while Nicki strangely decided to get tough for a quick second as she accepted her Best Female Hip Hop Award, telling everyone to “step their d*ck up.” It was Beyoncé’s defense of Lauryn Hill, however (after Mindless Behavior made a crude joke about Ms. Hill’s current tax problems) that was perhaps the most slick (and funniest) move on the night. It was great to see host Samuel L. Jackson (and buddy Spike Lee) loosen up and have fun on the night, and Kevin Hart‘s sketch comedy Real HouseHusbands Of Hollywood was a hit as always (it debuts on BET in the fall).

Perhaps the only low point of the awards was the incessant bleeping out of obscenities and foul language, with the censor team working overtime (unnecessarily, in the opinion of most). Let’s hope they work something out by the time the BET Hip Hop Awards roll around in October.

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