My dear friend Gideon made his grand entrance (said with a slightly French meets Southern Georgia accent) into the "A" this weekend for the third year straight, taking on the production of the BET Hip Hop Awards. Every year, he has attempted to get yours truly tickets to the taping, with little success. However - like perfect timing would insert itself into my life... some tickets became available, and I embarked on an evening and intrigue with my beloved sister... I have my own, not so private, and very disconcerting thoughts on BET, and the direction it continues to move toward... however, attending an Award Show (no matter what TV station) was on my list of things to do before 2012 (#67). Nonetheless, if I say I wasn't expecting the worse from this experience, I would be lying. I am happy to say, however... that there were a number of pleasant surprises I encountered, and am thrilled to announce. Disclaimer: If you don't want the outcomes of the BET Hip Hop Awards 2008 to be ruined, exit now and return after October 23rd (when the show airs). 1. NOT SURPRISINGLY: Award Show Host, Kat Williams, failed to show up to host the show at the last minute (e.g. Award Show staff was notified at approx. 3AM in the morning, the morning of). SURPRISINGLY: BET asked T-Pain to host the show and he did a really good job. Who knew the man was such a charmer? A cocky charmer, but a charmer nonetheless. 2. NOT SURPRISINGLY: Parking at such an event was ridiculously chaotic and those who even thought about breathing within a 3 block radius of the building were politely escorted to the outskirts of the the road block. SURPRISINGLY: Ticket holders and "Seat-Fillers" to said event, were provided a shuttle. But not like the Chinese bus type shuttle that runs from D.C. to NY for $12. A nice luxury bus, with heat, and cushy clean seats. My sister even tried out the bathroom, and was thoroughly impressed. 3. NOT SURPRISINGLY: The seats for the Ticket Holders and "Seat-Fillers" were five stories up, and the venue had no elevator (or we normal people were not permitted to use it). As a result, all ages, shapes and sizes were forced to walk approx. 5 flights of stairs to reach their destination. Please note: the bathroom, was in the basement (or the one we normal people were permitted to use) - so not only did one have to walk 5 flights down, but they had to walk an additional flight to release the peace in their pants (or thongs)... SURPRISINGLY: There were plenty of breaks, and plenty of time to make the mad dash to the surprisingly clean bathroom. Stay tuned for more surprises in Take Two and Three... coming soon to a Blog Reader near you...