Music: TV: Mo'Nique show is More Unique!

I watched Black Entertainment Television (BET):

A BET Commemoration of Michael Jackson, with excellent singing from a wide variety of musicians. Rev Al was there as sharp as ever. LaToya was there representing the family. I've never been a Michael Jackson fan, nor a LaToya fan, nor .... But, the Jackson show at BET ton+t was so packed with singing simply splendid!

The Mo'Nique Show -- hosted by Mo'Nique (More Unique?). It seemed to have a show within a show, as I thawt I was watching My Black Is Beautiful, hosted by Queen Latifah, and she was grand, truly grand. She interviewed a tuff lovely lady of song, Leela James, and featured a black-male singing group from whom I was able to download a podcast of songs on my iTunes, the 4-man group Dru Hill, who have reconstituted themselves after 7 years, egged on by a nu hotshot PR man. They were excellent. It turns out that the show is that of Leela James, who is taking over the position of host, and in this first episode apparently Queen Latifay has been brawt in to smooth the transition, and yet to give Leela a strong performance role on this her first episode. The whole thing worked, altho I was obviously mystified for a while. The next host of the nite, following that of Latifay and Leela, was a one who played pure host.

    Leela James

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The Wendy Wiliams Show, hosted by a professional TV gossip named Wendy. Her studio audience were late Thirties to late-middle-aged white women, a few blacks. Wendy herself gives the appearance of rather white; maybe at this late-nite early-morning hour, BET is enticing crossovers into its viewership. In the last quarter of the hour-length show, Wendy toured the audience, members of which asked her impromptu questions. Her style is to smooth everything, but she seems not to wanna dabble in anything dreary or maudlin. It's not easy in analyzing what she's after, but my bet is: she's after that older white middle-class feminine who want to read her as a black woman with style, grace, and wit. But, nevertheless, Wendy exhibits a contemporary crispness around family-relations gone askew. Some carefully cultivated air of superficiality.

Immediately after, the mood swings as as ruff and tumble movie -- Yes, I guess it coud be called a Black action flick.