New jill swing back
Alicia Keys performs with SWV and En Vogue at the BET Awards:
A real pity that no one sounds good, save Alicia, who looks suspiciously like Beatuful from Flavor of Love 2. I suppose this means she has herpes. But whatever, don't act like it's AIDS and shit. On the more tragic end of the VH1 resemblance scale, SWV's Taj is giving me serious Sister Patterson vibes. And to think that Coko is the one who's known for having talons! At least En Vogue look good. I'm gonna guess it's all the grown sex these ladies are undoubtedly getting. This video inexplicably leaves out (I didn't upload it, see) the TLC segment of the performance, but that's for the best. It was the most depressing, as T-Boz had the range and disposition of a flat tire. Chilli kept her mouth shut and looked pretty. But then, of course she did: old habits die hard, I suppose.
This is just to remind you that everyone is getting so old. Have a happy Wednesday and stay out of the damn sun.
Update: Because no one knows how to have fun anymore, this video was, of course, removed from YouTube. You can watch it here, though, with the painful TLC performance intact and everything.
It hasn't been that long, has it? To have En Vogue singing for what felt like barely 20 seconds was really the ultimate diss. But I'm freaking out that Alicia was trying to dance and act sexy. So unnatural.
Posted by: spiffy | June 25, 2008 at 04:21 AM
This was so depressing. I don't have to worry about too much sun exposure because it's going to rain here in Chicago for the next 5 days. Oh wait, that's depressing too. I need to look at those Winston photos from yesterday again... that will turn this day around!
Jules
House of Jules
Posted by: HouseofJules | June 25, 2008 at 07:58 AM
eh, swv should have shown up to rehearsal. en vogue weren't awful or anything. alicia is putting those skinny jeans to work.
Posted by: BIZ | June 25, 2008 at 08:21 AM
Aw. I really wanted to be blown away by that. It gets nostalgia points though.
Posted by: Cass | June 25, 2008 at 09:02 AM
I agree....En Vogue looked great but the highlight of the entire show was MAXWELL during the Al Green tribute. Now that's aging well.
Posted by: 1969 | June 25, 2008 at 09:03 AM
This is just to remind you that everyone is getting so old
That's what I thought when I saw the performance. I was going to my kitchen to get a snack, thinking Alicia was going to continue with her School Daze jackin' performance and SWV was on TV. Then I came back with my snack and En Vogue was on TV. By the time T and C came on I was mortified and feeling ooooooold.
Posted by: RD | June 25, 2008 at 09:33 AM
Only caught the first 1/2 hour at the laundromat and couldn't get over how bootleg and thrown together the whole thing was.
Posted by: Lea | June 25, 2008 at 10:24 AM
this took me from elation to depression in seconds flat. en vogue sounded good, but everyone else disappointed. i was really surprised by how much weight gain there was between all the groups, even a.keys looked sausage-like in them jeans. why does she insist on wearing things that are too small for her? cuz she's not even fat, really.
this was the only performance i saw, i changed the channel for fear of what may come.
Posted by: mara | June 25, 2008 at 10:25 AM
Bootleg and thrown together? on BET? NO WAY!!!!!
that said, this performance was nothing short of depressing and made me long for 1994.
Posted by: Bill | June 25, 2008 at 11:23 AM
oh... and where did Alicia Keys get those hips from?!?
Posted by: Bill | June 25, 2008 at 11:23 AM
You had to bring up Sister Patterson! Now I miss her. Well, more.
Posted by: Michael | June 25, 2008 at 12:50 PM
SWV and En Vogue said yes to being back up singers to Alicia 'I'm black, y'all' Keys.
SMH.
Posted by: Tallulah Bankhead | June 25, 2008 at 02:20 PM
Let's focus on the goodness:
Coko sounded better (to me) than she ever has, and was that Dawn in the EnVogue lineup? Because I could be down with a comeback.
Posted by: Foxy | June 25, 2008 at 03:32 PM
I got a little misty-eyed when I saw Dawn, to be honest.
Posted by: wendy | June 25, 2008 at 04:06 PM
I didn't watch the awards, but I would assume this was framed as some kind of tribute. It does kind of suck though that SWV and (moreover) En Vogue have been relegated to singing backup for Ally McKeys. If you cut your nails then you's a sideline sloth.
Posted by: Greg | June 25, 2008 at 04:52 PM
Shit - no longer available due to BET coryright!
Posted by: | June 25, 2008 at 04:53 PM
Damn, BET is fast. Oh well, I probably didn't really want to have any of that seared into my memory, right?
Posted by: Kate | June 25, 2008 at 04:57 PM
that broke my heart.En Vogue was slightly better :/
Posted by: Lauren | June 25, 2008 at 06:13 PM
Oh, Greg, how I love your comments miss seeing you on C+D. What ever happened to that chick, Oh So Krispee, who won the contest TLC had to misguidedly tried to replace Left Eye?
Posted by: Honey B Fly | June 25, 2008 at 07:53 PM
What was up with those pants that T-Boz was wearing? I already know that Alicia Keys is pretty clueless when it comes to dressing so nothing surprises me about her. That whole thing looked so last minute, lol.
But yeah, I did like Maxwell.
Posted by: milkyaqua | June 25, 2008 at 10:13 PM
Well, like I read on C&D - Black don't crack, but swell like hell.
It was a bit daunting to see the overall voluptuousness of SWV, but I thought they actually sounded better live now than back in the day.
I can't believe I lived to see the day that SWV and En Vogue were singing back up for Alicia Key's non singing ass. Wow. We are getting old.
Posted by: LoveMyselfFirst | June 25, 2008 at 10:52 PM
Yeah, T-Boz looked like, "A check is a check" the whole time. And I never realized just how little Chilli contributed to "Waterfalls" -- I'm assuming she didn't write it.
I think Coko sounds better now than when she was in SWV. I always hated her voice 'cause it was so nasal and didn't have much bottom end to it. It's a skosh huskier now, which I appreciate.
Posted by: BlackRaspberry | June 25, 2008 at 11:15 PM
I STILL freaking love En Vogue and I thought they looked beautiful and sounded great. Cindy was always gorgeous. They didn't look old, just like lovely women. SWV and TLC looked and sounded busted and to' up. Somethings never fucking change.
Alicia? You have a face of a goddess and the voice of an angel and the style of a blind woman. Why oh why must you wear The Most unflattering clothes? It's not that you are fat but the clothes you choose sure make you look it. And kinda stank too. And what was up with the squared off hair-do? Still love ya, boo.
Posted by: NYCMami | June 26, 2008 at 01:30 AM
Hmmm...I'm really confused by all of the snark on here about this set.
1) SWV (see: Coco) sounded better that night then they have ever sounded in their lives. I'm not going to criticize anyone on their weight gain. I don't have a weight criteria when it comes to music (but, that's just me).
2) En Vogue sounded great and would have sounded better if Alicia wasn't there throwing off their harmonies.
3) T-Boz sounded the same as she always does. Are people just picking up on it that she can't sing? She sounds no different then she did back in the day. Ya'll just have higher standards now.
4) All in all, I kind of liked it. Would have liked it better if the groups had did their own thing minus Alicia. I'm not hating, I just didn't feel like Alicia really had to stay on the stage the whole time.
Now, I'm going to go watch my beloved Maxwell who ran away from me 10 years ago.
Posted by: Reese | June 26, 2008 at 07:10 AM
This is totally off topic, Rich, but I just found this. Holy crap, a modeling competition involving gals with full-on disabilities!!! Missing limbs and everything!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1029476/Whys-letting-disabilities-way-modelling-dreams.html
Posted by: Annegret | June 26, 2008 at 01:26 PM