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The stars and power couples were out in full force at the BET Awards 2012. As I hit the red carpet on a hot day in L.A, I found myself next to hip-hop websites World Star Hip Hop, This is 50 and others. Opening the show dressed in an all-white suit, Kanye West came on stage with some of his G.O.O.D Music crew including, 2 Chainz and Pusha T…

Big Sean also joined Kanye on stage for their track ‘Mercy’ which saw Kim Kardashian give a standing ovation, dressed in a white dress to match her rapper boyfriend.

Host Samuel L Jackson gave us laughs throughout the night doing skits with various people – Spike Lee also joined him to do a reenactment of ‘N***as In Paris’, making everyone laugh. Most of the celebrities I spoke to on the red carpet were excited to see Samuel L Jackson host the awards; whoever hosts next year will have a lot of live up to.

Nicki Minaj’s performance was pretty toned down as she came on stage dressed in a nice black outfit, which was not flamboyant as I would have expected. Nicki performed ‘Beez In The Trap.’

D’Angelo later came on stage performing ‘How Does It Feel’, moving on to play the piano for the next track. He was looking very much like a rockstar and was rocking out on stage like one too.

Mike Epps and Mindless Behaviour gave out the award for Best Female R&B Artist which saw Mike Epps teasing the young boyband about their age before Beyoncé was announced the winner. The stunning mama dedicated it to Whitney Houston, who she described as ‘my angel’ whilst also shouting out Lauryn Hill and Mary J Blige.

Kevin Hart introduced the mighty Maybach Music onto the stage before popping a few jokes about Jay-Z and Talib Kweli. Wale was first out as he hopped out of a car on stage and was joined by Rick Ross for ‘Bag Of Money’. Meek Mill and French Montana also joined them as they tore down the stage.

Nicki Minaj aimed to shock as Busta Rhymes presented her with her award for Best Female Hip-Hop artist – she thanks her Barbz and the BET Awards before telling haters (presumably) to “suck a d*** b****!”

Chris Brown’s performance was a very highly anticipated one for the night; given the release of his recent diss track. He came on the stage to perform ‘Don’t Wake Me Up’ and ‘Turn Up The Music’ topless with half of his body painted in silver. The stage set-up also came complete with ballerinas dancing in masks!

Tyrese and Ginuwine came backstage, discussing ‘real R&B music’ and chatting about how ‘it’s not house or techno’; they added that this is why ‘they are bringing it back’. Spectators saw this as a dig at Breezy, who picked up the Best Male R&B artist award.

Mariah Carey came out to open the Whitney Houston tribute and said ‘the last time I saw her we were in London. I miss my friend, I miss hearing her voice, and laughter,’ at which point she started to cry. The star managed to compose herself to finish her speech. We also saw Brandy sing ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody.

YMCMB’s Tyga came out to perform ‘Rack City’ and Nicki Minaj was standing up dancing to her friend’s track to show her support.

Whilst Chris was at the show with YMCMB members Nicki and Tyga, Drake was absent. A source told Hollywood Life: “Everytime MC Lyte mentions that p***y Drake’s name, this whole f**king place is filled with boos. The boos came from people backstage, including Chris’s entourage and also from lots of people in the audience.”

We also saw the cutest couple in the world Jay-Z and Beyoncé play fighting, much to the amusement of the audience, when Jay won the award for Best Video Of The Year with ‘Otis’ – an award that the Queen B was also nominated for.

Big winners of the night were Jay-Z and Kanye who, of course, won Best Video and Best Group. Nicki Minaj won Best Female Hip Hop Artist whilst her buddy Drake won Best Male Hip-Hop Artist. Beyoncé won two awards, one for directing a video and one for Best Female R&B Artist. Wretch 32 repped for the UK, winning the Best International Act award for us.