Did Chris Brown's Tears Wash His Sins Away?

There is no doubt Chris Brown felt emotion during his performance of 'Man in the Mirror' at the 2010 BET Awards. As a tribute to the late Michael Jackson (a controversial figure of his own), feelings were bound to be stirred up. This was also Brown's first public performance since he plead guilty to assaulting Rihanna as the two left another awards show related event. Crying may have been a result of built up tension, nerves, a suggestion by someone that it was high time for Brown to act like he did wrong.

The public has not been forgiving or kind to Brown, nor do they feel he has been particularly demonstrative in his shame, repentance or remorse. Although it is being reported that R & B artist Lloyd passed on some much needed advice to Brown on how little visible emotion he has displayed, it seems Lloyd does not want to be associated with any fakery that may have been involved with Brown boo-hooing on stage. He's asserting that he didn't tell Brown to cry.

Should you date Chris Brown? No. Is he a fantastic performer that deserved a good shunning? Yes. Is he going to win any brownie points from the public if he turns on the tears to try to win us back? We need to see real emotion, Chris.

Rapper Denies Advising Brown to Cry at BET Awards Show [theCMUwebsite.com]

5 Creep-proof Methods to Socialize Your Marketing Campaign

Social media email marketing is about sharing, networking and establishing a continuous presence without behaving like a creeper. Practice these five essential steps for immediate results.

Give your customers a choice in how they want to be connected. Omnipotence worked for Oprah, it can work for you. Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. Use them all. World domination will follow.

Maintain relevance. No one wants to hear about your Aunt Lydia’s unfortunate accident with a knitting needle, unless you’re selling prosthetic eyes for a living. Keep the information current, pertinent and relatable. Status updates are the most powerful part of the social media equation. They serve as mini press releases in disguise. Announce an upcoming event or create buzz around an unreleased issue of your e-newsletter.

Be a friend. A professional friend. Recently, the viral wine company, Toasted Head, contacted me directly and offered to send me a t-shirt after I commented on their Facebook fan page. I then proceeded to talk about it on twitter, to my friends and as you can see I’m still talking about it today. A friend would give you the shirt off their back. A professional friend would use it to sell wine.

Group forums on social media sites are a great way for you and your company to be seen as a valuable resource in your industry. Answer questions thoughtfully, join in discussions, point people in the right direction. And make the occasional customer feel special.

Know thyself. Keep up with what throngs of fans are saying about you by using social media's search functionality. After you’re done basking in all this positive (hopefully) attention, keep delivering the goods to your fanboys and girls. When it comes to social media, talk is profitable.

A search for #nook would reveal that @ComeAlongSloan recently purchased the eBook reader for her mother-in-law and @annakavanaugh is feeling indecisive. Real-time marketing data from two real-world customers. I'd bet Barnes and Noble is listening.

Think above the fold. When a visitor clicks on a link and has to scroll around to find what you sent them there to find in the first place, (a.) you’re annoying, and (b.) you’ve lost them. Keep your most compelling information above the fold, please.


If you think this post has nothing to do with awards, or awards shows you'd be right. If you think I'd make a fantastic marketing blogger then comment to your little hearts content.

The First Ever Minnesota Fringey Awards

Some might call it weird, but I like to think of it as...eclectic. Yeah, that's it! The Minnesota Fringe Festival is an annual event that celebrates the performing arts in a big way. It's in its 16th year and is going on right now.

And this year, we've got the added bonus of the First Annual Fringey Awards. Here are the finalists.

The Traveling Musicians

The Harty Boys and in the Case of the Limping Platypus

Sarah, Your Ovaries are Drying Up: The Musical

The Viewers Choice award winner, The Most Massive Woman Wins, has already been selected. The Grand Prize winner will be announce on August 9. Leave a comment and let me know which one you like the best.

Update: The winner has been chosen, and it is Sarah, Your Ovaries are Drying Up: The Musical. Congrats, to you Sarah. And your ovaries. I'm sure they were both an integral part of your success.

Remembering the 'Keeper of the Oscars'

I have always been hesitant about using this forum to post the passing of famous people that have won awards. Because of the wide range of awards and the life/death continuum known as the circle of life, I wanted to avoid having a blog that reminded readers of the In Memorium segments of most awards shows.

While I remain torn, I've decided to take it on a case by case basis. And here is one case where I felt it was more than appropriate to report an important passing in the awards show genre. According to the Associated Press, Steve Meissner died of a heart attack at his home on Wednesday at the very young age of 48.

Known as "the keeper of the Oscars", Meissner gave each statuette the white glove treatment, before handing them off to be manhandled by a celebrity. Each Oscar was carefully catelogued by Meissner, who maintained impeccable records and worked with award winners to ensure their names were properly engraved on their award.

As part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences staff, Meissner kept track of every

Oscar ever awarded, documenting its whereabouts and refurbishing vintage awards. He also served as an executive assistant to academy president Sid Ganis.

Academy's 'Keeper of the Oscars' Dead at 48 [AP]

What Do MJ, Nuclear Power and Andie MacDowell Have In Common?

The Save the World Awards used their title to tongue-in-cheekily pay tribute to Michael Jackson, in which they have not saved the world by contributing to the incessant focus on his passing. Or have saved the world by producing one of the funniest, strange and weirdly honorable press releases I have read in quite some time. That doesn't make any sense.

For example:

1. The awards were hosted by Andie MacDowell, who I fell in love with all over again while watching St. Elmo's Fire with my teenage daughter a few nights ago. Ahhhh....dreamy Rob Lowe, more appropriately aged Demi Moore, and lycra on Mare Winningham's thighs.

2. A typo has Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams and Olympic sprinter Carl Lewis mubbing together.

3. Who builds a nuclear power plant, never uses it for its intended purpose and instead throws a lavish awards ceremony in it? Answer: Austria.

4. One of the environmentally friendly, eco-conscious, carbon footprint removing efforts employed at the event was composting. Most likely with one of these handy-dandy home future solar power station composters.

Not to throw into question whether Michael Jackson was charitable, but to carefully examine whether he truly 'saved the world', I found this look at his Heal the World charity interesting. Here's your chance to think for yourself.

Jackson Honoured at Awards Held in Austrian Nuclear Plant [AFP]

Is Michael Jackson's Charity a Fake? [uncivilsociety.org]

Photo credit: World Awards Media

VMAs Jump on the Brand Wagon -- Again!

I'm almost positive that with Russell Brand hosting the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards again this year, I will never get to the front of the library loaner line for My Bookie Wook. I am currently number 14; because I find him particularly hilarious and to maintain some sense of relevancy, I'd like to read the book before the VMA's in September. Keep your fingers crossed.

MTV points out that Brand will be hosting for the second year in a row, which is somewhat of an anomaly for VMA hosts. In the same way that his hair is an anomaly to his head. While I do want to take MTV to task for using the words 'VMA' and 'elite' in the same title, and would also like to question whether 'multi-time' is an actual world, I can respect their decision to have Brand host for a second time.

Other notable repeat hosters include: Arsenio Hall (4 consecutive), Dennis Miller (2 consecutive) and Chris Rock (3).

Russell Brand Joins Elite League of Multi-Time VMA Hosts [MTV Newsroom]

Highlights from the BET Awards

Not only did the BET Awards turn into a heartfelt tribute to the late Michael Jackson, it also created a lot of stir in the headlines for other reasons. Here's a recap:

Despite the climate of loss and remembrance brought on by MJ's recent death, BET producers made no plans to alter or remove Drake's womanizing performance of "Every Girl", which spiraled out of control when Lil' Wayne allowed his young daughter and her friends out onto the stage. I had planned on quoting a few lyrics, so you to get a feel for the inappropriateness of the situation. However, a mere glance caused me to be temporarily blinded. Not for the faint of heart that Lil' Wayne.

Access Hollywood had reported that Chris Brown would be taking part in the BET Awards tribute to Jackson, but the mysterious performance never materialized. What happened to Brown has been hotly debated, and his no show is likely linked to the infamous smack down he gave Rihanna following the Clive Davis 2009 Grammy pre-party. It's about time one or more hip-hop mogul stood up and indicated by their actions, that if you beget violence either on the street or in your home, we will not support you.

Drake Regrets Controversial BET Awards Set... [SOHH.com]

Chris Brown Tribute to Michael Jackson - LIVE BET Awards [industryfinest.com]

'Dark Knight' Never a Best Picture Contender

I intended this blog post to be about how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences decision to open the list of Best Picture nominees from a reasonable five to an unmaneageable 10 seems like an attempt to please everyone all of the time.


However, after reading quite a few articles on the change, and giggling at some of the comments posted in response to these articles, I've determined that there are quite a few bitter, bitter folks out there that feel like the Dark Knight was bamboozled out of its Oscar nomination.


And I happen to disagree.


The Dark Knight was good superhero movie. It had hear-stopping action and blinding explosions. It was dark and beautiful. It had one incredible, stand-out performance that brought attention to the picture and created the kind of buzz that turns a good film into a box office blockbuster. But it was never a contender for Best Picture. Even if there had been 10 slots in the Best Picture category, they would have been filled by:

Wall-E, or

The Wrestler, or

Rachel Getting Married, or

Tropic Thunder,

and a toss-up between Doubt and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. But never the Dark Knight. Sorry fanboys. Heath Ledger was incredible. He did things with the character that made a tired housewife, soccer mom, wine-drinker watch a superhero movie. But he did not turn a good action pic into a Best Picture nominee. Not even close.



Best Picture Change Triggers a Backlash [New York Times]


Oscars to Include 10 Best Picture Nominees [zap2it.com]

'Jon & Kate' Emmy Chances Sputtering

Someone has finally put their foot down and said "no" to the sparing 'Jon & Kate'. And that someone is the television academy responsible for selecting nominees for the Primetime Emmy Awards. Jon and Kate wanted their show to be nominated in the nonfiction series category usually reserved for outstanding documentary style shows like Deadliest Catch.

Instead, they have submitted two of their Season 4 episodes for consideration in the more appropriate reality show category. Will TV academy voters tsk, tsk the pairs' behavior by again denying them a nomination? All I can say is go Kathy Griffin.

'Jon & Kate divorce hurts Emmy Awards hopes [The Envelope]