The O'Jays are saluted with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and both Alicia Keys and Wyclef Jean receive humanitarian honors during the 2009 BET Awards scheduled for this Sunday, June 28th.

Just one airing can't do, so look for multiple repeats of this television special in the coming weeks.

Nominees for the Best Female R&B Artist:

• Beyonce'
• Keyshia Cole
• Keri Hilson
• Jennifer Hudson
• Jazmine Sullivan

Rihanna, where are you?

Nominees for the Best Male R&B Artist:

• The-Dream
• Jamie Foxx
• Ryan Leslie
• Ne-Yo
• T-Pain

John Legend and Chris Brown, where are you?

BET needs to add a legacy award for the R&B category. It's done in the Grammy Awards. 2008 saw many very good traditional releases, including Labelle's Back To Now, and the Soul Men movie soundtrack.

Is jazz dead? The BET Awards could be well served to give this genre the spotlight it deserves. Jazz is an excellent live performance platform. BET could help spark some interest in this particular craft of musical expression by exposing it to the hip hop generation.

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