Dream Night for BET Awards

Tue., Jun. 26, 2007 9:11 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

It was a regular Dreams reunion Tuesday at the 2007 BET Awards.

Onscreen girl group mates Beyoncé Knowles and Jennifer Hudson each scored two awards to lead the list of winners at the kudosfest that spreads the love among hip-hop, R&B, sports and movie stars.

Knowles, who shook it like a Polaroid picture during her gold-suited performance of "Get Me Bodied," was named Best Female R&B Artist. She also took home the first award of the night, a Best Video win for "Irreplaceable."

"I can't believe I'm still winning awards!" Hudson exclaimed after being named Best New Artist, although the Oscar winner doesn't exactly seem new anymore after snagging every trophy under the sun earlier this year for her work in Dreamgirls.

The 25-year-old American Idol also-ran later doubled her pleasure with a Best Actress win.

The three-hour ceremony at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium kicked off with a duet from Hudson and her Tony-winning inspiration, Jennifer Holliday, the original Effie in the Broadway production of Dreamgirls. The soulful chanteuses teamed up on what has become both the story's—and the performers'—signature ballad, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going."

But despite that seeming showstopper of an opener, the night managed to hang on to its momentum.

Atlanta's T.I. was named Best Hip-Hop Artist for the second time in a row, with this year's honor coming a few days after his entourage scuffled with fellow nominee Ludacris' crew.

"They say it's a fine line between brilliance and insanity," T.I. sort-of joked as he offered his apologies to Ludacris & Co.

Ludacris, aka Chris Bridges, meanwhile, won the Best Collaboration award for his work with Mary J. Blige on the three-tale heartbreaker "Runaway Love."

"This was much more than a song, this was a movement," the Illinois-born rapper-actor said. "People say there's no content in hip hop. This song is proof that there's content in hip-hop."

Other performers included T.I., Ne-Yo and Fabolous, and Diddy and Keyshia Cole, who were joined unexpectedly on "Last Night" by the recently rehabilitated Lil' Kim.

But perhaps the most heartfelt medley of the night was the tribute to late R&B star Gerald Levert, who was only 43 when he died of a heart attack in November. O'Jays singer and father Eddie Levert led Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle—who described Levert as "one of the best artists around"—and Yolanda Adams in a soulful rendition of "Wind Beneath My Wings," one of Gerald's regular covers when he was in concert.

Best Male R&B Artist Ne-Yo dedicated his win to Levert, who was credited with a posthumous BET J Cool Like That Award.

The evening also featured a lifetime achievement award presentation to Motown icon and Dreamgirls muse Diana Ross, who was feted by Erykah Badu, Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan.

"I have tried to keep the standards high. We do not have to say the F-word, we do not have to pump and grind, we do not have to some of these things to have longevity in our career," Ross said, perhaps referring to 50 Cent's bleep-heavy performance of "Amusement Park" before the Supremes star took the stage. "I will do the diva master class for you!"

Not on hand to accept their trophies were the "Crazy" visionaries of Gnarls Barkley, which was named Best Group, and Best Actor winner Forrest Whittaker, The Last King of Scotland star who has officially had one of the best award seasons ever.

Flavor of Love: Charm School host Mo'nique handled hosting duties for the third time. While the ceremony aired live on BET tonight, viewers can catch a repeat Friday.

Here's a rundown of the winners at the 2007 BET Awards: