5 Moments That Defined ‘106 & Park'
When Ginuwine set his mind to arriving on a stretcher for a performance of his hit song 'Pony,' BET's '106 & Park' was the only place to do it.
In 2003, one of the show's two hosts at the time, Free Marie Wright, then known to viewers simply as Free, was winding her way through a standard introduction for the artist when her co-host, AJ Calloway, held a hand up to an earpiece and pulled a face of concern.
'Hey, hold on a second,' he broke in, brow furrowed. 'I just heard something happened to Ginuwine while he was doing his sound check. He was supposed to perform right now. We have to apologize. Guys, what … what happened, dog?'
Moments later, Ginuwine was wheeled out to the stage on a gurney, wearing a red visor turned to the side with matching baggy pants. As the confused audience looked on, a backup dancer gave the singer one theatrical chest compression, sending him into a full body roll. A moment later, he popped up, and sprang into a snazzy performance. It was James Brown-caliber stage theater for the early aughts.
'We didn't know what was happening,' Ms. Wright, who hosted the show from 2000 to 2005, recalled last week. 'After him, everybody wanted to do all kind of crazy stuff.'
The moment is one small part of the legacy of '106 & Park,' BET's signature video countdown show, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Over 14 years, the show, which was often compared to MTV's 'TRL,' became a platform for Black artists and allowed for loose-buckle performances that are hard to unstick from memory. It also provided a space for fandoms to bloom and be expressed before social media provided seemingly unfettered access to stars, on their terms. To celebrate the impact of '106 & Park,' BET is planning to include a tribute to the show during the BET Awards on Monday.
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