Her appearance came as a part of a short ode to ballroom, which BET will explore more in a documentary series this week.
Mikelle StreetAfter fans complained about a lack of recognition for Pose at the BET Awards, it seems the network is giving people what they want. On Sunday night, during the intro skit for the long running Soul Train Awards, Pose star Mj Rodriguez made a short appearance.
For the intro Tisha Campbell and Tichina Arnold did a comedic musical sketch to a medley of some of Janet Jackson’s R&B hits. To kick it off, they started with “Throb,” Jackson’s 1993 track. Tor that, what better thing than an homage to ballroom starring the one and only Mother Blanca Evangelista?!
“Starring your hosts for the evening, the legendary mothers from the iconic houses of Cellulite and Menopause, Miss Tichina Arnold and Tisha Campbell,” a voiceover said as the set began. Background dancers including Jamari Balmain, who also notably appeared in Sam Smith's "Promises" video, vogued around the pair. After the pair give a little hand performance of their own, our queen makes her entrance.
“And our star judge from Pose, the illustrious mother from the House of Evangelista: Mj Rodriguez,” the voice continued. Rodriguez hit the main stage wearing a layered red and orange dress, as well as thigh high latex boots and elbow length gloves, serving us the expert hand performance we’ve come to know and love. Her performance is so good that Arnold objects to it.
"She's gon' upstage us!" Arnold yells. "Beat it!"
Rodriguez then goes on to play host for the rest of the performance where Campbell finds herself winded. And while she does do quite a bit more dancing, she is regulated to just being a silhouette, often cut out of the frame. But we do see is nothing short of the excellence we’ve come to expect from the star.