Sunday’s ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium began with a comeback: Kanye West opened the show atop a volcano onstage in his first TV appearance since dissing Taylor Swift at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards. “I let you all down before, but I won’t do it again.

The 21-year-old returned to the stage later in the show when he won the AOL “fandemonium award.” It was a moving moment made even more so by the song’s lyrics and Brown’s recent past. His voice cracked, he couldn’t sing, and at one point he crumpled to the stage in apparent agony. Then, as Brown grabbed a microphone to sing “Man in the Mirror,” he broke down in tears. Introduced by Jermaine Jackson, Brown embodied the King of Pop, wearing his fedora and spangled glove and moonwalking across the stage to “Billie Jean.”

But here he was, center stage, mimicking Jackson’s signature dance moves with almost eerie accuracy. The embattled pop star has mostly kept a low profile since pleading guilty to felony assault for beating up Rihanna in February 2009. It was a night of comebacks at the BET Awards, and none more unexpected than Chris Brown performing an emotional tribute to Michael Jackson.

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