on june 26, 2011, rowland took to the stage of the 2011 bet awards to perform "motivation" for the first time in public. the performance was part of the evening's entertainment; the song was not nominated for an award. hollywood news reported that rowland was among the most anticipated performers of the evening. appearing in the middle of trey songz performance of "love faces," rowland ascended on stage where she was joined by several shirtless male dancers. the performance was met with a positive reception from industry critics and fellow music entertainers, most of whom noted it as a highlight of the ceremony. ed masley from "the arizona republic" said that rowland's performance was "the night's most soulful vocal [performance]." roger catlin said that rowland offered "a live performance with trey songz trumping that of her more famous 'sister' from destiny's child, beyoncé." the "los angeles times" gerrick d. kennedy praised rowland's sex appeal, noting that her "steamy performance sent tongues wagging" and was widely anticipated thanks to the serial delays with her album "here i am" (2011). mtv rob markman pointed out that following her performance, the hashtag "#kelly" began trending on twitter. additionally markman said rowland "received one of the loudest ovations of the night."