Bruno Mars gets 'live' with ‘Perm’ performance at BET Awards

Sara M Moniuszko | USA TODAY

Get ready to get “all the way live.”

Bruno Mars brought the energy to the BET Awards Sunday night during his performance of Perm.

Before the song ended, the 24K Magic singer stopped the show to make sure the crowd was bringing the same level of energy.

“This is the BET Awards. This is supposed to be the livest party of the year,” Mars said, pumping up the crowd. “So when we say, ‘The left side is supposed to be all the way live.’ The left side is supposed to be all the way live. Should we give them one more shot? We’ll give you all one more shot.”

But the singer was still unimpressed by the audience’s level of “live.”

“You can’t film and dance at the same time,” he said, joking at the audience members who were filming his performance for social media. “You know they film it, right? You can watch it at home... Put this on your Instagram!”

Then, he turned up the heat even more with some killer dance moves and a big band finish, setting the mood for a night of big wins and performances, including his own win for best male R&B/pop artist.

In his speech, Mars thanked the network for supporting him since the beginning.

"You know, the first award I ever won was a Soul Train Award here on this network for a song I did with my friend B.o.B. called Nothin' On You, and ever since that song, BET has shown me nothing but love and supported my career throughout the years," he said.

You can watch the full Perm performance clip here and check out more big moments from the BET Awards in the gallery below.