NAACP Image Awards 2011: Halle Berry bares her belly in daring dress

By
Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:20 PM on 5th March 2011

If Halle Berry was hoping to draw a few gasps on the red carpet tonight, then her daring Pucci dress was right on the button.

The 44-year-old actress arrived at the NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles in the show-stopping number which featured a bold print and an even more eye-catching neckline.

The unusual design cut well past her cleavage, giving onlookers a peek of the actress’ midriff and navel.

Taking the plunge: Halle Berry turned heads as she arrived for the NAACP Image Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium in LA today

Pop royalty: Prince presented the Frankie & Alice star with the award for the most outstanding actress in a motion picture

Later, the Oscar-winner Halle Berry
added another trophy to her collection, this time for her best actress
performance as a woman with a multiple personalities in Frankie &
Alice.

‘If it were not for the NAACP, a
little girl like me would not have had wind beneath her wings in a small
town in Ohio,’ she said after accepting the award from Prince.

‘I have never been more proud to be a black woman.’

The star, who is in the throes of a bitter custody battle with her ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry over their daughter 2-year-old daughter Nahla, arrived without her current beau, Olivier Martinez.

The National Association for the
Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) is the oldest U.S. civil rights
organization and has given out Image awards for 42 years to honour
people of colour in film, television, music and literature.

Glamorous friends: Halle and Sofia chatted with each other backstage at the 42nd NAACP Image Awards

Director and writer Tyler Perry was
the big winner tonight, scooping top awards for his movie For Colored
Girls and best TV comedy series trophy for Tyler Perry’s House of Payne.

Perry, 41, one of the most prolific
African-Americans in the U.S. entertainment industry, was the man behind
wins for comedy actor David Mann in the TV show Tyler Perry’s Meet the
Browns, and Kimberly Elise for her supporting role in For Colored Girls.

For Colored Girls brought a best
movie and best director statue for Perry, who is also a producer, actor
and playwright. The movie, based on the play by Ntozake Shange For
Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf is
based on poems about the lives of women.

Full length and fabulous: Angela Bassett, Tatyana Ali and Sandra Oh dazzled on the red carpet

Sibling revelry: Sister, Sister’s Tamera and Tia Mowry both attended and Vanessa Williams won the best actress gong

‘I wanted to take this iconic work
and introduce it to people who had never heard of it. … There is
nothing like having nine strong black women holding you up,’ Perry said,
referring to a cast that included Whoopi Goldberg and Janet Jackson.

Big winner: Writer and director Tyler Perry scooped top awards for his movie For Colored Girls and best TV comedy series trophy for Tyler Perry’s House of Payne

Denzel Washington won the best actor Image Award for the action movie ‘The Book of Eli.’

Willow Smith, the 10 year-old
daughter of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, won the best new
music artist award, beating out popular rivals Bruno Mars and rapper
Nicki Minaj.

Smith’s first single, ‘Whip My Hair,’ reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in late 2010.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell received the NAACP
President’s Award for special achievement in public service, earning a
standing ovation.

Powell, the first African-American
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, paid tribute to the work of the
NAACP in advancing civil rights since its foundation in 1909, but said
there was more to be done.

‘We still have youngsters who are in
desperate straits, who need education, who need health care. [They] have
to be given a sense of expectation,’ he said.

‘Even though we have come so far, we will need the NAACP for another 100 years, or until the work is done.’

The TV category saw honours for
medical drama ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ while Vanessa Williams won the best
actress Image Award for ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘Modern Family’ star
Sofia Vergara took home the best supporting comedy actress award.

VIP guest: Former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, pictured with his wife Alma, received the NAACP President’s Award for special achievement in public service

Speakers: American Idol’s Randy Jackson (right) and actor Brandon T Jackson spoke on stage at the awards