The Billboard Music awards aired Sunday night, but I’m sure people will continue to talk about the show all week long. From crazy dance moves, to awkward jokes to a fiery ending, the awards show proved to be extremely entertaining.
Here are some of my thoughts on the night:
Standout Red Carpet Arrivals:
The night began as most awards shows do with celebrities strutting down the red carpet. There were certainly some interesting fashion choices, but the most memorable arrivals belonged to Taylor Swift, Taraji P. Henson and One Direction. Taylor Swift owned the red carpet not only because she looked stunning in a daring white jumpsuit, but also because she posed for pictures with members from her squad who would be featured in her music video premiering later that night (more on that in a bit). Taraji P. Henson seemed to be channeling her character, Cookie, from the hit show “Empire” because she arrived in a sexy, cutout dress. The members of One Direction walked the red carpet looking dapper (of course). This was their first time attending the award show as a group of four.
Bad Blood:
Part of the reason the Billboard Awards was a highly anticipated event was because Taylor Swift had been teasing the release of her star-studded music video for “Bad Blood.” With so many cameos it was hard to keep up with everything that was going on in this video. So hard, in fact, that I had to watch it four more times today just so I could appreciate every moment of it. (Actually, I just really wanted to watch it four more times). I could spend an entire article gushing over how action packed and absolutely incredible this music video is, but I must continue.
The Winners:
Although it was an awards show, there weren’t many awards that were presented during the live broadcast. However, most of the awards that were presented were given to Taylor Swift and One Direction. Swift won eight awards including Top Billboard 200 Artist, while One Direction won two awards including Top Duo/Group. Some other notable winners were Iggy Azalea, John Legend and Sam Smith who could not attend the show but left a cute video to make up for his absence.
Best Performances:
Ed Sheeran performed his single “Bloodstream” with his loop pedal to create a dynamic and raspy performance. Little Big Town sang their new single “Girl Crush” with Faith Hill, and Taraji P. Henson introduced co-stars Jussie Smollett and Bryshere ‘Yazz’ Gray to perform a favorite song from Empire called “You’re So Beautiful.” However, the best performance of the night was certainly by Tori Kelly. She sang her new song “Nobody Love” off her upcoming debut album. She was a trending topic on Twitter for hours after the show ended.
Cringe-worthy Moments:
One surprising aspect was that only a few artists actually delivered live performances. Many of the top artists in the industry lip-synched most or all of their performances. Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea obviously did not sing live, and the backing track during Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj’s performance was overpowering. Another artist who was having an off night was Mariah Carey. She seemed to be struggling to hit her high notes and Jennifer Lopez was clearly not impressed.
Other awkward moments included Chrissy Teigen making inappropriate jokes as a host. She was supposed to be co-hosting with Ludacris but he rarely showed up. The most cringe-worthy part of the award show has to be Kanye’s performance. He was introduced by Kendall and Kylie Jenner who were booed very loudly by the audience, and then viewers struggled to both hear and see Kanye. Most of his performance had to be bleeped and there was way too much smoke surrounding him.
Touching Moments:
Two highlights of the night were emotional tributes to actor Paul Walker and musician Ben E. King. Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth rapped and sang “See You Again” which was dedicated to Paul Walker, and Imagine Dragons performed a beautiful rendition of King’s iconic “Stand By Me.”
Best Moment of the Night:
My favorite and funniest moment of the night of course involved One Direction. As the band was delivering one of their acceptance speeches, loud music began to play, which prevented Liam Payne from speaking, and his fellow band mates found it hilarious.
Images from: perezhilton.com, tumblr.com, and http://www.unrealitytv.co.uk/