The Billboard Music Awards took place on Wednesday night at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, with several artists showing up to perform and accept awards - but in keeping with new pandemic traditions, there was no live audience. Yet, the night managed to be a mixture of high emotions and strong political messages. From Post Malone sweeping the ceremony with nine wins and John Legend dedicating an emotional song to wife Chrissy Teigen, to En Vogue reuniting and Lizzo getting straight to the point with her statement dress, here are your top moments of the night.
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John Legend appeared to hold back tears as he dedicated his song ‘Never Break’ to wife Chrissy Teigen, two weeks after the couple shared the heartbreaking news that they had lost a baby, due to a miscarriage. “We will never break, built on a foundation strong enough to stay, we will never break,” sang an emotional Legend on the piano.
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Host Kelly Clarkson shared her own dedication to Legend and Teigen after the performance, calling his performance “possibly my favourite of the night.” “John Legend is one of my favourite people on this planet and it’s easy for us all to feel that way about them because he and Chrissy just have this warm way of inviting us into their world, the highs and the lows,” said Clarkson. “Our hearts go out to you both in this very difficult time.”
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Post Malone swept the night with a whopping nine wins. His big night included taking home trophies for Top Artist and Top Male Artist. Khalid was next in line, winning five awards, including Top R’n’B Artist, Top R’n’B Album and Top R’n’B Song. Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus won four awards for their hit collaboration ‘Old Town Road’, while Billie Eilish took home three awards, including Top New Artist and Top Female Artist.
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BTS gave an explosive performance of their track ‘Dynamite’. The K-pop group pulled out all the stops for their performance, building on the momentum of the record-breaking song. BTS scored their first No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Dynamite’, and also became the first group to hold the top spot on Billboard’s Social 50 chart for 200 weeks. Their BBMAs performance comes just as their latest documentary and concert film, ‘Break the Silence: The Movie’, arrives in UAE cinemas (out this weekend)
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Demi Lovato returned to the stage with a global premiere of a new politically charged song. After a highly publicised engagement to actor Max Ehrich, and an even more dramatic split, Lovato had bigger fish to fry on Wednesday. She was fully in form on the BBMAs stage, doing what she does best — performing. Lovato premiered her new song, ‘Commander in Chief’, which was rife with political messaging that was directed towards current US President Donald Trump. The song is produced by singer-songwriter Finneas, who wrote on Instagram: “I think people underestimate the bravery it takes to put out a song like this when your platform is as large as Demi’s is.”
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The show paid tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen, who died on October 6 aged 65. Host Kelly Clarkson called Van Halen “a legendary guitarist, an amazing musician and an incredible songwriter.” “A true giant was taken from us,” said Clarkson. The show also aired Van Halen’s 2015 BBMAs performance of the hit track ‘Panama’ in Las Vegas. Clarkson also took a moment to recognise other fallen artists, such as Juice WRLD and Little Richard.
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Rapper and activist Killer Mike took home the first ever Billboard Change Maker Award. This, from the APEX (African American Panoramic Experience) Museum in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. “Kids out there that sing and dance: What you do is worthy,” he said in his acceptance speech. “Kids who run and dance and sing and jump and all that, all the things they tell you don’t matter: You matter more than you know.”
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Cher made a memorable appearance, sporting signature big hair and an edgy, gem-studded black ensemble. In the rare award show appearance, she presented Garth Brooks with the Icon Award. She received the same accolade back in 2017. “The Icon Award was created a decade ago to honour those outstanding artists,” said Cher. “When I received my award in 2017, it was one of the greatest honours of my life. To know that I was receiving the same honor as Prince and Stevie Wonder just added to the thrill of it all.” Brooks went on to perform a medley of some of his biggest hits, kicking off with ‘The Thunder Rolls’ and ending with ‘The Dance’.
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Brandy got on stage to perform a medley of tracks from her new album, B7, with a little help from rapper Ty Dolla Sign. Her performance included tracks ‘Borderline’, ‘No Tomorrow, Pt. 2’, and a throwback to her 1998 track ‘Almost Don’t Count’.
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Lizzo was not about the subtle messages — her custom Cristian Siriano minidress said ‘VOTE’ all over. This is one of many celebrity reminders about the upcoming November 3 US Presidential Election. The ‘Truth Hurts’ songstress took to the stage to accept the award for Top Song Sales Artist, wearing a black, cold shoulder bodycon dress with the word ‘VOTE’ splashed all over in white, capital letters. It was a custom take on Cristian Siriano’s spring 2021 design from New York Fashion Week.
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En Vogue reunited for a 30th anniversary performance. The iconic pop-R’n’B group from the ‘90s closed out the evening as they performed their hit track ‘Free Your Mind;. They didn’t miss a chance to send a message to viewers, either. Their band members wore bedazzled face masks that said ‘vote’. The group also sampled Childish Gambino’s track ‘This is America’ as footage of civil rights moments played in the back.
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