by CHRISTINE ABRAHAM Photographer
Vegas was abuzz Sunday, May 19 when Billboard held their annual award show, also known as the 2013 Billboard Music Awards.
Actor and comedian Tracy Morgan hosted the show that night and was fantastic at hosting. He did say some negative jokes about a few celebrities, but he was still hilarious, entertaining, and really just made the night fun and entertaining to watch.
The show did have some really entertaining highlights. It really was not like any other awards show where you are just watching rich and famous people get awards, which is obviously boring to all of us. The night was very dramatic.
Before the awards, there were constant rumors that Justin Bieber and on-and-off girlfriend Selena Gomez were sitting together at the awards. Did not even happen. Gomez and Bieber were as far from each other as possible.
One of the most entertaining parts of the night was singer Miguel, who landed on a fan. The R&B singer accidentally landed on a woman in the mosh pit while performing his hit song “Adorn.” He was trying to jump to another side of the stage, which obviously failed. The fan seemed fine and Miguel continued singing. He later tweeted: “Got caught up in the moment, thank goodness Khyati is okay.”
On a good note, Taylor Swift won eight out of the 11 awards for which she was nominated. She was no stranger to the spotlight, as she kept getting up to collect all her awards, including Billboard Artist of the Year.
“My album is kind of on the ends of the intense emotional spectrum,” Swift said while accepting that award. “You fans are the longest and best relationship I have ever had.”
The first ever Milestone Award was accepted by none other than pop superstar Bieber. Although he won the biggest award of the night, some fans did not seem to happy about it. Not only did he get screaming, cheering fans, but he also received a loud clashing of boos.
After a moment of silence, Bieber declared, “I’m 19 years old, I think I’m doing a pretty good job. And basically from my heart I really just want to say it should really be about the music … the craft … This is not a gimmick, I’m an artist and I should be taken seriously and all this other bull should not be spoken of.”
Fast forward to one of the most shocking and inappropriate part of the night, Nicki Minaj twerked and gave a lap dance to Lil Wayne during their performance of “High School”. Although she got negative comments for her inappropriate dancing, she did receive the first award of the night – Top Rap Artist.
“I was watching the Billboard Awards with my entire family at home and all of a sudden Nicki gave like the most sexual dance I have ever seen. It was so awkward, like that wasn’t necessary to do that on live television,” said sophomore Liz Marchese.
One of the best performances of the night was Gomez’s hit “Come & Get It” where she wore a gold tight dress and came barefoot on stage to do her Indian Style dance.
Swift’s “22” performance started backstage as she made her way to the stage and sang the rest of her song.
Bieber’s performance to “Take You” was incredible. He comes out of “Bieber Air” and then puts out all his moves on the stage. Just one flaw, his lip synching could not have been any more obvious. However, he did make a comeback when he performed “#thatPOWER” alongside will.i.am.
“I loved Bieber’s performance. My favorite part of the night,” said sophomore Catarina Santo.
Jennifer Lopez brought her next single “Live It Up” out on the floor with Pitbull. Lopez’s performance was so fun and entertaining, she got all the celebrities on their feet dancing and headbanging.
By far one of the best moments of the night was a man who has not exactly been on the charts for a while. Prince took the stage with a new image and celebrated receiving the Icon award with his hits, “Let’s Go Crazy,” and “FixUrLifeUp”.