by HALEY MILLAN Editor-in-chief
The 2014 Billboard Music Awards had the largest audience in 13 years, which aired last Sunday, May 18 on ABC. The night was celeb-packed, with a special performance by Michael Jackson.
Ludacris hosted the three-hour show, and was described as the “coolest and smoothest host ever.” Shockingly, he did not make a single mean comment to anyone in the audience — a different approach than most award show hosts.
The greatest moment of the night was when Michael Jackson, in hologram form, performed a song off of his posthumous album “Xscape”. He sang “Slave to the Rhythm” with his iconic dance moves.
Many celebs took home awards, but Justin Timberlake ruled the night.
During his acceptance speech, Timberlake said, “It is not a competition, but if it was, I won.”
Truer words have never been spoken for Timberlake. The singer was nominated in 11 different categories.
He won for “Top Album” and instead of making a speech, he and his crew sang thank you. He also won “Top Artist”, beating Imagine Dragons, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, and Miley Cyrus.
In total, Justin took home seven awards including Top Male Artist and Top RnB Artist.
Some more winners of the night include: – “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke ft. Pharrell and T.I. for Top Hot 100 Song – Imagine Dragons for Top Duo/Group – Lorde for Best New Artist – Bon Jovi for Top Touring Artist – Katy Perry for Top Female Artist – Justin Bieber for Top Social Artist – Eminem for Top Rap Artist – Luke Bryan for Top Country Artist – Daft Punk for Top Dance/Electric Artist
“I was totally thrown off guard when Lorde won for the Best Rock Song because I don’t consider her to be rock at all. I don’t understand how she was even nominated for that category. As good as an artist she is, I don’t think she deserves the title of best rock anything,” says senior Kaitlin Grassi.
Another highly talked about moment of the night was when Kendall Jenner royally messed up announcing the performance of 5 Seconds of Summer. It sounded as though she went to announce One Direction and caught her mistake.
Jenner dropped to the floor and laughed, “Guys, I’m the worst reader.”
Thankfully for Jenner, she has her looks to make up for her brains. The award show had lots of hype thanks to Twitter, where at the peak, after Lorde won Top New Artist and Katy Perry began to perform “Birthday,” there was an average of 57,000 tweets per minute.
The night was filled with performances from top charging artists Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, One Republic, Shakira, John Legend, Jason DeRulo, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood, Lorde, and Imagine Dragons.
Iggy Azalea performed “Fancy” and then joined Ariana Grande for a duet of “Problem”.
Senior CJ Thompson says, “I only watched the Billboard Awards to see Iggy. She’s really pretty and I think her music is pretty good. She’s a pretty good performer for just getting popular.”
As every award show, the night could not be complete without Cyrus. A pre-recorded performance was aired from England; Cyrus covered “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” with the help of The Flaming Lips.
This year’s Billboard Awards was a definite hit. Will you join in to watch the show next year?