The 2019 Billboard Music Awards celebrated a wide range of pop hitmakers Wednesday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
As with many top music awards shows in recent years, Billboard’s seemed challenged by hip-hop’s current dominance. On the one hand, because the Billboard Awards are based solely on commercial success, hip-hop artists were amply rewarded. Both Cardi B and Drake took home multiple trophies and gave multiple acceptance speeches, Drake’s earnest and meandering, and Cardi B’s loose and uproarious.
More problematic were the performances, or lack thereof: Not a single hip-hop artist performed on the three-hour show, a shocking omission for any music awards show in 2019, and particularly for one whose namesake, Billboard magazine, so diligently covers popular music.
The 2019 telecast did, however, offer a glimpse into pop’s multinational future, with K-pop megastars BTS and electropop singer Halsey delivering the night’s strongest performances — and eliciting the most screams.
Although politics largely remained behind the curtain, a few artists embraced the stage as a platform for speaking out. Drake and Cardi B encouraged support and positivity between artists and fans, while Imagine Dragons used their Top Rock Artist win to advocate legislation supporting LGBTQ youth.The evening closed with two prolific hitmakers from decades past. Abdul wrapped the show with a hoofer-heavy, lip-synced medley of her squeaky, soulful ’80s chart-toppers.
“I want to thank all the people who’s been with me on this journey,” she said. “To anybody who doesn’t allow themselves to be broken and keeps getting up and keeps holding on and keeps standing tall and keeps on believing and keeps rising, I celebrate you tonight. And to anyone who has ever told me that a song I wrote helped save your life, I thank you, because you saved mine.”Get breaking stories straight from Hollywood, covering film, television, music and more.
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