Photo Credit: Katherine Krinsky
Despite the fact that there was no audience at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, the night of the Billboard Music Awards was still impressive with performances and appearances from many of today’s best artists.
Originally, the BBMAs was scheduled on April 29, however, due to the coronavirus, it was pushed back to October 14.
The BBMA nominees and winners were chosen based on music criteria as well as album and digital song sales, streaming rates, radio airplay, touring, and social engagement.
BMMAs 2020 will mark the third year that Kelly Clarkson has hosted the BBMAs, and with her lively energy, she was able to hype up the show. Although she was a host, she had her own incredible performance, joining forces with Pentatonix and Sheila E singing “Higher Love.”
On the exciting night of the BBMAs, Doja Cat had the most fun. She performed a few of her top hits, “Juicy,” “Say So,” and “Like That,” which certainly was amazing. But to add a little more appeal to her performance, she topped it off with a grandiose look of Old Hollywood.
For the third year in a row, the K-pop boy band BTS is back on the stage. This time, performing their English-language hit song “Dynamite” filled with choreography, burgundy suits, and a band playing in the background. They were nominated for Top Duo/Group, but they did not win the award, however, they did win the award for Top Social Artist.
While most performances were performed on stage, Post Malone had his own performance at a secret location in Los Angeles which seems to be at a steel mill. He performed his top hit song “Circle,” and later joined with Tyla Yaweh singing their collaboration song “Tommy Lee.”
The 32-year-old singer, Lizzo accepted the award for the Top Song Sales Artist wearing a black dress that has “VOTE” plastered all over it. Along with that, she made a powerful speech about suppression and the need for people to use their voices to speak up.
Lizzo was not the only one who had a strong message to speak out, Demi Lovato spoke out too. Behind the piano, Lovato gets political with her new track “Commander in Chief” vocalizing her unhappiness with the administration of President Donald Trump, and with a twist at the end, “VOTE” was spread across the screen.
Not only was the BBMAs eventful but it was also an emotional night as John Legend performed “Never Break” on the piano. This performance was dedicated to his wife Chrissy Teigen, the implication of enduring their recent loss of their child.
Overall, the legendary country star Garth Brooks is the ninth artist to receive the biggest award of the night, the Billboard Icon Award. He is the only artist to have eight diamond-certified albums and remained the top-selling solo artist in U.S. history.
With 16 BBMAs, Post Malone was the most nominated artist, followed by Lil Nas X with 13 awards, and Khalid and Billie Eilish tied with 12 nominations.
Although it was a pity that the BBMAs was done virtually, fans were still able to have the normalcy of the awards with outstanding performances.