The recent Billboard Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Arena in Las
Vegas, Nevada, saw some predictable results. ILLUSTRATION| JOSEPH NGARI
The recent Billboard Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, saw some predictable results.
Of
course, the Billboard Music Awards are based on Billboard charts and
album sales, so if you’ve been following the trends regarding who’s
always on radio, it was pretty obvious who was going to be walking away
with the awards at the end of the night. If the awards were based on
anything apart from sales, it would be a lot different.
Taylor
Swift walked away with the Artist of the Year and Top Female Artists
award. Taylor has had a fantastic year, no doubt, with huge hits like
"Shake It Off", "Style" and "Blank Space". Her 15 minutes of fame never
seem to end.
Other contenders for
Artist of the Year Award were Ariana Grande and Katy Perry, One
Direction and Sam Smith. With such a star-studded list of nominees, it’s
hard to pick out just one winner.
Sam
Smith has had a great year with his two breakout songs, Stay With Me
and Not the Only One, which have catapulted him to the limelight.
Katy
Perry’s performance at Super Bowl this year alone was enough to make
her win this category. We all remember her and the notorious left shark
which danced the Macarena during the half-time show. That, coupled with
the smash hit that was Dark Horse, also made her a really strong
contender.
Florida Georgia Line continue their meteoric rise to country music superstardom, winning the Top Country Artist category.
This
didn’t come as much of a surprise for the band which featured on WWE’s
Tribute to the Troops show in 2014 and with their album, Anything Goes, debuting at number one in its first week, selling 197,000 copies.
John
Legend beat a strong field of contenders that included Pharell
Williams’ Happy, to win the Top Radio Song Award for his 2014 hit
single, All of Me.
This song was on
every radio station and mobile phone music gallery for the past year and
with his wife, Chrissy Teigen, co-hosting the show; it was a memorable
moment for the beautiful couple to share.
Surprisingly,
Iggy Azalea beat Nicki Minaj’s "Anaconda" to the grand prize in the Top
Rap Song category with her song, "Fancy", which features Charli XCX.
With all the radio and media hype, and obvious state of undress that the
song Anaconda boasts, this award came as quite a surprise.
Into
the rock and roll now, with the Top Billboard 200 Album: lo and behold,
Taylor Swift did it yet again, beating Ed Sheeran’s X, Sam Smith’s In
the Lonely Hour and Maroon 5’s V.
Ed
Sheeran has had a good year with his new album, and if there were
different criteria for getting the winners, there is no way X wouldn’t
have made it to the top of this category.
When
Ed stepped out of his car on arrival, fans went wild. Not as wild as
they did for Taylor Swift, but Ed Sheeran is a demonstration to what a
true artiste can achieve by playing his guitar and singing about love.
One
Direction won the award for Top Duo/Group and this was no surprise.
Every teenage girl is blowing her allowance at a music store somewhere
buying every piece of merchandise these boys release.
Most
deservedly, Sam Smith was voted Top New Artist. In this same group was
Hozier, who later on won the Best Rock Artist Award, beating Fall Out
Boy, Cold Play, Lorde and Bastille. This was thanks to the incomparable
success of "Take Me to Church" and "Alone With You".
Notably, Hillsong United won the Top Christian Artist Award, beating fellow rockers Casting Crowns.
This
just goes to show how rock and roll is making inroads into religion.
Besides, Hillsong shows are selling out on their ongoing international
No Other Name tour. Meanwhile, Cold Play won the Top Rock Album for
"Ghost Stories", beating legends AC/DC.
No comments :
Post a Comment