This past Sunday night, Hollywood’s biggest stars celebrated the best of the best in the music industry at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. Here’s a look at the hits, the misses, and the tribute that wasn’t.
The Hits:
Britney’s Comeback
Miss Spears reminded the world why she’s known as the Princess of Pop. She hit the stage with a slaytastic medley of classic songs and #BodyGoals like no other.
Killer Outfits
The stars came ready to slay on Billboard’s pink carpet. The beautiful Kelly Rowland wore a Labourjoisie gown. Zendaya was pretty in peach, wearing a two-piece ensemble by Calvin Klein and BOHEME’ diamond pave bangles by MONTBLANC. And Laverne Cox was gorgeous in a Michael Costella gown.
The Weeknd’s Sweet Victory, The Go-Gos, Rihanna, Celine Dion
A big winner of the night, The Weeknd, took home a much-deserved total of eight awards. As a true respecter of musicianship, he dedicated his first award, “Top Hot 100 Artist,” to his role model, the late legend, Prince. The Go-Gos…..They’ve still got the beat. The only female rock band to ever top the Billboard charts by writing their own songs and playing their own instruments, The Go-Gos took us back to American Bandstand, circa 1982, with an outstanding performance of “We Got The Beat.” Rihanna’s jaw-dropping, soulful performance of “Love On The Brain” showcased her vocal abilities, and proved that her versatility spans farther than just club bangers. We still have our hands up doing a church wave from Celine’s ICON Award performance,”The Show Must Go On,” dedicated to her late husband.
The Misses
Not everyone came to “slay” this go round… but, we’ll let you be the judge.
The Shade
Luda’s opening monologue included a call for applause for Ciara’s legs. As if that wasn’t enough, he continued to reference threesomes throughout the show. Awkward? Yes. Sexist? Very much so. Because they are family, should he get a pass?? **Side-eye**
During an announcement about Rihanna, someone tweeted: Luda, you know Ciara won’t say Rihanna’s name, from the @MTVMusic account. Messy, Messy, tsk, tsk. Ciara quickly clapped backed and the MTV tweet has since been deleted.
And then there was this …
The Tribute That Wasn’t
What started off great, quickly turned not so great at all. Questlove’s introductory speech reminded us of all the ways Prince’s legacy will forever live on: “Any time we hear a funky bass line, a synthesizer keyboard, a distinctive drum pattern, someone singing in a high falsetto …”
… and then Madonna hit the stage and it was pretty much untribute-like after that. She looked the part in a purple lace suit with bell sleeves–but that’s about where it stopped. The dry performance lacked all of the electrifying elements that Prince delivered throughout his career.
For every music lover across the country…Shelia E., Lenny Kravitz, Miguel, Janelle Monae, BET, somebody! Please save us and deliver a proper tribute to The Purple One!
