The Annual Billboard Music Awards - General Discussion

[ari333]

I didn't see a thread for this. Did anyone watch it?

I was expecting it to be the Taylor Swift Show with some other people. If she is not opening, closing the show, presenting, receiving awards, introducing performances or performing, she is seen numerous times bouncing in the front row, singing the lyrics to every song ever.

I barely recognized Eddie Van Halen without the long hair. Hated the Nicki Minaj name check in the Panama song. Eew. 

So Iggy Azalea is everywhere and is the new it girl now or what?

[CaughtOnTape]

I'm sorry, I know Taylor Swift is everyone's favorite and people think she's perfection but she annoys the ever loving FUCK out of me.  I give her props for the fact that she is fantastic to her fans, but the fact that she had to hug 15 people every time she went up to accept an award was eye roll worthy.  Seriously?  I'm sure your supermodel BFF's were very instrumental in you winning your awards.  Jesus.  Her and her girl mafia are irritating.  And please spare me with the "women rule!" schtick when you've built a career writing songs about how victimized you were by said boyfriend.  

 

Why Kendall or Kylie Jenner have squat to do on this show is beyond me.

 

Best performance of the night was Ed Sheeran, made even more awesome because it was after the Pitbull/Chris Brown mess where they had 100 scantily clad women rubbing up on them with fireworks going off.  Ed just gets up there and does is thing as a one man band and KILLS it.  I hope the youngins in the audience were paying attention.

 

Meghan Trainor is the cutest thing ever.  

[ari333]

I'm sorry, I know Taylor Swift is everyone's favorite and people think she's perfection but she annoys the ever loving FUCK out of me.  I give her props for the fact that she is fantastic to her fans, but the fact that she had to hug 15 people every time she went up to accept an award was eye roll worthy.  Seriously?  I'm sure your supermodel BFF's were very instrumental in you winning your awards.  Jesus.  Her and her girl mafia are irritating.  And please spare me with the "women rule!" schtick when you've built a career writing songs about how victimized you were by said boyfriend.  

 

Why Kendall or Kylie Jenner have squat to do on this show is beyond me.

 

Best performance of the night was Ed Sheeran, made even more awesome because it was after the Pitbull/Chris Brown mess where they had 100 scantily clad women rubbing up on them with fireworks going off.  Ed just gets up there and does is thing as a one man band and KILLS it.  I hope the youngins in the audience were paying attention.

 

Meghan Trainor is the cutest thing ever.  

 

OMG get outta my head.  YES!

 

I enjoy Pitbull's music, (insert snark air quotes here) but agree about all the scantily glad dancers. It's a little much. Chris Brown seems to think he is Michael Jackson 2.0 and he so is not (imo)

 

All the Jenner/ slash/ Kardashians need to be muzzled, strapped down, and rocketed into another galaxy ASAP. And apologies to the other galaxy.

 

I'm so sick of Swift I could puke.

 

Couldn't stand the vapid chick host.

Edited May 18, 2015 by ari333

[ari333]

When I saw Fall Out Boy, I thought hey all those chicks with the same clothes and hair and facial expressions ...was done by Robert Palmer. Then I realized it was an Uma Thurman thing duh. Hence the intro. Also, was that instrumental hook in the song part the theme to the Munsters or some tv show or have I finally gone cray? I would have preferred that Centuries song, but I guess it's been done to death.

[ari333]

I was tuning in for several reasons, but one was to see what Spears would do. She's been performing in Vegas recently IIRC, so I wasn't expecting a trainwreck as in... like that other year, some years back, the one that was deemed epic fail. (and kind of was if I recall it correctly) Brit Brit looked awesome but her sing-talking was meh... for me ... for you. :)

******** crickets **********

 

:)

 

 

.

[Llama]

When I saw Fall Out Boy, I thought hey all those chicks with the same clothes and hair and facial expressions ...was done by Robert Palmer. Then I realized it was an Uma Thurman thing duh. Hence the intro. Also, was that instrumental hook in the song part the theme to the Munsters or some tv show or have I finally gone cray? I would have preferred that Centuries song, but I guess it's been done to death.

YES!! I said the same - I prefer Centuries! Heck I still boom the 'my songs know' LOL!!

Ugh Chrissy T tries WAAAYY to hard. She was annoying me. She even flubbed one of her quips. Ha!

Glad I missed Chris Brown

We were flipping back and forth between Bruce and this.

How much sense did it make to have Kanye perform if his entire song is bleeped?!?! Stupid.

I did not miss the supposed irony of him coming on after Taylor Swift accepted another award lol!

[ari333]

Uma.... Oprah... Uma..... Oprah.... [/ D. Letterman] Just me? OK then. Im old get; off my lawn hee.

[Princess Sparkle]

I'm sorry, I know Taylor Swift is everyone's favorite and people think she's perfection but she annoys the ever loving FUCK out of me. I give her props for the fact that she is fantastic to her fans, but the fact that she had to hug 15 people every time she went up to accept an award was eye roll worthy. Seriously? I'm sure your supermodel BFF's were very instrumental in you winning your awards. Jesus. Her and her girl mafia are irritating. And please spare me with the "women rule!" schtick when you've built a career writing songs about how victimized you were by said boyfriend.

Cosign. That Bad Blood video that she's been promoting for the past two weeks was lame as hell, and honestly, seems like a whole lot of effort to go to to burn Katy Perry. It just seems so mean girlish to me - the whole video is practically "HEY LOOK KATY! ALL THESE WOMEN ARE ON MY SIDE!!!" The best thing about that damn video were the faces Cara Delavigne and Zendaya were giving the camera.

There was a really good article once from Anne Helen Peterson (she used to write the Scandals of Classic Hollywood column for the Hairpin) about how and why Taylor Swift comprised her army of girl friends, and why each was a calculated choice based on the image she wanted to project. Everything about her, down to her new "I'm a fashion maven!" personality is just so inauthentic to me.

Her songs are catchy as shit though, I'll give her that. I'd be lying if I said that I don't blast "Out of the Woods" at the gym.

Shallow side notes: Iggy Azalia needs to stop messing with her face, since she now looks completely different than she did 3 months ago.

[Hanahope]

Also, was that instrumental hook in the song part the theme to the Munsters or some tv show or have I finally gone cray?

 

Yes, its the hook from the Munsters.  UT is the new single, so that's why its finally being played live.  My kids love it.  I suppose its cool that there's actually a band we can all agree on now.  Do you think 7 is too young to take to a concert?

[CaughtOnTape]

Cosign. That Bad Blood video that she's been promoting for the past two weeks was lame as hell, and honestly, seems like a whole lot of effort to go to to burn Katy Perry. It just seems so mean girlish to me - the whole video is practically "HEY LOOK KATY! ALL THESE WOMEN ARE ON MY SIDE!!!" The best thing about that damn video were the faces Cara Delavigne and Zendaya were giving the camera.

There was a really good article once from Anne Helen Peterson (she used to write the Scandals of Classic Hollywood column for the Hairpin) about how and why Taylor Swift comprised her army of girl friends, and why each was a calculated choice based on the image she wanted to project. Everything about her, down to her new "I'm a fashion maven!" personality is just so inauthentic to me.

Her songs are catchy as shit though, I'll give her that. I'd be lying if I said that I don't blast "Out of the Woods" at the gym.

Shallow side notes: Iggy Azalia needs to stop messing with her face, since she now looks completely different than she did 3 months ago.

 

Just went to find the article you mentioned.

 

Spot.On

 

Everything about her is calculated.  She's always all over everyone and posting pictures whether the person wants her to or not.  She's like that girl in high school who thought she was really popular but actually she was more hated than anyone.  Ugh.

[ari333]

You guys have some juicy stuff about Swift? Im not where I can open any links. Just give me the condensed juicy parts... about her choice of posse. or whatever those women are. TIA

Edited May 19, 2015 by ari333

[iwasish]

Kanye says he was over censored and they didn't take heed of his specific instructions on how to light his set. Too bad! Maybe he'll boycott in the future? We can only hope.

You know they only did that because he's a genius right?

[divaTy]

The fact that Taylor made sure to put the girl from Empire right next to her in camera view was so transparent. After months of being criticized for not having any black friends, she conveniently trots out her new bestie. 

[Hanahope]

Finally finished watching. 

 

I thought Eddie VH looked pretty good considering, and boy he can still play like a sonofabitch.  David Lee, though, didn't look or sound good at all.  He's obviously quite ecstatic to be with VH again, but if they're going to record another CD, get another singer.

 

So is the Taylor/Katy fight supposed to be the new east/west rapper duel?  Bored.....

 

Agree that Ed Sheeran's performance was very good.

 

I was happy to see Meghan win an award.  Taylor's songs are catchy, but nice to have someone else win something.

[UYI]

I LOVED seeing Meghan win. That was the first award she's ever won since "All About That Bass" first came out last year.

 

And whatever doubts anyone may have had about either her singing voice or her ability to write songs, they were put to rest once she sang "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" with John Legend. I'm so glad that's her next single. I've always liked her and thought she was talented, but I can see how her first three singles might overshadow it because of her rapping/the subject matter of some of her songs. None of those issues are present with "LIGLY". I really believe this is the turning point. 

Edited June 3, 2015 by UYI

[Kromm]

How is Justin Beiber still a thing after lipsyncing as obvious as this?

In other news, I certainly get the outrage about the old white lady doing the Prince Tribute, but it wasn't THAT bad. It was sleepy and maudlin, which it shouldn't have been, but her voice was decent and a lot of the outrage over it was general and Madonna just got put in the middle of things.

[ItsHelloPattiagain]

Gaaah, Madonna reminded me of an old drunk lady at a wake (complete with cane and crazy hairdo) singing some random song - nice touch to drag Stevie Wonder out at the end. Prince was such a vibrant, energetic performer and it was so saaaaaaddd seeing all the tombstones projected behind her while she was singing. Couldn't they have dragged a few musicians together to do "1999?" at the end to end on an upbeat note??? (there WERE a few actual musicians hanging out there weren't there?!?!)

Justin Bieber looked like he escaped from the hospital and was wandering loose in somebody else's video. 

[Kromm]

There's no debating her approach to singing Prince was totally wrongheaded, but I can almost see it as her shying away from the reverse approach because of how badly that boomeranged on Lady Gaga doing her David Bowie tribute.

I honestly don't blame Madonna that badly here, or Gaga in hers, because I think there's just something totally screwy in the heads of the people running these respective awards shows that they even asked these particular people to do these particular tributes. I get the idea they were trying to draw a line from Bowie to Gaga--glam rock costume filled original performers. And that with Prince and Madonna the idea was that Prince had very few contemporaries from his same formative time period and level of fame that can still perform. But lets be honest... people were outraged that an English performer or performers weren't doing the Bowie tribute, and that well... a black performer wasn't doing the Prince one (Stevie Wonder being seemingly tacked on to try and address that). 

I'm mostly talking about the condemnation of Madonna before she even opened her mouth and honestly bungled this. Again, she really didn't sing THAT badly, it was just maudlin/dreary--the opposite of what a Prince tribute should sound like. We needed to see the stage burning down. It should have been an array of performers, since likely a single one (okay, two) couldn't have done it justice. 

Onto other things: One of these days there might be an awards show where Beiber doesn't suck, but I've yet to see it. I love the dueling Entertainment press headlines, with some talking about how epic his performance allegedly was, and others calling him out for sucking. So... the suckups and the people telling the truth.

I actually haven't watched more than bits of this show yet, so I have to go and watch more. I did just watch the Kesha performance and am totally undecided on if I hated or liked it.  I don't object to Bob Dylan's melody/arrangement being fucked with, and her voice was decent enough (although her outfit and makeup? Kind of yuck), but I didn't really connect with it--at least on first listen.

[Kromm]

Okay, no shock but I just saw the Pink performance and am totally unsurprised she killed. I do think the aerial acrobatics is getting kind of old, but really it's undeniable she was not only really singing WHILE doing all of that, but she knows how to stage an energetic performance without it just looking like pointless bullshit, like Beiber puts on.

As with Beiber (I hate even that little bit of comparison) her own vocals are her pre-recorded backing track, and a part of me hates that (really, is there no other singer she'd trust to do those parts for live shows?), but you can also clearly tell when she's singing the lead parts live.

There WAS this totally random hilarious camera shot of what looked like some teenaged boys in the crowd with this totally bored/tuned out look on their faces during her performance. What was the deal with that? I get that she's now WAY too old to appeal to that age group, but man they looked zoned out.

Watching it a second time (I just stopped in the middle of posting this) I have to say I'm even more upset by that backing track with her own voice thing. It really breaks the illusion (and by illusion I don't mean that her singing live is a fiction, just that it confuses the whole thing, because she's clearly singing a lot of it unlike Beiber with his stuff, but then it's still very in your face when you constantly hear her unmistakable voice during all of the other parts when she's not). I'm not even suggesting that the studio/radio version shouldn't have her on both the backing and main vocals. Just that she, heck, ALL performers, should plan alternate arrangements for live performances. 

Speaking of things performers shouldn't do live... doing their own backing track isn't the only one. Britney Spears showed another of those off. While I totally admire a lot of how she's pulled herself back together, arguably dancing almost as well as she did 10 years ago, having the balls to wear that boner-ific, if trashy outfit in an actual live performance, and seemingly about 200% less dead behind the eyes, I HATE that everything coming over those speakers is robo-sounding/echo-chambered. It's done to disguise the fact that she's not singing even a single word live, and frankly it makes her no better than Beiber, who does the same shit.   Just play back Pink's performance then either Beiber or Britney's afterwards. You can tell the difference between a human voice and one run through a synthesizer. Again, admittedly Pink is also fucking up by allowing those backing tracks to confuse things, but when she's singing into her mike for the rest, there's nary a sign of a robo-echo. 

What else?  Hmm. I also have to say I was genuinely touched by the Celine Dion thing. I don't think anyone ever has to debate if she sings live, of course, and while her style of singing isn't something everyone likes, and she's an easy target for parody, you could tell how sincere and legit she was being with the lifetime achievement award thing, and her whole family situation (how they actually got legal clearance for her 15 year old son to appear without her knowing is what confuses me though--I mean the whole point is that he no longer has a Dad, the other person who could have authorized that). 

Edited May 23, 2016 by Kromm

[reggiejax]

I thought Madonna was, in theory, an appropriate choice to do the Prince tribute. She was a contemporary, and was on his level as a musical star. 

But good god that was horrible. Why on earth did they choose to pay tribute with Nothing Compares 2 U? Yes, Prince wrote it, but it was made famous by Sinead O'Connor and in everyones eyes, it is her song. 

My best guess was that it was a song Madonna's limited range could handle. Or at least she thought she could handle it. She was worse than some drunk at a karaoke bar at 4:00 AM. 

Bringing in Stevie Wonder for Purple Rain could have saved it, but they just rushed right through it. In the end it was just a sing along with the audience. 

Prince deserved so much better than what the Billboard Awards gave him. 

As for the rest of the show, it was the usual pat on the back for all the biggest selling stars. I really never understand why they bother with the pretense of nominees. The Billboard Awards are so predictable (they are given out based on sales, after all) that they make the People's Choice Awards seem suspensful. 

[AgentRXS]

I didn't think twice about why they chose Madonna to  perform the tribute. They were contemporaries and they did work together on her "Like a Prayer" album. The issue I had with it was the lack of creative effort put into this. When you have Madonna singing a tribute to anybody, why the hell stick her with a ballad to perform? That is not her forte. When they played the intro to "Lets Go Crazy", I thought that was what she was going to sing. Then when they showed her holding the rosary, I thought she might perform "Like a Prayer" since he played guitar on that song for her. The actual songs chosen were too predictable and boring. Tragic that they let a cute outfit like that go to waste by not allowing her to move in it LOL

Edited May 24, 2016 by AgentRXS

[vibeology]

I think the Prince tribute had promise and I didn't even hate doing a bit of Nothing compares 2 U, but it needed to be the first verse and chorus and then they needed to switch to something upbeat. Prince made fun music! That needed to be celebrated. I would have brought out someone like Janelle Monae or Bruno Mars to sing something upbeat and then had Madonna and Stevie join whoever performed the second number for Purple Rain to end the tribute. It's very hard though, because there is no one like Prince. That's the point so picking someone to pay tribute is so tough and someone was bound to be disappointed no matter who was chosen.

Overall, I actually enjoyed this show. I thought it was better and more entertaining than this year's Grammys. I though the pacing was good, the performances were good to great (with Bieber and Britney being the exceptions but I know not to expect anything from him and I do think she did better than other recent performances and am far more forgiving because there are clearly undisclosed mental illness issues at play.) Also Blake and Gwen were pretty awful but I skipped over that since I couldn't even deal with her awful makeup.

I loved Celine's moment, loved Rihanna's performance, enjoyed DNCE, Fifth Harmony, Pink, Lukas Graham, the Go-Gos, and a few others. It's not a perfect night, but it seemed like everyone involved was just aiming for a fun party vibe and I think they nailed that.

[Dancingjaneway]

Celine does Queen. That is all. *mic drops*

[Janc]

20 hours ago, vibeology said:

 

I think the Prince tribute had promise and I didn't even hate doing a bit of Nothing compares 2 U, but it needed to be the first verse and chorus and then they needed to switch to something upbeat.

 

Agreed!  The Britney opening included lots of songs, I was excited and expecting something like that to celebrate Prince, not the dirges that were performed in full. 

[Bees52]

Just finished watching this On Demand. I rarely watch this award show and was only intrigued this year by the Go-Go's reunion and the Prince tribute- which was the only performance I watched live. I was too busy crying and singing along with Madonna and Stevie at the time to notice all the negative aspects  others have commented on here, and elsewhere. I thought it was an okay tribute, though, for the first of (I anticipate) several to come. The BBMA's set the benchmark, the BET Awards say they are going do a better one, and with more award shows down the pike there will be tributes that fans (hopefully) will feel are worthy of one such as Prince.

As for the rest of the show:

Kinda wished the two musical hosts were allowed  at least one musical performance. Nice clothing changes, though.

So enjoyed The Go-Go's singing, "We Got the Beat " live, and in that classic American Bandstand clip. Is it really 35 years since that song debuted? (sigh)

I'm sorry, Justin Beiber, why on all the music award shows  I've seen recently are you still singing the same song? No wonder you're bummed about attending them. Sing something else...

Like Kesha did with that Bob Dyan song. That was something different for her, from what I've seen previously. Very subdued....and brave.

Overall, the BBMA's was pleasant, but will remain in the category of awards that I don't have to watch.

[Kromm]

On May 25, 2016 at 8:26 AM, Janc said:

Agreed!  The Britney opening included lots of songs, I was excited and expecting something like that to celebrate Prince, not the dirges that were performed in full. 

But the Britney thing was just a dance number. Nobody was actually singing there. She wasn't even subtle about that. 

That said, yes it was a damn dreary performance by Madonna. But at least she was really singing. 

[ebk57]

I realize no one who is sane is watching this (I have guests), but really, the woman with The Chainsmokers - can you just put on a shirt or something over your bra?  I hate to judge... okay, not really... 

[Robert Lynch]

Minaj, just please go away. Your lip syncing and strip pole lessons are no longer needed...man, that was just bad.

[ebk57]

Celine, you sound fabulous.  But what are you wearing - really.

[Diana Berry]

Definitely the most obnoxious award show.

Actually  enjoyed Miley.  Celine was awesome...it must very painful to sing that song with the loss of her husband.   I got a bit teary eyed. 

Wanted  to see Cher but could not take it anymore and turned it off after Celine.

[ebk57]

5 minutes ago, Diana Berry said:

Wanted  to see Cher but could not take it anymore and turned it off after Celine

Don't despair - Cher is coming up right now!! 

[shoregirl]

54 minutes ago, ebk57 said:

Celine, you sound fabulous.  But what are you wearing - really.

She sounded amazing but she looked like she was supposed to be the iceberg that the Titanic hit.

I sure the gut from Imagine Dragans is swell and it happened so recently but is he the best representative of rock music to do a tribute to Chris Cornell?

Edited May 22, 2017 by shoregirl

[ebk57]

Cher is totally an icon.  I saw Sonny and Cher at Shady Grove Music Fair (in the round) waaaaay back in the day.  She's a force of nature.

[Mountainair]

I hate Sean Combs. I love, love, love Biggie. If I'm listening to Rap or R&B it's from the 90s. I was hoping we would at least get a live musical performance from some iconic 90s-00's rappers, instead we get a commercial for a movie that reminds me of how much I really hate Sean Combs! 

[ebk57]

I'm fairly certain that I've said this here (maybe in the Grammy thread...) - Bruno Mars makes everything better.  Everything.

[27bored]

The only two divas on this was Cher and Celine. I used to think Cher was nuts for how she dresses, but at 71 and how shitty most pop music is these days, and she can still pull off those get-ups? All I can say is werk. 

Celine was beautiful. I loved the grandiosity of her gown. It's a big song and demands a big look. I think she was lip-syncing but it's okay. Celine is still a better singer than anybody in attendance. 

Chainsmokers are...yeah. That dude needs to take some vocal lessons between albums or get some features by male singers who can sing.

Halsey seems like she's trying to be White Rihanna. That song straight sounded like a rewrite of Needed Me.

Sam Hunt was alright. That song is better to sing along to than it is a good song in and of itself. 

FGL and John Legend? Meh. I think FGL get a bad rep from country fans. They seem like nice guys.

Nicki Minaj seems so fake, I can't muster up anything for her. 

I have a love hate relationship with Bruno Mars. I like that he's got the goods, and that he tends to put his back into his live performances. But Bruno seems to do a lot of simping in his music. I know he's like 5'5 so he feels like he has to give it all away upfront, but dude, don't give away the store so quickly. 

Oh wow, Drake broke Adele's record. I hate dirty tricks. Drake never shows up to award shows, so he must have known he was going to win. Why show up with Wayne and his country ass father?

Edited May 22, 2017 by 27bored

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Why did Celine Dion sound like she had just arrived from the dentist and her mouth was still numb for most of the performance? That was weird. 

[kili]

Quote

Oh wow, Drake broke Adele's record. I hate dirty tricks. Drake never shows up to award shows, so he must have known he was going to win.

If one follows the charts, one knows who is going to win the BB awards. They are based on the numbers (sales, streams, airplay, etc.). Soundscan had already reported that "Views" was the most consumed album in 2017 back in January. During the eligibility period, he released 3 number one albums (April, December and just under the wire on March 11th). Everybody in the biz knew he was going to win big before they even started setting up the venue. Any artist not knowing they are going to win a BB award has an incompetent label. 

[Robert Lynch]

Not to mention when you had Minaj and Lil' Wayne there, Drake was already in the clear to win. 

[UYI]

Two big things are happening at this year's BBMAs:

1. Janet Jackson is receiving the Icon Award (or, as I like to call it, the "Fuck You Justin Timberlake" Award; I'm still a bit bitter about him getting the Super Bowl Halftime Show, you see).

2. Salt 'N Pepa and En Vogue will be performing together! OMG!

This will also be Ariana Grande's first award show performance since the Manchester bombing, nearly one year ago. I like her new song, so I wish her the best (and in general, of course). 

[Jaded]

Bumping this up since it's 20 min until showtime. I'm DVR'ing it. Since I might be flipping between a couple shows.

I was looking at some of the red carpet pics. I don't know who she is but she could have walked the carpet with pasties on if she was going to wear this.

[Evenshorter]

Ariana Grande. Am I the only one who can never understand a word she sings??

[Luvzmutt]

Kelly Clarkson’s opening was really enjoyable.  So much better than a stand up comedy monologue. 

[27bored]

Love Kelly, and I agree with her. We need a moment of action. I kinda wish she was performing. 

Ariana Grande is...ugh. She has a tendency to slur, and every stage director wants her to reenact the I Wanna Dance With Somebody video. Just have the heifer stand there and sing.

Sing Kelly! I believe a couple of the people in the audience are mad because Kelly sounds better than them on their own song. 

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: Khalid must have an uncle or something that has the A few connections because it really makes no sense why he’s everywhere. Sweet kid, he’s not untalented, but he’s a numbly, dumpy kid with a flat top who dresses like his mom got his clothes at the Macy’s outlet store. I just don’t get it.

Edited May 21, 2018 by 27bored

[Treehugger]

I'm old, so please understand that I'm not qualified to speak about current music. It does seem, however, that Kelly Clarkson wowed the crowd with her singing. I hope that Kelly keeps it up because she seems such a genuine person and I just want to spend time hanging out with her and listening to her be kind. We need more kindness!

[Evenshorter]

6 minutes ago, Treehugger said:

I'm old, so please understand that I'm not qualified to speak about current music. It does seem, however, that Kelly Clarkson wowed the crowd with her singing. I hope that Kelly keeps it up because she seems such a genuine person and I just want to spend time hanging out with her and listening to her be kind. We need more kindness!

Probably older than you, but sort of know today's music because I drive my kidults around a lot, so I hear what they like to listen to. I agree about Kelly. I find her very genuine.

[27bored]

I like Dua Lipa’s voice and I like that she’s rare artist whose real name also makes for a great stage name, but this didn’t do much for me. It was a little low-budget Kylie Minogue. 

And whoever is choreographing these performances must have grown up watching Britney Spears and Madonna HBO Specials or something. This is the second performance with a chick traipsing around large scale stage installations. Knock it off! 

RIP Avicii. Halsey, stop doing coke and then talking about mental health and endometriosis.

Congrats to Luis Fonsi, you one hit wonder you.

21 Savage? Maybe look a little bit happier to be there. Without Amber Rose, you’re just another low-energy dread head rapper with a face tattoo and affinity for violent lyrics. If it wasn’t for Cardi B and Post Malone letting you feature on their songs, we really wouldn’t care. So...be Humble.

[Luvzmutt]

Shawn Mendez always looks like he’s having so much fun whenever I’ve seen him perform.

And I’m probably in the older demographic, too, and I do know most of the “pop” and country artists.  I have a 26 year old daughter who goes to way too many concerts a year (it’s her way of coping).

[27bored]

The role of Shawn Mendes will be played by a Scared Sad Vocoder. What is with the weird goat quality of homeboy’s vocals? I like this song and I’ve come around on him, but this was kinda bad. 

And of course they make his performance about Taylor Swift, because she’s there and is standing up.

I figured she was gonna win something if she showed up. I’m glad she didn’t act fake surprised. Camila was acting real basic, wasn’t she? Like, bitch you performed last year. Relax.

Ciara? Why are you here?

Edited May 21, 2018 by 27bored

[VCRTracking]

I realized a few years ago I became too old to know or care about who any of the new artists are but I try to remain open to anything that catches my hear at these award shows.

Loved Kelly Clarkson for years not just because "Since U Been Gone" was catchy as hell but because she seemed like a genuine down to Earth and nice person and continues to be. It's a rare thing.

Edited May 21, 2018 by VCRTracking