Highlights from the 2017 BBMA’s That We Still Have On Replay

By: Ashlee Dell’Arciprete

The 2017 Billboard Music Award’s were last Sunday and it was filled with so much music. The 2017 BBMA’s featured many performances including Nicki Minaj, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Lorde, John Legend, Imagine Dragons, Sam Hunt, Katy Perry, Florida Georgia Line, Drake, Camila Cabello, Miley Cyrus, Cher, The Chainsmokers and Céline Dion! Many awards were given out that were voted for by fans from Top 100 Song to Top Artist to name a few. Drake had the biggest wins of the night, but the loudest win was definitely from the K-pop band taking over the world BTS.

The 2017 Billboard Music Awards was a great night for music and these are the moments that we still have on replay:

Nicki Minaj’s Opening Performance
Nicki Minaj opened the show with a medley of songs lasting over nearly minutes. The performance began with snippets of Nicki’s most popular songs including “Super Bass,” “Starships,” “Anaconda” and “Beez In the Trap,” which were performed by young kids dressed like Nicki and male dancers even before she came out on stage. She appeared wearing a gas mask in a definitely memorable entrance. Throughout her performance, Nicki sang many of her other current and hit favorites while making several outfit changes. She also introduced many of the other artists that collaborated with her in the songs she sang including Jason Derulo in “Swalla,” Lil’ Wayne in “No Frauds” and David Guetta in “Regret in Your Tears.” It was a very memorable opening to the BBMAs.

Camila Cabello makes her solo debut
Camila Cabello, formerly from Fifth Harmony, is officially a solo artist. She began with part of her song “I Have Questions” and transitioned into a full performance of her other new single “Crying in the Club.”  If you weren’t familiar with Fifth Harmony already, Camila’s performance was refreshing and made her stand out as a true solo artist. The stage was lit up in gold with background dancers and an Aztec theme as Camila’s voice shined through. She also recorded an exclusive performance for Xfinity customers where she performed the full version of “I Have Questions.”

Julia Michaels performs “Issues”
Julia Michaels performed her new hit that’s all over the radio “Issues.” If you haven’t heard of Julia Michaels before, you should. Julia is the lyrical talent behind many hit sings including Ed Sheeran’s “Dive,” Selena Gomez’s “Hands to Myself” and Justin Bieber’s “Sorry.” And she’s only 23-years-old. She delivered a memorable performance with her unique voice,and we’re excited to see more from her.

Miley Cyrus performs “Malibu”
Another highlight from the BBMAs we’ve been replaying is Miley Cyrus’ performance of her new hit single “Malibu.” It was a family affair when Miley’s sister Noah and her father Billy Ray Cyrus introduced her performance. Noah made a joke that Miley was finally wearing pants again. Miley’s performance was quite different than what we have seen from her recently and it was refreshing to see this side of her. Miley was wearing all white with a cowboy hat going back to her roots. Miley seemed like she is finally happy again and it shows in her performance of “Malibu.” We suspect Liam Hemsworth is to blame for this and we’re definitely not complaining. It was very reminiscent of her Hannah Montana days. Miley made the audience remember she has a powerful voice and delivered a great performance, even getting very emotional in the end. There were even multi-colored balloons like those pictured in the music video that flooded the crowd.

Ed Sheeran performs from South America
Ed Sheeran is currently on the Latin American leg of his tour and his performance of “Castle on the Hill” was broadcasted to the BBMAs live from Santiago, Chile.  He is one of the most talented performers out right now and tonight was no exception. As someone who has followed Ed since 2012, it’s great to see how successful he has become. Very few artists are able to do what he does and be able to do so on stage by themself with no band – just a loop pedal.

Céline Dion celebrates the 2O^th Anniversary of “Titanic
In honor of the 20^th Anniversary of film Titanic, Céline Dion performed “My Heart Will Go On” and it was amazing to say the least. Lea Michele introduced Céline as one of her own inspirations. Céline performed under a huge chandelier wearing a low-cut white dress with puffy ROSES on the shoulders. During the performance, Céline sang every note perfectly just like we remember it from Titanic. Clips from the original film with young Leonardo [DiCaprio] and Kate [Winslet] also played in the background as she sang and it is hard to believe it’s been twenty years since the world was crying over Jack and Rose. The crowd was cheering and singing along the entire time and so were we. We had chills during the entire performance and may have gotten a bit emotional.

Cher wins the Billboard Icon Award
Cher performed a medley as part of her honorary Billboard Lifetime Achievement Award and reminded audience’s young and old about why she is an Icon. It was also her first award show performance in over 15 years! All the 90s teens out there were sure to remember this performance. She sang one of her top hits “Believe” and “If I Could Turn Back Time” in her signature puffy black wig and jacket.

After she performed, she was presented the Billboard Icon Award by Gwen Stefani. A video package played of the history that made Cher an icon, highlighting the success of Cher and Sunny Bono to her transition in her solo music career and acting career on Broadway and the big screen. Cher is surprisingly the first artist to have a #1 single on a Billboard chart in six consecutive decades and is an EGOT winner, having one at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award. Cher was very humble in her acceptance speech. She said, “I’ve wanted to do what I do since I was four years-old…and I’ve been doing it for 53 years.” Cher thanked the people who helped her in her career and made an ode to the late Sonny Bono. Cher was the perfect fit for the Billboard Icon Award.

Bruno Mars lets his voice shine from Amsterdam
If you’ve watched Bruno perform during the Billboard Music Awards in the past, you would know that Bruno has always been a highlight for his fun dancing and choreography. For this award show; however, Bruno focused more on his voice in the opening of “Versace on the Floor.” He performed it all the way from Amsterdam. He has a great voice and it really shows his talent when his live performance sounds just like his studio recording.

Drake wins big
Drake was the biggest winner of the night with a whopping 13 Billboard Awards for Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album, Top 100 Artist, Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Streaming Artist, Top Rap Artist, Top Rap Album, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Streaming Song, Top R&B Song, Top R&B Collaboration and Top Rap Tour – yes, it’s a mouthful. Drake was nominated for a whopping 22 awards and won 13 of them. Drake even topped Adele’s previously held record for most Billboard Wins, but acknowledged that she will probably win it back in her next album.

One of his best acceptance speeches was probably the award for Top 200 Album, which was presented by Josh Duhamel. His acceptance speech pretty much broke the Internet when he decided to thank the people he loves. He gave a shout out to Vanessa Hudgens and said how beautiful she looked, but when the camera pans to Nicki who shouts “what about me!” Drake eventually does get to her and says that he’s glad they found their way back to one another. Not only did Drake have a huge night, but he also performed also performed his song “Gyalchester” during the show in the Las Vegas Bellagio Hotel fountains surrounded by fire.

In Memory Of
Other notable moments that stood out from the BBMAs were tributes to Chris Cornell and Biggie. Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons led the tribute to the late Chris Cornell with a touching speech. He said, “Even though Chris is gone, his legacy endures.” A moment of silence was then held for the late artist. Another heartfelt tribute was from Notorious B.I.G.’s son, C.J. Wallace. C.J. came out on stage with P. Diddy for a tribute to what would have been his father’s 45^th birthday. Wallace and Diddy also shared the trailer for the documentary about Biggie and Bad Boy Entertainment called “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop.”

Final Thoughts
Overall, the 2017 Billboard Music Awards was an eventful night for music and we’ll definitely be replaying these highlights from the show. It was great to see so many performances during the show. There was not that many awards announced live on-air in comparison to the many that were awarded. The BBMA’s was a three-hour-long show, but the time surprisingly passed by quickly with all of the musical performances. We’ll see you next year for the 2018 BBMA’s!