Taylor Swift, Gotye and Rihanna Win Big at Billboard Music Awards
By Phil Gallo, Las Vegas
Taylor Swift and her 3.7 million-selling "Red" dominated the 2013 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night (May 19), taking home eight trophies as Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" swept four major song categories and Rihanna ruled R&B.
Swift was honored as Top Artist, Top Female Artist and Top Billboard 200 artist in ceremonies held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where awards were handed out in 45 categories, 10 of them on the ABC telecast. Swift received the night's top honor, Artist of the Year, as well as Top Female Artist, Top Country Artist and Top Digital Songs Artist. "Red" was Tops in the Billboard 200 and country albums categories; her "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" was named Top Country Song.
"Thank you for making my music the soundtrack to your crazy emotions," Swift said in a thank you to fans after being named Artist of the Year. "You are the longest and best relationship I've had."
Prince, who performed a medley of his classic "Let's Go Crazy," Edgar Winter's instrumental "Frankenstein" and "Fix Ur Life Up," was given the Icon Award for a career that includes 10 platinum albums and 30 Top 40 singles.
Billboard Music Awards 2013: All Our Coverage
Besides, Gotye, Rihanna was the only other artist to walk away with four awards, winning in the R&B artist, album and song categories, plus Radio Songs Artist. Madonna, Nicki Minaj and One Direction won three each while Justin Bieber, the late Jenni Rivera, Baauer and tobyMac secured two honors apiece.
"Somebody That I Used To Know," the single from Gotye and Kimbra that has sold 7.3 million downloads, won in the categories of Hot 100 Song, Rock Song, Radio Song and Streaming Song (Audio). The Billboard Music Awards are based on data tracked between March 12, 2012, and March 10, 2013.
The Milestone Award, voted on by fans and sponsored by Chevrolet, went to Bieber, who paused for about 20 seconds before speaking his mind about criticisms directed his way.
"I'm 19 years old, and I think I'm doing a pretty good job," Bieber said before thanking his family, fans and Jesus Christ. "It should be about the music, about the craft. This is not a gimmick. I should be taken seriously."
The three-hour show, broadcast on ABC, featured 16 performances and included the TV premieres of Swift's "22" and the new single from Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull, "Live It Up." Bruno Mars and his band, decked out in matching crimson suits and black shirts, opened the show with his new single "Treasure."
Among the current Hot 100 singles performed were will.i.am and Bieber doing "#Thatpower," Pitbull and Christina Aguilera's "Feel This Moment" with a guest solo from A-ha's Morten Harket, Icona Pop's "I Love It," and, set in kung fu movie motif, Chris Brown's "Fine China."
Nicki Minaj gave Lil Wayne a lap dance during "High School" and Miguel employed black and white and 3D imagery for his performance of "Adorn," one of many elaborately staged performances. His ended in scary fashion, however, when he landed on a pair of fans during a leap from the stage.
"The crazy thing is, when you're performing and you're just kind of into it, you never know where it's gonna go and where you're gonna go with it," Miguel told Billboard backstage. "And how that might turn out. So this is one of the less favorable moments."
"Red" was announced as a winner from show sponsor Samsung phones; fans in the "mosh pit" held up their mobile devices to spell out "Red" during the ceremony. Kacey Musgraves and Ed Sheeran provided the evening's quieter acoustic moments.
A two minute, 20 second video of concert highlights from Madonna's MDNA tour preceded the singer's arrival to pick up her trophy for Top Touring Artist. "A showgirl needs her fans," Madonna said at the conclusion of her speech, thanking the more than 2.2 million fans who made it out to her 88 shows. "Thank you for supporting me for three decades."
Guetta, who won in the new category of EDM artist and performed with Akon and Ne-Yo, explained his personal history with the publication, noting he read Billboard regularly while growing up in Paris. "When they put me on the cover four years ago and said EDM would be big, I thought 'these guys are crazy -- this will never happen'," he said. "Imagine how I feel today."
Here is the full winner's list of the 2013 Billboard Music Awards:
ARTIST AWARDS
Top Artist: Taylor Swift
Top New Artist: One Direction
Top Male Artist: Justin Bieber
Top Female Artist: Taylor Swift
Top Duo/Group: One Direction
Top Billboard 200 Artist: Taylor Swift
Top Hot 100 Artist: Maroon 5
Top Digital Songs Artist: Taylor Swift
Top Radio Songs Artist: Rihanna
Top Touring Artist: Madonna
Top Social Artist: Justin Bieber
Top Streaming Artist: Nicki Minaj
Top Pop Artist: One Direction
Top R&B Artist: Rihanna
Top Rap Artist: Nicki Minaj
Top Country Artist: Taylor Swift
Top Rock Artist: fun.
Top Latin Artist: Jenni Rivera
Top Dance Artist: Madonna
Top EDM Artist: David Guetta
Top Christian Artist: tobyMac
ALBUM AWARDS
Top Billboard 200 Album: Taylor Swift “Red”
Top Pop Album: Adele “21”
Top R&B Album: Rihanna “Unapologetic”
Top Rap Album: Nicki Minaj “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded”
Top Country Album: Taylor Swift “Red”
Top Rock Album: Mumford & Son “Babel”
Top Latin Album: Jenni Rivera “Las Misma Gran Senora”
Top Dance Album: Madonna “MDNA”
Top EDM Album: Skrillex “Bangarang”
Top Christian Album: tobyMac “Eye On It”
SONG AWARDS
Top Hot 100 Song: Gotye Featuring Kimbra “Somebody That I Used To Know”
Top Digital Song: Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe”
Top Radio Song: Gotye Featuring Kimbra “Somebody That I Used To Know”
Top Streaming Song (Audio): Gotye Featuring Kimbra “Somebody That I Used To Know”
Top Streaming Song (Video): PSY “Gangnam Style”
Top Pop Song: Carly Rae Jepsen “Call Me Maybe”
Top R&B Song: Rihanna “Diamonds”
Top Rap Song: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz “Thrift Shop”
Top Country Song: Taylor Swift “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”
Top Rock Song: Gotye Featuring Kimbra “Somebody That I Used To Know”
Top Latin Song: Michel Telo “Ai Se Eu Te Pego”
Top Dance Song: Baauer “Harlem Shake”
Top EDM Song: Baauer “Harlem Shake”
Top Christian Song: Matt Redman “10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)”
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