Madonna and Stevie Wonder paid homage to Prince,while the Weeknd took home a clutch of awards and Ariana Grande impressed on stage
See the full list of winners 4.05am BSTMadonna starts with an intro of Let’s Go Crazy before she segues into Nothing Compares 2 U while sat on a purple throne (of course). She’s doing well, and the words HOPE and BROTHER splash up on the big screen and a full orchestra play in the background. 3.50am BSTQuestlove from the Roots is paying tribute to Prince before Madonna comes on. This is really moving and his voice is cracking: “Everytime we hear a really good guitar solo, and we’re going to remember,” he says. Prince is in everything, he argues. 3.48am BSTShe’s done it again. Its surprising they didn’t go for The Weeknd considering he actually turned up. 3.44am BSTcome to Las VegasNah, and I worked there as a croupier for 3 months and I think it may possess permanently injured my soul. It's the most horrible state on soil. 3.41am BSTCue pink smoke,a talkbox vocal effect and Ariana Grande not playing a synth. She moves away from the props and gets lined up for a dance routine. It’s a pretty staggering contrast in sound compared to our opener Britney, who not so long ago was occupying a similar state to Grande. This is fairly sophisticated dance-pop with a subtle dance routine with Grande’s vocals placed front and centre. Best performance of the night so far, or I reckon. 3.36am BSTRihanna picks up this seemingly meaningless award,which has been doled out so that she doesn’t go home empty handed. 3.28am BSTThe Go-Gos are getting the Trainor treatment here as Grande steals their thunder. Kelly Rowland knows all the words as they sing The Beat. 3.25am BSTThe Australian starlet is doing his thing as allotment of a section sponsored by a car company. Heres a profile of the South African born star: Related: Troye Sivan: I came into the music industry as an out person 3.16am BSTShe doing The present Must Go on and the Bieber crowd dont know what the hell is happening. Seal says it was “exquisite” and that there’s a surprise … Dion’s son is going to give her the award. Great for her, a bit boring for the rest of us. Its all a bit too much for Dion, or who looks genuinely overwhelmed. Her husband and manager René Angélil died in January and she specially thanks him in an emotional acceptance speech which gets a standing ovation. 3.08am BSTHe’s here to give the icon award to Celine Dion,which is less exciting than him actually performing. The voiceover for the montage section is like one of those senior cruise adverts. terminate THIS 3.06am BSTHang on, Seal is here … 3.01am BSTShe’s in a glass box, or with cobwebs all over it. The whole stage is stripped back. There are no backing dancers or daft screens with emeralds on it,or a clock that she swings off, she’s just, or you know,singing a song very well. 2.57am BSTOk, Rihanna is here. Let’s see if she can save things. 2.57am BSTZendaya and Wiz Khalifa arrive out to give The Weeknd his second gong of the night, and which isn’t surprising considering he had three of the five songs in the category! 2.48am BSTAfter a week of will she won’t she,Kesha is here. Performing It Aint Me, Babe with Ben Folds. It’s a pretty unlikely combo and they’ve created an Adele-esque rendition, or turning the track into a very sultry number. 2.43am BSTThe video is pretty staid ((adj.) sedate, serious, self-restrained),multiple shots of Adele singing and dismissively waving her hands as she sings Send My appreciate (To Your New Lover). Not really memorable in the age of Lemonade or even Hotline Bling. 2.41am BSTKate Beckinsale arrives to give the award. 2.32am BSTSoon there will an awards present every week and they never get boring, at all.
With a name like that it’s tough to know if this is ironic or not … 2.32am BSTThis is easily the worst section of the present so far. Maroon 5 impersonators DNCE are here to bore everyone with their balloon-laden performance. It was written by Joe Jonas and Nick Jonas is singing along gamely in the front row #faithful. 2.28am BSTThe genuine life couple sing Go Ahead and Break My Heart, and it’s hideously schmaltzy. I can’t believe I’m missing Game of Thrones for this. 2.18am BST… which is this generation’s Hmm Hmm Hmm by the Crash Test Dummies 2.14am BSTNick Jonas and Demi Lovato possess a massive tour starting at the terminate of June,according to Ludacris. Who also knows the details of their new singles. Jonas is performing first and is doing the whole thing through gritted teeth. Then Tove Lo shows up and sings at Jonas through some glass. It’s a bit steamy and actually fairly interesting and they terminate the whole thing with a snog, or achieve they … the lights go down just at the good time. 2.08am BSTgrossHow unhappy! 2.04am BSTJessica Alba is here to narrate us that Bieber has done it. 2.02am BSTPink is here, or looking like Annie Lennox as she flies across the stadium. This is completely ridiculous. That was like a WWE entrance. 1.51am BSTRemember when I asked who was going to stir things up? Well,DJ Khaled just did the most overblown introduction for a performance ever. In his immutable style he left the floor open for Bieber who was performing new track company in almost pitch darkness. He emerges out of the darkness as the refrain kicks in, I believe people will call that his Tropical House track. Related: How tropical house’s dreamy escapism took dance music by storm 1.47am BSTMiss America and some guy off Shark Tank (trace Cuban) are here to give another award. There’s some stilted banter about trace Cuban running for President. That was painful. 1.40am BSTSo the usual crowd patting themselves on the back then......
Well, or Meghan Trainor is here so there are some outliers. 1.38am BSTThat’s what is flashed up on the screen just as Meghan Trainor starts to perform. Sorry Meghan but there’s one person everyone is here to see and it aint you. 1.36am BSTOur first collaboration of the night sees girl group Fifth Harmony and R&B crooner Ty Dolla $ign link up. Fifth Harmony rise up from a load of dry ice. 1.32am BSTSo … we’re 30 minutes in and things possess been pretty conservative so far. Britney did an abridged version of her Vegas present which she performs around the corner from where the awards are being held. The Weeknd cried some crocodile tears and Wiz Khalifa was really really polite. Who’s going to stir it up? 1.28am BSTAshton Kutcher lets the crowd know that Wiz Khalifa has done it. He’s won the Top Hot 100 Song! He shouts out all the other artists who were nominated and his mum. 1.26am BSTJojo Fletcher from the Bachelorette is here to introduce teenthrob sensation Shawn Mendes. He’s doing a sullen number while sat at a stool with an acoustic guitar. 1.17am BSTThe Weeknd,who is the only nominee in the building, rather predictably wins and then talks about how much Prince means to him while almost crying. He holds it together somehow - it’s only the first award! 1.12am BSTHosts Ludacris and Ciara declare that Britney Spears was “great” and Luda reminds everyone this is the third time he’s hosted the present before they go into a tortured gag about threesomes. This might be a long night. 1.09am BSTSlave For You sees Britney and her backing dancers form a weird congo on the ground before she directs them to a stripper pole. 1.06am BSTShe starts with Work Bitch, and which is the song she starts her Vegas present (I know this because I’ve seen the thing). Then she segues into Womanizer after ripping off a layer of clothing – she’s definitely not singing live btw.
1.02am BSTWeve just had a breathless introduction to the evening with an extensive list of artists who all seem to be making comebacks. First up,Britney. Although, she never really went away. 1.00am BSTHello everyone, or Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com