The Billboard Music Awards were very good

Clothing averse pop star Britney Spears opened last night's Billboard Awards with an eight-minute medley of hits (not including her biggest hits, but she did Toxic so that's ok).

As always, Spears is teetering on a tightrope - will she pull it off or collapse like a souffle in a vacuum? - and the tension is delicious.

When she did a backflip during Touch Of My Hand I felt inexplicably proud of her.



Adele premiered her new video, Send My Love (To Your New Lover) at the ceremony. If you've ever wanted to see 10 Adele's super-imposed over each other with the opacity set to 40%, then this is the video for you.



Bieber, DNCE, Demi Lovato, The Go-Go's, Ke$ha and Tove Lo (ft Nick Jonas) also played - the latter being a short, but sexually-charged blast of power pop.


Bbut my favourite performance of the night was the simplest. With no flam or fanfare, Rihanna delivered a vocally-flawless, impassioned rendition of Love On The Brain, bathed solely in a feather boa and a green spotlight.

Breath-taking.


You can watch the whole thing on 4 Music later tonight.

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Two must-watch performances from the 2013 Billboard Awards

So, the Billboard Awards took place in Las Vegas last night. They were mainly memorable for the moment R&B crooner Miguel made the ill-advised decision to try a running jump over the audience.


OUCH.

Crotch/face collisions aside, Taylor Swift took home a entire wardrobe of awards, while One Direction got three. Madonna was named top touring artist, and Justin Bieber was booed, probably because his prize (the "Milestone award") was completely made up.

But the main event was Prince, who turned up in a space helmet made of hair to receive the Icon Award. He celebrated with a blues-rock version of Let’s Go Crazy, complete with bass solo from his new band 3rd Eye Girl.

There’s a school of thought that says Prince is at his best when he remembers he’s an incendiary guitar player. This would appear to be the proof.

Prince - Billboard awards 2013

(NB: If this video gets taken down, there’s a studio version of the swampy 2013 remake of Let’s Go Crazy over here).

At the other end of the scale was Taylor Swift’s highly-choreographed performance of 22. Starting backstage, climbing over tables and through clothes racks, the singer arrived on stage via the medium of a bicycle before a pyrotechnically-enhanced finale. It’s a little High School Musical but the production values are astonishing.

Taylor Swift - Billboard Awards 2013


There’s a full list of Billboard winners on the magazine’s website.

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