Sunday, June 15, 2025

Billboard Music Awards Play the Race Card: “The Oscars of Music Except with Black Nominees”

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The Billboard Music Awards? Why, Ludacris says they’re the “Oscars of music except with black nominees.” Oh yes, both shows air on ABC. It was a nice way to kick off a three hour crap fest full of lip synching.

Britney Spears? A Zombie wind up doll who clearly doesn’t sing.

Madonna’s tribute to her “collaborator” Prince? Well meaning, but lacking soul. It would be as if Justin Bieber saluted Stevie Wonder.

And Bieber? Like Britney, kept the live vocals to a minimum. Mostly pre-recorded. At least he kept his clothes on.

Some great moments? Rihanna. Oh boy. The GoGos– sang live, it was the realest part of the show.

Pink: sang live before she was hoisted into the air, but what a performance! Nice to have her back.

Shawn Mendes: He’s trying to be real. Keep it up.

ABC stuffed the show with presenters from their various shows, all of whom had nothing to with music. What you get with this show is no sense of a music business or world, no community, just a jukebox of unmemorable top 40. Singers with voices (Ariana Grande) are forced to sing pedestrian throwaway jingles. There was very little emotion or real feeling, with the exception of Celine Dion (who’s still belting it out) and Kesha, who’s become her own movement.

Last year’s show drew 11.1 million viewers. Let’s see how this one did– tomorrow.

 

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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