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March 28, 2024

Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Beyonce, Neil Diamond win at Billboard Music Awards

2011 Billboard Music Awards Show

Steve Marcus

Taylor Swift poses with awards backstage during the Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, May 22, 2011. Swift won awards for Top Billboard 200 Artist, Top Country Artist and Top Country Album.

2011 Billboard Music Awards Show

Justin Bieber poses backstage after winning the award for Top New Artist during the Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, May 22, 2011. Launch slideshow »

The Kats Report at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards

Fergie on the carpet at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 22, 2011. Launch slideshow »

2011 Billboard Music Awards: Red Carpet

Rihanna at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 22, 2011. Launch slideshow »

2011 Billboard Music Awards: Telecast

Beyonce performs during the 2011 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 22, 2011.

Launch slideshow »

Editor's note: If you are trying to stay away from results of the 2011 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena, steer clear of this column until the broadcast finishes airing at 11 p.m. on the West Coast on ABC.

We're going live, sans rehearsal, from the 2011 Billboard Music Awards telecast at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The show starts at 5 p.m. and airs live across the country on ABC, except for the West Coast, when it airs at 8 p.m. So if you're hoping for suspense and tension and surprise at the announced winners during the telecast, stay away from this blog. Otherwise, enjoy the ride.

At the moment, we're listening to the announcer work on the intro for show host Ken Jeong, who plays the hapless, addled and terribly funny mobster in "The Hangover" and its new sequel, "The Hangover, Part II." Earlier, I bumped into one of the city's best vocalists, Mark Giovi, who is singing in a Las Vegas choir behind Neil Diamond.

Outside, near the red carpet just off the lower entrance to MGM Grand Garden Arena, fans have been gathering for hours to catch a peek at some of the stars set to meet the media before the show. Heading out in a moment, but not before this fun fact about Jeong: He was pursuing a career in medicine, having earned his medical degree at North Carolina and finishing his residence in internal medicine in New Orleans (this all courtesy of the event program). But in 1995, he won the Big Easy Laff-Off in New Orleans, with NBC exec Brandon Tartikoff as one of the judges, and Jeong's comic career took hold.

Jeong's medical background might be why he has such an acute eduction of pharmaceuticals in the "Hangover" films. Whatever, time to hit the carpet. As they say in "The Hangover": "Chow!"

Updated at 5 p.m.: What we learned on the red carpet: Neil Diamond might well play Las Vegas, as long rumored (AEG Live and The Colosseum at Caesars Palace are chiefly interested in luring him to a residency here). "Make me an offer," he said. ... Sinbad's daughter, Paige Bryan, is a rising vocalist and also very tall (she's 5-foot-11). Sinbad remembers playing basketball against Tony Smith, the former Runnin' Rebel great who helped close the Sahara last weekend (Smith worked at the front desk). "He played at Saginaw (Mich.) High, and after the game, we had to run out of the gym," Sinbad recalled ... Fergie is wearing some kind of a menacing black-belted number and what I believe are 9-inch heels. ... Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum loves playing roulette and likes Scotty McCreery to win "American Idol."

Updated at 5:15 p.m.: "Come on!" warble Rihanna and Britney Spears to open the show. Spears is in black, Rihanna white and red (her hair, at least). Well-received, groovin' performance as Spears continues her comeback-of-sorts on Vegas stages. Jeong opens with a production number dedicated to Vegas with Pat Monahan of Train; when last we saw him, he was headlining at Red Rock's pool area. Album Artist of the Year is the first award to be given, up next. Eminem and Taylor Swift -- in the same field! As is Susan Boyle, who simply cannot win. She doesn't. It's Swift.

Updated at 5:25 p.m.: "I want to thank everybody who helped get me out of my hometown," says Justin Bieber of London, Ontario, Canada, after winning Digital Artist of the Year. His career was launched on YouTube, so that figures. Bieber thanked his fans, and Usher, and is wearing a sparkly gold jacket that reminds of Liberace and Elvis and, perhaps, Frank Marino. The garment hints toward them, at least. The Black Eyed Peas are up now performing a medley starting with "Just Can't Get Enough" with considerable vocal augmentation. Fergie's wearing a dress with live gold lighting weaved in and looked like she nearly slipped while hustling up the stage steps. No matter. The fans at Grand Garden Arena are rejoicing.

Updated at 5:45 p.m.: "What's goin' down?" asks Randy Jackson. Not a lot, Randy! Just another weekend in VegasVille! The requisite award show clip showing the host of the production touring Vegas was really funny, with Jeong visiting Fashion Show and Celine Dion's show at Caesars. Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms made a cameo to introduce the segment. The Top Hot 100 Song is Taio Cruz's "Dynamite." Cruz says he's not been honored in such a way before and is very humbled. Proving such, he removes his shades.

Updated at 5:50 p.m.: Helping Nas introduce Ne-Yo and Pitbull for their performance of "Give Me Everything," Leong does a pretty ridiculous Flavor Flav impression. Actually, all impressions of Flavor Flav are pretty ridiculous. Show's playing big, dozens of dancers and musicians and splashy lights abound. Vegas looks like a lot of fun here.

U2 talks of future projects during Vegas return

Bieber meets the media at Billboard Awards

Snoop-Leach summit (includes profanity)

Snoop Dogg keepin' it real

Updated at 6:05 p.m.: Introducing the Country Song of the Year, Tim Allen delivers a leaden joke with, "I'm uniquely qualified to announce the Country Song of the Year, as I am from this country." The winner: "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum, who has won about 23 awards this year.

Updated at 6:10 p.m.: There is a lot of millennium left, but the Millennium Artist of the Year is Beyonce (introduced by her mother, Tina Knowles, in person, and first lady Michelle Obama, on video recording. She's 29 but seems to have been around forever. I can barely remember when she was Beyonce Knowles in Destiny's Child. 'Course, I can barely remember where I parked my car tonight ...

Updated at 6:15 p.m.: Top Duo or Group goes to The Black Eyed Peas. Fergie's back in the dress she wore on the carpet, thankfully. Will.i.am is wearing a thing on his head that looks something like a hockey helmet, yet more stylish than that. Sort of like a plastic, form-fitting toupee. It nearly defies description, actually. I'd like to see these guys headline long-term here. They are fun.

Updated at 6:20 p.m.: Cee-Lo Green playing a quickie medley, "Crazy," "F ... orget You," in there. He's won tonight's Viral Innovator Award. To celebrate, he seems to have cornered the market on silver sequins. Very Elton John-inspired stage presentation, with a silver piano and a black cape splashed with silver. Hey! Here's something! The piano goes topsy-turvy, all upside down, spinning. It's Cee-Lo Soleil!

Updated at 6:28 p.m.: Jeong has challenged Keith Urban to a dueling-banjo contest. Seems only one actually knows how to play the instrument. Lady Antebellum is performing now, 90 minutes into the awards.

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Fergie walks the red carpet at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 22, 2011.

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Rihanna walks the red carpet at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 22, 2011.

Updated at 6:40 p.m.: Rihanna wins Radio Artist of the Year. A cutaway shot to Urban and Nicole Kidman shows them chuckling through Rihanna's ad-lib acceptance speech. ... Cruz is back to sing his Hot 100 Song of the Year "Dynamite," the Official Song of Every Nightclub on the Planet.

Updated at 6:45 p.m.: Justin Bieber just kissed Selena Gomez! This seems news you can use! He also was just named Top New Artist! And he's 17, he's thanking God amid the shrieks from fans. But the man I really respect is the artist who introduced the finalists, a pigtail-boasting Snoop Dogg, who thanked no one but brought a smile to our faces nonetheless. We need more Snoop Dogg in our lives.

Updated at 6:50 p.m.: In the media room, Cruz was asked, reasonably, if he ever got tired of "Dynamite" being played relentlessly in clubs all around the world. He seemed startled and said, "No. I love the song. When I hear it and I'm by myself, I sing along."

Updated at 7 p.m.: Travis Barker is back! On the red carpet, he said that his first three tattoos were lost because of skin grafts in the 2009 plane crash and fire that nearly killed him and DJ AM. He just played a nifty drum solo.

Updated at 7:05 p.m.: Bieber just met with the media. He's a sweet kid. A sweet kid who is dressed niftily in a gold blazer and black tie who is worth about $16 billion. He's thanking God and expressing his desire to work with Will.i.am and Jay-Z someday. He's taking some time off. His 17-year-old body needs rest.

Updated at 7:10 p.m.: We have seen an all-time summit in the media room: Snoop Dogg and Robin Leach. "You're a bad mother*^$@#!," Snoop said to my colleague. "I wanna work with you. I wanna get that voice on some (stuff)." He also performed one of the greatest Leach impressions ever. Snoop might or might not be stoned tonight, but he is a world-class entertainer. World class. He said of Britney Spears, "Didn't Britney look great? She's back on her (stuff). Good for her. We need to praise her."

Updated at 7:20 p.m.: U2 loves Vegas. We know this. They have been honored for their record sales and live act. Standing ovation from the audience. U2, still cool. "Some of the greatest music is made so quietly and you can make classic albums in your bedroom and play the greatest show of your life on a one-string guitar," Bono says, "But we just don't do that." In a moment to be edited, The Edge just dropped an s-bomb. What is that, an s-boomlet. Whatever, he swore.

Updated at 7:45 p.m.: Great visit from U2 themselves in the media center. I asked them about what it was like to return to Vegas, a city they quite like, and Bono reminded of kicking off the "PopMart" tour at Sam Boyd Stadium in 1997. "We thought it would be great, what could be more Vegas than 'PopMart?' " he asked. "Well, because it was Las Vegas, it was like, no big deal." He also said he ran in the desert to prepare his voice for the challenging climate. "That was a bad idea, too." The Edge finished by saying, "Las Vegas is great for us, because it's a place where grown-ups can have childlike ideas."

Updated at 7:55 p.m.: As Neil Diamond accepts his Icon Award and sings "America" and "Sweet Caroline," Taylor Swift just said she's grateful for the three awards she's won tonight and would love to work with Bruno Mars. Why not Neil Diamond? He's singing now! Finishing with "America," and somehow it is fitting. Maybe we'll see Diamond in Vegas, full- or part-time.

Updated at 8:15 p.m.: Jeong just left the media room. He says he would do a "Hangover III," if asked. "Absolutely. Big part, small part, whatever they want -- and I know a lot about small parts," he said, drawing a laugh from the journalists in the room who got the joke. "But shots guys are like family to me, and all of the success I have today is a direct result of 'The Hangover.' " He says the sequel is "The Empire Strikes Back of the Hangover. It's crazy. That's all I can say." Oh, it is that.

Updated at 8:20 p.m.: Show director Louis J. Horvitz says he hopes the show returns to Las Vegas after a 5-year absence between visits. "It's just an entertaining show here. From an entertainment standpoint, it works for us to have it here."

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow "Kats With the Dish" at twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.

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