Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Count Us In: Billboard keeps up with trends for Wednesday’s awards show

Find out during Wednesday's "Billboard Music Awards," the first network awards show to recognize sales of legally downloaded music tracks.

"We've seen a watershed in the music industry where, for the first time ever, legal computer downloads exceeded sales of singles," said Paul Flattery, a producer of Fox's television broadcast at Bob Bain Productions.

"It's a big thing that they've started to harness the power of the Internet, so we are going to give out the first-ever award for Digital Track of the Year."

Battling for that honor: Beyonce and Jay-Z ("Crazy in Love"), Black Eyed Peas ("Where is the Love?"), Coldplay ("Clocks") and OutKast ("Hey Ya").

Wednesday's show kicks off at 5 p.m. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Tickets are available from $40 to $175. The two-hour event will be broadcast live on the East Coast and at 8 p.m. locally on Fox (KVVU Channel 5).

This year's show - the 14th annual edition - will also feature a new method for announcing winners. Instead of presenting a group of nominees and naming the victor, the new system will count down nominees in each category, from No. 4 to No. 1.

"We used to be in a very excellent position of being the first awards show of the season," Flattery said. "Now our success has caused a lot of other shows to move into the same window, so we're trying to distance ourselves from being just another show.

"Everybody has seen those same old nominee packages, so we've gotten rid of them." Rapper 50 Cent leads the field with nominations in six categories, including Artist of the Year, Album of the Year ("Get Rich or Die Tryin'") and Hot 100 Single of the Year ("In Da Club").

Pop star Beyonce and R&B singer R. Kelly are up for five awards each, with country trio the Dixie Chicks and dancehall artist Sean Paul close behind with four nominations apiece.

Popular Fox reality talent series "American Idol" will also be well represented, with second-season runner-up Clay Aiken slated to perform, first-season winner Kelly Clarkson set to present an award and "Idol" host Ryan Seacrest on hand to emcee.

"We've wanted (Seacrest) as host for years," said Flattery. "He's a DJ, he's on one of the highest-profile shows in the country and it's on our network, so it made a lot of sense."

"American Idol" alumni also dominate the nominations for Best-Selling Single of the Year, where Aiken ("This is the Night" / "Bridge Over Troubled Water"), second-season winner Ruben Studdard ("Flying Without Wings" / "Superstar") and a cast ensemble ("God Bless the U.S.A.") hold down three of four spots.

Other scheduled live performers are: Beyonce, the Foo Fighters, R. Kelly, No Doubt, Pink, Sting and Shania Twain.

In annual BMAs tradition, the show will also include a taped segment from an off-site location. This year it will be Evanescence playing its brand of goth-rock from the downtown Neon Museum's sign graveyard.

Sting will also receive this year's Century Award, marking the first time a Billboard Century winner has been on hand to perform.

"Sting is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and he's won 15 Grammys, but this award is really about his creative and artistic achievements," Flattery said. "We're very excited he'll be there."

Originally scheduled as performers, Black Eyed Peas will instead present after a group member suffered a leg injury late last month.

Also expected to present: Outkast, Audioslave, LL Cool J, Celine Dion, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

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