By Tawanda Cawthon
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The 2013 Billboard Awards took off with a bang with NBC’s 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan at the helm, hosting the awards show. The funny man didn’t disappoint, cracking jokes on some of the nominees, presenters and whoever else that came into his view.
Taylor Swift walked away with eight awards, including top artist and top Billboard 200 album for “Red.”
Taylor Swift arrives at the 2013 Billboard Awards in Las Vegas - Getty Image
In her acceptance speech she said to the crowd, “you are the longest and best relationship I ever had.”
Touche’ Ms. Swift…
The singer topped her big night off with a colorful show stopping performance of her hit “22″ — starting backstage and working her way to the main stage on the back of a bike with help from a dozen background dancers and a flurry of red balloons, it was an epic performance.
R&B singer Miguel, too, had a show-stopping performance, though he seemed to kick a fan when he jumped over the crowd during a performance of his hit “Adorn.” The singer appeared to have landed part of his body on one girl, who walked away, and kicked another girl, who held her head low. Uh…that was very scary — praying for the injured fans. (check back for updates on this one.)
Bruno Mars and his band graced the stage in silky red suits mimicking the 70′s gold disco balls in all its glamor. Mars performed his new single, the upbeat and old-school flavored “Treasure.” A performance to be remembered…is all else I will say.
One of my favs Justin Bieber had three wins. When accepting the milestone award, he told the crowd, “I’m 19 years old; I think I’m doing a pretty good job. And basically from my heart I really just want to say it should really be about the music, it should be about the craft that I’m making. This is not a gimmick,” he said. “I’m an artist and I should be taken seriously and all this other bull should not be spoken.”
Justin Bieber at the 2013 Billboard Awards - Photo credit: Getty
Bieber performed with Will.i.am and solo when he sang “Take You” in leather pants, a leather vest and a black shirt that had one sleeve, as blue laser lights beamed.
Maroon 5 were also nominated for 11 awards and walked away with one win each in pre-telecast announcements. Gotye and Rihanna also were tied with four awards.
Miley Cyrus dazzled the red carpet as she promoted her new single, “We Can’t Stop.”
Miley Cyrus arrives at the 2013 Billboard Awards - Getty Image
The 2013 Billboard Music Awards aired live Sunday on ABC.
What were some of your most memorable highlights? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
Billboard.com contributed to this report
