Billboard Music Awards

Last night I went to the Billboard Music Awards. It was the first time I had been to an awards show and especially one that was being televised live. Because it was being shown live on the east coast, I had to be there pretty early. No big deal, but I decided to get smart finally about dealing with the crowd for these huge events. The event was being held at the MGM Grand so I decided to valet my car across the street at New York New York and then walk across the street to the hotel. It worked out beautifully.

My seat for the show was up in the balcony. If you were looking at the stage, I was to the right and up, up, up. The seat wasn’t too bad considering I bought the ticket last week. I thought it would be a sold out event, but I saw plenty of empty seats scattered throughout the place. I thought about bringing binoculars but I didn’t want to carry them, so I suffered without.

The show itself was decent. I was surprised at how short most people are. I realize the camera puts on pounds, but height too? I was also interested to see what was going to happen during the commercial breaks. Turns out, nothing much happens. It’s the time when some of the celebrities schmooze with each other and the audience tries to make a mad dash for the bathroom or food or beer before the break ends. Once the show starts back up again, they don’t let anyone in the arena until the next commercial break. Now I understand why I was seeing empty seats.

The performances were interesting. Janet was visually awesome, but I can never seem to understand a word she says. She just has that breathy quality that I find annoying. It really stands out when you compare her to someone like Mary J Blige who belted out her songs. She was easily the best performer of the night. Such a HUGE sound coming from her. The worst performance had to be Fergie. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out she wasn’t even singing. Didn’t she look weird? Like she didn’t know what she was supposed to be doing? It wasn’t any better live, I can assure you. I don’t know what it was but I was surprised she didn’t move around more. I associate her with so much more animation. It was a big disappointment. Gwen was pretty good. I was surprised she was so tall. I’m not loving the latest song, but am looking forward to hearing a song called Early Winter. Know who wrote it? One of the guys from Keane.

So the show went fine and I ended up getting home around 8. It was funny because I was just in time to see the show again, this time for the West coast. I had Tivo record it for me so I could watch it and confirm that I never appeared anywhere. Turns out my new escape route through New York New York was brilliant. There was no wait at the valet. There was one other family there who it turns out had also been at the show. We congratulated ourselves on our brilliance and then headed home.