REPORTS: The Highs and Lows of the 2017 Billboard Music Awards

Cher is rocking her looks as she performs onstage during the Billboard Music Awards at the T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nev. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The 2017 Billboard Music Awards took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas this Sunday, and while the official winners of the night were youngsters like Drake, the Chainsmokers, and twenty one pilots, it was the elder statesmen and stateswomen of pop — late legends Biggie Smalls and Chris Cornell, and Vegas queens Cher and Celine Dion — who truly dominated the proceedings.

These were the night’s highs and occasional lows…

HIGH: Multigenerational Bad Boys for Life Unite

On what would have been slain rap star the Notorious B.I.G.’s 45th birthday, Bad Boy honcho Puff Daddy appeared onstage to pay his respects to “my friend, my brother, and my artist … the best rapper I ever had the chance to work with.”

Following a reel of archival footage of Biggie’s late mother, Voletta Wallace, accepting her son’s posthumous BBMAs trophy from Puffy two decades ago (“A life lost is a life missed,” she said), Biggie’s 20-year-old son, rapper-actor C.J. Wallace, approached the podium and said, “I know my father is looking down on all of us tonight and all of this love and support. My sister and I carry on his name with tremendous pride, and I live my life by his words.” (Later, another BBMAs legend’s offspring, Michael Jackson’s oldest child Prince, showed up to present Drake with the night’s biggest honor, Top Artist).

LOW: Vanessa Hudgens Gets a Bad Rap

Hey Vanessa, what’s good? The former High School Musical starlet — after bizarrely/unconvincingly claiming that Nicki Minaj is her “rap alter ego” — accepted a challenge from her BBMAs co-host, hip-hop MC Ludacris, to drop a few impromptu verses. We applaud Vanessa’s bravery, but this was a moment we did not want 4 life. (In her defense, Hudgens fared much better when — once again egged on by an oddly aggressive Luda — she belted a few lines of BBMAs performer Celine Dion’s “Power of Love.”)

HIGH: Drake Finds His Love

Puff Daddy and C.J. Wallace weren’t the only hip-hop stars who gave emotional speeches Sunday. Drake may have been this year’s big BBMAs champ with 13 trophies (an all-time record for the most wins in a single night), but he took a cue from Kendrick Lamar and remained humble when he eloquently accepted the award for Top Male Artist.

“I had a close friend of mine that didn’t support my album but supported other people’s stuff, and I asked him why,” Drake began. “And their response was, ‘I don’t want to look thirsty, and you get enough love as it is.’ And it’s crazy that we’re all here on earth for a limited amount of time, and we need to show love while we’re here. So tonight, I want to say, Vanessa Hudgens, you look incredible tonight. I want to say, Ludacris, I know we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but I have a lot of love for you, and I want to say that while I’m still here. And Nicki Minaj, I’m glad we found our own way back. And Lil Wayne, if not for you, none of us would be here tonight. And my dad’s got on a purple suit!”

We’re sure Drake’s violet-attired father was proud.

HIGH and LOW: A Too-Silent Moment for Chris Cornell

Along with the Puffy’s Notorious B.I.G. speech, the other moving tribute of the night came when Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds delivered a short but sweet salute to Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, who died Wednesday at age 52.

“Although tonight is a time to celebrate the music and artists of the past year, it’s also a time to remember someone we lost this week,” Reynolds said somberly. “Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell was a musical architect and a pioneer in the Seattle grunge movement, a singer with the voice for the ages, with a foundation that has helped so many children around the world. Even though Chris is gone, his legacy endures. We send our respects and love to Chris’s family at this time. Please join with us in a moment of silence to remember Chris Cornell.”

So why does this moment qualify as both a high and low? Because, as touching as it was, it would have been wonderful to see the BBMAs (a show sadly light on rock music in general) stage a proper, full musical tribute to someone as important as Cornell — even with the late notice. Why didn’t Dick Clark Productions ring up Eddie Vedder, or the Rage Against the Machine members with whom Cornell formed supergroup Audioslave, or even a hip new rock band like Royal Blood? Apparently we’ll just have to wait till next year’s Grammys for that.
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LOW: The Chainsmokers Fail to Bring the Heat

The Chainsmokers’ unstoppable (and, frankly, unexplainable) pop domination continued apace Sunday, as they scooped up four undeserved awards for their bland bro-tronica and ungraciously heckled the perfectly nice Ansel Elgort from their seats for no good reason. Their charisma-free “Young” performance, featuring Drew Taggart strumming an acoustic guitar in an attempt to pull off some sort of EDMford & Sons vibe, just made us want to hear Vanessa Hudgens rap again.

[Editor’s note: I really am getting old. For the life of me, I could not hear anything in this song that sounded like a winner. Even “Duke of Earl” gets the sing-along and dancing rhythm going in me but “Young” was just plain D-U-M-B. Shows what you can do when you’ve got some money behind you.]
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LOW: Sam Hunt Has an Unimpressive “Body” of Work

If you ever wondered what it would sound like if one half of the Chainsmokers went country, look no further than bro-country heartthrob Sam Hunt and his latest formulaic summer single, “Body Like a Back Road.” ‘Nuff said. [Uh – ‘nuf said about this song. Tacky.]
HIGH: Cher Turns Back Time

Only the uni-monikered, unitarded Cher could upstage Celine, Nicki, and Miley. Receiving a lifetime achievement award, the ageless icon, who turned 71 the day before the ceremony, bragged that she can still “hold a five-minute” plank — and the proof was in the way she filled out the sheer bodystocking she wore in her “If I Could Turn Back Time” music video almost 30 years ago.

“I’ve wanted to do what I do since I was 4 years old, and I’ve been doing it for 53 years,” Cher said. “I want to thank my mom, because when I was really young, she said, ‘You’re not going to be the smartest, prettiest, or the most talented, but you’re going to be special. And then when I met Sonny [Bono], he said the same thing. And there was nothing about me that led anyone to believe I was going to be special … I think luck has so much to do with my success.”

We respectfully disagree, and judging by the starstruck look on presenter Gwen Stefani’s face or the wild cheers from the audience (which included Cher’s son, Chaz), it was pretty clear that everyone thought Cher was the most special person in the room. [Saw Cher in Las Vegas a couple of years ago – FABULOUS show! Cher was in fine voice and it really didn’t look like she was lip-syncing although I wouldn’t blame her if she did as she moved around the stage so much it had to – literally – be “breath” taking.]