britneyspears
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Marking one of the last awards shows to end the trophy season, the 2016 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas have come to an end for another year. And while there were big winners – Adele took home five awards including “Top Artist”, “Top Billboard 200 Album” and “Top Selling Song” and The Weeknd was awarded eight including “Top RnB Album”, “Top RnB Song” and “Top Hot 100 Artist” – there were some low points. We’re looking at your performance Britney! Settle in on your commute home and watch the most noteworthy of the live performances.

Britney Spears
It was the lip-synching medley to end all medleys – and possibly a few tickets to her Vegas shows. While headlines were made last week when it was reported Spear’s conservatorship under her father may continue for the rest of the singer’s life, her BMA’s performance didn’t do much to convince us otherwise that this is a bad idea. While her dance moves were so much sharper than her 2009 Circus tour in Australia, the obvious lip-synching just doesn’t fly these days.

 

Rihanna
The 28-year-old showed off her top-notch vocals as she performed Love On The Brain from her current album, Anti. So into the performance she was, you could feel her frustration at not being able to swear on air. If only she was as bad as her Instagram handle would have you believe.  We’re calling it, this is her best vocal performance to date.

 

P!nk
No matter how good any other artist shall be, P!nk always reigns as the acrobatic queen. And her BMA 2016 performance was no different. Behold, a clock in flames as the singer hangs above the audience performing her single Just Like Fire.

 

Justin Bieber
He took away the “Top Male Artist” gong beating out multiple award winner The Weeknd. And who could argue? His Sorry performance reminded us all that the most overplayed song of 2015/16 still has legs, and as long as Bieber and Selena Gomez keep their back and forth online banter going, we know he’s still dedicating this one to her.

 

Celine Dion
To celebrate her “Icon Award”, Dion revived Queen’s The Show Must Go On as a tribute to her late husband Rene Angelil who died in January (who could forget that open casket?) It was no It’s All Coming Back To Me Now or All By Myself but the emotions were very real (just ask Lea Michele who tweeted her support for the singer immediately after the performance), proving once and for all, the heart really will go on. (Sorry, we couldn’t resist).

 

Madonna and Stevie Wonder
Quest Love introduced this performance with a moment’s silence dedicated to the late singer, Prince. As Madonna performed Nothing Compares To You to the arena, it was a big surprise when she welcomed Stevie Wonder to the stage to perform Prince’s Purple Rain. The stadium lit up with purple wristbands.

 

Fifth Harmony
You may not know be overly familiar with the girl band but you know their tracks like this one, Work From Home. No, there is no lead singer, but the girl in the leotard in the front, Camila Cabello, is definitely the Harry Styles of the group and could completely be Selena Gomez’ next biggest threat.

 

Nick Jonas and Tove Lo
The chemistry between these two is ridiculous. The former Jonas brother (who dated Australian singer Delta Goodrem in 2012) performed his single Close, a sultry coming-of-age track that Zayn Malik would have wished was his.

 

Ariana Grande
Proving Celine Dion isn’t the only one with the best falsetto, Grande performed Dangerous Woman and new single Into You. And yes, she performed it with the same hairstyle as per usual.

 

Kesha
And perhaps the most noteworthy performance of the night goes to Kesha. In her first public performance since her highly-publicised court case against producer Dr Luke, the singer brought the house down with her version of Bob Dylan’s It Ain’t Me Babe to a standing ovation.