Beside tributes to the musicians who died this year, the Sunday, May 20 event will present 'a continuum of great production values from start to finish'.
- May 20, 2012
AceShowbiz - The agenda for this year's Billboard Music Awards have been revealed. To many like Chris Brown and Katy Perry, the event would the perfect platform to promote their latest singles. To the world, it would be a remembrance of the fallen musicians, Whitney Houston, Donna Summer and Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch.
Producers intend to bring the Sunday, May 20 ceremony at MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas a notch higher than last year. "The challenge for us honestly was not about topping last year," Richard Beckman said. "We put on a great show, it got tremendous ratings and great buzz, and there were some great highlights - the opening with Rihanna and Britney, the Beyonce moment was extraordinary. But I think that this show has more of a continuum of great production values from start to finish than we managed last year."
Performances will come from Justin Bieber, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, LMFAO, Cee-Lo Green, Linkin Park, The Wanted, Nelly Furtado and more. Stevie Wonder will be presented with Billboard's Icon Award and he would later perform with Alicia Keys.
"Billboard is an incredibly powerful brand - 118 years old, still the bible of the industry - and I wanted to create an event that celebrates that and articulates that and enables us to grow to a place where the product we put onstage, which is seen in 120 countries this year by millions of people, really enhances and empowers the brand. I'm not so much focused on how year two can be better than year one - I'm more concerned with 10 years and how we can narrow the gap with the Grammys," Beckman added.
