The winner of BMAs' Milestone Award shakes off the haters as saying, 'I'm an artist and I should be taken seriously and all this other bull should not be spoken of.'
- May 20, 2013
AceShowbiz - Claps were mixed with boos when Justin Bieber was announced as the winner of fan-voted Milestone Award, a first ever prize at the Billboard Music Awards to honor artist who shows the most musical ingenuity and innovation. Undeterred by the mixed responses, he made it clear to his haters that he felt he deserved the win.
After a few moment of standing on stage in silence while watching the crowd, the Canadian teen idol finally broke his silence saying, "I'm 19 years old, I think I'm doing a pretty good job and basically, from my heart, I really wanna say it should really be about the music. It should be about the craft, the craft that I'm making."
He added, "This is not a gimmick. I'm an artist and I should be taken seriously and all this other bull should not be spoken of. I wanna thank my manager, Scooter Braun. I wanna thank my family at home. I wanna thank my mother, my father, I wanna thank Jesus Christ. Mom, I love you so much. Dad, I love you. Little brother and sister, I love you so much. Thank you guys so much. Fans, you're incredible."
Bieber won the award over such strong contenders as Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift. He was presented the trophy by Cee-Lo Green and a voter who won the contest to be invited to the stage that night. After the booing incident, host Tracy Morgan allegedly reprimanded the crowd, "Don't be booin' nobody, this ain't 'Showtime at the Apollo.' "
Bieber himself focused on the positivity and tweeted a self-empowering message, "2 performances and 2 awards. Grateful to my #Beliebers. Our awards. Love u...I love music, my fans, my family, my friends.. And I love The Lord"
The teen heartthrob won two other coveted gongs at the event, Social Artist of the Year and Male Artist of the Year. He additionally took the stage to perform his single "Take You" and collaborated with will.i.am in "#thatPOWER".
