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Michael Jackson was brought back to life — sort of — on Sunday night, at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
A hologram of the King of Pop, surrounded by real-life backup dancers, performed “Slave to the Rhythm,” off the recently-released posthumous album Xscape. Wearing red pants and a golden jacket, the hologram showed off many of MJ’s patented moves — the spins, the gyrations, the kicks into the air.
The high-tech performance came just days after a federal judge knocked down a last-minute lawsuit brought by two tech companies that claimed it would violate their patents.
Robin Thicke debuted a new song, “Get Her Back,” during the ABC telecast — a not-so-subtle reference to his estranged wife, actress Paula Patton. He mentioned Patton while accepting the award for top R&B song for “Blurred Lines,” saying, “I’d like to thank my wife for her love and support and for putting up with me all these years.”
Miley Cyrus did not appear in person, but she made her presence felt from England, where she delivered a pre-recorded performance of The Beatles‘ classic “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” with help from members of The Flaming Lips. She and the group recently recorded a version of that song for The Flaming Lips’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band tribute album.
Miley won multiple awards, including top streaming artist. She cursed during her taped acceptance speech, but the objectionable word was censored, obviously.
Katy Perry‘s performance, of her new single “Birthday,” was taped in the U.K., too. She serenaded a little girl who was actually celebrating her birthday at the concert.
Kendall Jenner, a younger sister of Kim Kardashian, had the faux pas of the night, when she attempted to introduce the Australian pop group 5 Seconds of Summer. It seemed that she started to call them One Direction, before stopping herself and telling the audience, “I’m the worst reader,” referring to the teleprompter.
Justin Timberlake had some funny moments, even though he didn’t attend. He was the night’s biggest winner, collecting seven awards, including top artist. During his taped speech for top artist, he joked, “It’s not a competition, but if it was I won!”
He then added, “I want to thank everybody on Earth, everybody on Earth…except Donald Sterling.”
Imagine Dragons received five awards, while Robin Thicke, Pharrell and T.I. scored four apiece for their work on “Blurred Lines.”
The three-hour broadcast, which was hosted by Ludacris, concluded with Jennifer Lopez performing her new A.K.A. track “First Love,” then accepting Billboard‘s Icon Award. She is the first women to receive that honor.
J-Lo helped open the show, too, teaming up with Pitbull for a performance of their World Cup song “We Are One (Ole Ola).”
The night’s lineup also included:
— OneRepublic, “Counting Stars”
— Iggy Azalea, “Fancy”
— Ariana Grande & Iggy Azalea, “Problem”
— Florida Georgia Line & Luke Bryan, “This Is How We Roll”
— Shakira, “Empire”
— Imagine Dragons, “Tiptoe”
— Ricky Martin, “Vida”
— Luke Bryan, “Play It Again”
— Lorde, “Tennis Court”
— Miranda Lambert & Carrie Underwood, “Something Bad”
— John Legend, “You and I”
— Jason Derulo, “Talk Dirty to Me”
Here are the winners for the 2014 Billboard Music Awards:
Artist Awards
Top Artist
Justin Timberlake
Top New Artist
Lorde
Top Male Artist
Justin Timberlake
Top Female Artist
Katy Perry
Top Duo/Group
Imagine Dragons
Top Billboard 200 Artist
Justin Timberlake
Top Hot 100 Artist
Imagine Dragons
Top Digital Songs Artist
Katy Perry
Top Radio Songs Artist
Justin Timberlake
Top Touring Artist
Bon Jovi
Top Social Artist
Justin Bieber
Top Streaming Artist
Miley Cyrus
Top R&B Artist
Justin Timberlake
Top Rap Artist
Eminem
Top Country Artist
Luke Bryan
Top Rock Artist
Imagine Dragons
Top Latin Artist
Marc Anthony
Top Dance/Electronic Artist
Daft Punk
Milestone Award Presented by Chevrolet
Carrie Underwood
Icon Award (previously announced)
Jennifer Lopez
Album Awards
Top Billboard 200 Album
Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience
Top R&B Album
Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience
Top Rap Album
Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP 2
Top Country Album
Luke Bryan, Crash My Party
Top Rock Album
Imagine Dragons, Night Visions
Top Latin Album
Marc Anthony, 3.0
Top Dance/Electronic Album
Daft Punk, Random Access Memories
Song Awards
Top Hot 100 Song
Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell Williams, “Blurred Lines”
Top Digital Song
Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell Williams, “Blurred Lines”
Top Radio Song
Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell Williams, “Blurred Lines”
Top Streaming Song (Audio)
Imagine Dragons, “Radioactive”
Top Streaming Song (Video)
Miley Cyrus, “Wrecking Ball”
Top R&B Song
Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell Williams, “Blurred Lines”
Top Rap Song
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Ray Dalton, “Can’t Hold Us”
Top Country Song
Florida Georgia Line Featuring Nelly, “Cruise”
Top Rock Song
Lorde, “Royals”
Top Latin Song
Marc Anthony, “Vivir Mi Vida”
Top Dance/Electronic Song
Avicii, “Wake Me Up!”
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