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NEWS : STORIES
It was all about R&B and hip-hop at Wednesday night's Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. Usher was the big winner with 11 awards, followed by Alicia Keys with seven, Outkast with five and Kanye West with four. Usher, who opened the
Keys, who performed "Karma" with a pair of violinists, two bucket percussionists and a troupe of break-dancers, won Female Artist of the Year, R&B/ Hip-Hop Single of the Year ("If I Ain't Got You") and Hot 100 Songwriter of the Year. The show also featured the first-ever Ringtone of the Year award, which went to 50 Cent's ubiquitous rap track "In Da Club." Maroon 5 were named Digital Artist of the Year and Outkast won Digital Track of the Year for "Hey Ya!" On the same day he was nominated for 10 Grammys (see "Kanye Scores 10 Grammy Nominations; Usher And Alicia Keys Land Eight"), Kanye West won Male New Artist of the Year, new R&B/ Hip-Hop Artist of the Year, R&B/Hip-Hop Producer of the Year and Rap Artist of the Year. Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz took home a pair of awards for Independent Artist and Album of the Year for Kings of Crunk. The show featured a number of bizarre moments, not the least of which occurred when actress Tara Reid tripped onto the stage to face nearly 30 seconds of agonizing downtime while the TelePrompTer apparently malfunctioned. Reid introduced the reunited Mötley Crüe (see "Original Lineup Of Motley Crue Reuniting For World Tour"), whose singer, Vince Neil, stammered a few times and then admitted he could not see the Prompter without reading glasses. And when Ashlee Simpson collected Female New Artist of the Year to a small chorus of boos, the singer responded by doing a dance step and joking that if artists ever get nervous, they can do the "Texas jig" she did after her infamous "Saturday Night Live" lip-synching incident (see "Ashlee Identifying With 'Wannabe' Character, Says She's Over 'SNL' Episode"). Britney Spears, making her first public appearance since marrying dancer Kevin Federline, took the stage in a body-hugging sheer dress to present the first award of the night, Rap Artist of the Year, which went to Kanye. Spears won the Hot Dance Single of the Year for "Me Against the Music." Destiny's Child were given an Artist Achievement Award, and an all-star cast that included DC, Mary J. Blige and Diana Ross closed the show with a musical tribute to Century Award winner Stevie Wonder. As the band vamped on one of his songs, Wonder took the stage and spontaneously burst into a vocal performance of his 1973 hit "Higher Ground." The Billboard Awards are based on record sales and airplay tabulated by the magazine between December 2003 and November 2004. This report is provided by MTV News
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