Hello people of the internet!!! On today’s ‘Monday Memos’, we are going to recap the ‘2015 Billboard Music Awards’ (yay!!!). This year’s ‘Billboard Music Awards’ were hosted by rapper/actor Ludacris, and model Chrissy Teigen, and was definitely a show that we’ll be talking about for the rest of the year. One part of the show that we were all looking forward to was the premiere of Taylor Swift’s ‘Bad Blood’ music video. With a large cast of celebrities such as: model/actress Cara Delevingne, supermodel Cindy Crawford, and actresses Hailee Steinfeld, Selena Gomez, Lena Dunham, Zendaya, and many more. The music video was very action packed and had a very cool futuristic spy feel to it. This video was definitely unlike anything we have seen from Taylor, and really shows her evolution as an artist. Not only is Taylor an inspiration to all aspiring popstars out there, her impressive new video may also inspire any up and coming videographers that want to have their own success within the music industry. It can be tough to make waves in the music video scene, but one potential way to get ahead is by having the very best equipment in order to obtain the best shots possible. As a director, you could do this by investing in something like the Mavic Mini drone, as this could allow you to get shots that none of your competitors will be able to keep up with, and you may find yourself directing your own Taylor Swift video one day. Now let’s move on to the awards, and finally the performances (I’m only going to include a few of the awards & performances that were shown during the show, because if I included everything, I would have y’all here all day. If you want to see the full list of winners and performances, check out billboard.com). So are y’all ready? Ok, let’s go! Awards: Top Duo or Group: One Direction We all had to see this one coming because One Direction has been an unstoppable force ever since their first single dropped in the U.S. They have won tons of awards, broken numerous records, and were recently named the first band in U.S. Billboard history to have their first four debut albums debut at #1.
Top Billboard 200 Album: 1989 by Taylor Swift Ok now we all know how well 1989 did this year, but honestly what else would you expect from Taylor Swift!?! With hit singles that stayed in our heads all year like Shake It Off, Blank Space, and Style, it’s no wonder that 1989 has ruled 2015 so far.
Top Male Artist: Sam Smith Now if you’ve listened to the radio at all this year, you are very familiar with Sam Smith’s music. His debut album ‘In The Lonely Hour’ went platinum, and won Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2015 Grammy Awards. Needless to say he’s had an AMAZING year.
Top Female Artist: Taylor Swift With the success of 1989, it’s obvious that Taylor Swift would have a great chance of winning this award so I honestly don’t think that anyone would be surprised here.
Top Hot 100 Song: ‘All About That Bass’ by Meghan Trainor Now you know you’ve been singing along to this one ever since it first came out. The fact that ‘All About That Bass’ has gone platinum 6 times in the U.S. definitely proves that Meghan deserves this award. I honestly don’t see this song’s popularity dwindling, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Top Artist: Taylor Swift Again it’s Taylor Swift, she seriously ruled the radio waves this year so none of us are even surprised here.
Performances: Nick Jonas ‘Jealous’: So first of all we have to talk about is Nick Jonas’ performance of ‘Jealous’. This song was a really big hit for Nick this year, and the excitement of the crowd showed that this song is still a hit with fans. This performance had a lot of cool elements to it, such as awesome backboard graphics that really made this performance stand out. All in all this was a really cool performance that fans loved from beginning to end.
Mariah Carey ‘Vision of Love’ & ‘Infinity’: Mariah Carey wowed us next with a performance that had everyone’s attention. She began her performance with her debut hit single ‘Vision of Love’, which is a song that we all still hold near and dear to our hearts. Next up we got to hear her new track ‘Infinity’. This performance definitely showed that Mariah is still able to impact is with her music, and will be an artist that we’ll keep coming back to for infinity.
Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth ‘See You Again’: Ok now this is a song that we all have had on repeat for a while now and honestly you have to admit that you still cry whenever you hear it (Honestly how many times have you seen that music video featuring Paul Walker and just started to cry. #RIPPaulWalker). At the award show Wiz and Charlie were joined by YouTube star Lindsey Sterling who, as usual, blew us away with her amazing violin skills as. The vibe of the performance was very intimate and chilled which definitely made us all want to seriously cry. The emotionally charged lyrics were definitely front and center during this performance, due to Charlie and Wiz’s ability to deliver the song in a way that made us all feel the message of the song (seriously when Charlie started choking up during the song, I thought that I was going to lose it).
Britney Spears & Iggy Azalea ‘Pretty Girls’: This was another performance that everyone was looking forward too, because we love Britney, and we love Iggy, so when you put them together it’s just perf! This performance had a very 80s feel to it, and was such a fun number to watch. It was so interesting to see these two collab because their musical styles are so different, so it’s exciting to see what they will each do next.
Tori Kelly ‘Nobody Love’: The ‘Kia One To Watch Artist’ Tori Kelly was up next, and she really showed how talented she truly is. It was amazing to see her completely captivate the audience without any special staging or effects. It really made you feel like you were able to personally connect with Tori and fall even more in love with her music. This performance made me really excited to see what’s next for her.
Simple Minds ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me): This was certainly one of the night’s most talked about performance, due to the fact that the cult classic movie ‘The Breakfast Club’ turned 30 this year. This performance had a very rock concert sort of vibe and the crowd was just completely hooked from beginning to end. It’s really fun to see so many different people rocking out to their favorite song, and the energy was definitely brought up A LOT during the this performance.
Imagine Dragons ‘Stand By Me’ (Ben E. King cover): The last performance that we’re going to discuss is Imagine Dragon’s amazing performance of ‘Stand By Me’. This is a song that we all know and love, so it was so great to see that Imagine Dragons did their best to keep the original feel of the song intact, and molded their musical style to best fit the song. This was another tear jerking moment due to Ben E. King’s tragic passing recently, but I thought that this was a beautiful way for his incredible talent to be honored.
All credit goes to unrealitytv.co.uk, Billboard Music Awards, Taylor Swift, Ludacris, Chrissy Teigen, billboard.com, Cara Delevingne, Cindy Crawford, Hailee Steinfeld, Selena Gomez, Lena Dunham, Zendaya, One Direction, Syco Records, Columbia Records, 1989, Big Machine Records, Max Martin, Jack Antonoff, Nathan Chapman, Imogen Heap, Greg Kurstin, Mattman & Robin, Ali Payami, Shellback, Ryan Tedder, Noel Zancanella, Shake It Off, Republic Records, Sam Smith, In The Lonely Hour, PMR, Columbia Records, Method, Jimmy Napes, Steve Fitzmaurice, Komi, Naughty Boy, Two Inch Punch, Eg White, Fraser T Smith, All About That Bass, Meghan Trainor, Epic Records, Kevin Kadish, Nick Jonas, Jealous, Island Records, Jealous, Sir Nolan, Nolan Lambroza, Simon WIlcox, Mariah Carey, Ben Margulies, Rhett Lawrence, Narada Michael Walden, Columbia Broadcasting System, Sony Music Entertianment, Legacy Recordings, Eric Hudson, Priscilla Renea, Taylor Parks, IIsey Juber, Wiz Khalif, Charlie Puth, See You Again, Paul Walker, Lindsey Sterling, Atlantic Records, DJ Frak E, Andrew Cedar, Marcos de Silva, Britney Spears, Iggy Azalea, Pretty Girls, Rostrum Records, Taylor Gang Records, George Astasio, Jason Pebworth, Jon Shave, Maegan Cottone, Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, The Invisible Men, Jive Records, RCA Records, Def Jam Records, Mercury Records, Grand Hustle Records, Virgin EMI Records, Tori Kelly, Nobody Love, Capitol Records, Savan Kotecha, Rickard Goransson, SImple Minds, A&M Records, Keith Forsey, Steve Schiff, Virgin Records, The Breakfast Club, Universal Pictures, John Hughes, Ned Tanen, A&M Films, Channel Productions, Imagine Dragons, Ben E. King, Stand by Me, KIDinaKORNER, Interscope Records, Atco Records, Stand by Me, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Atco Records, Atlantic Records, Ichiban Records, all of the businesses, companies, people, and any other original owners that should receive credit for anything mentioned in this blog post, and all original owners. I do not own anything in this blog. If any people, corporations, businesses, companies, etc, were not previously given credit for their work, they are given credit now and their previous absence was unintentional. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own. I wrote this blog for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended
Hello people of the internet!!! On today’s ‘Monday Memos’ we are going to discuss our predictions for who will win awards at the 2015 Grammy Awards! I choose 8 random categories (you can check out the rest of the nominees here: GRAMMY.com | The Official Site of Music’s Biggest Night) for us to look at, and added a few sentences why I think that these artists/songs will win. This is a really competitive year, so if y’all have any counter suggestions please let me know in the comments section below. Ready? Let’s go!
Record of the Year:
Fancy by Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX
You couldn’t escape this song in 2014, and we wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Fancy received overall positive reviews upon its’ release, and was able to hold on to the #1 spot of the Billboard Hot 100 for 7 consecutive weeks.
Album of the year:
Beyoncé by Beyoncé Knowles
Ok, when an artist can release an album without any previous announcements or promotion, and the album debuts at #1…well that’s really awesome! The album sold so many copies within the first 3 days (828,773), that it has become the fastest selling album in the history of the iTunes Store…sounds like album of the year to me.
Best new artist:
Iggy Azalea
This year Iggy became the fourth solo female rapper to ever top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the first female & non-American rapper to be featured on XXL Magazine’s annual Top 10 Freshmen cover issue (an issue that names the top 10 up an coming rappers, that is credited for giving any rappers the exposure necessary to become instant stars) also, she joined the Beatles as the only acts to ever have their debut Hot 100 at #1 & #2 simultaneously, she also passed rapper Lil’ Kim as the female rapper with the longest-leading #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100. Yeah, she definitely seems to have the tile of artist of the year locked down.
Best pop duo/group performance:
Bang Bang by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj
This song (which features 3 really big stars) has gone triple platinum in the U.S., and had the 3rd largest sales debut for a song in 2014. Bang Bang also played non-stop on all mainstream radio stations ALL year in 2014, so it’s definitely a huge contender for this award.
Best country song:
I’m Not Gonna Miss You by Glen Campbell
This song appeared as the theme song for Glen Campbell’s 2014 documentary I’ll Be Me 9which received numerous positive reviews), and is the final studio recording ever released from the legendary singer/songwriter. With a career that spanned over 50 years, and included: countless awards in music & film, a 2012 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, hosting a variety show entitled The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, and so much more than I can include in this post. Because of his extraordinary career, and the fact that this song is extremely awesome, I definitely think that he deserves this award.
Best country album:
Platinum by Miranda Lambert
With singles such as: Automatic & Something Bad, we couldn’t get Miranda out of our heads this year. This album also made Miranda the first artist in history to start her career with five consecutive #1 albums. Platinum has also received nearly unanimous positive reviews from numerous critics. In the past year Miranda has been on a serious roll, so I don’t expect this to end anytime soon.
Best country duo/group performance:
Gentle on My Mind by The Band Perry from the Glen Campbell I’ll Be Me Soundtrack EP
Now this song previously won 4 Grammy Awards when it was originally released in 1968 (which proves how awesome the song is), and has gotten A LOT of radio play since it was released late this year. It has to be hard to cover such an iconic song from an extremely legendary artist (and the fact that this song appeared on that legend’s last project adds a little bit more pressure), despite all this pressure, The Band Perry really proved that it can raise to the challenge.
Best rock song:
Ain’t it Fun by Paramore
Ok, you know that you were jammin out to this song all year! This was definitely a change of pace for this band; however it was a risk that really paid off for them. This song is also Paramore’s highest peaking song, made the album it appeared on (also entitled Paramore) this band’s first album to produce two Top 40 hits, and was certified Platinum in the U.S.
All photos and information used in this blog belong to Grammy.com, the Grammy awards, Island Records, Virgin EMI Records, Amethyst Charlotte Aitchison, George Astasio, Jason Pebworth, Jon Shave, Kurtis McKenzie, The Invisible Me, The Arcade, Parkwood Entertainment, Columbia Records, Ammo, Boots, Deail, Jerome Harmon, Hit-Boy, HazeBanga, Key Wane, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash, Caroline Polachek, Rey Reel, Noah “40” Shebib, Ryan Tedder, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams, Def Jam Records, Grand Hustle Records, Mercury Records, Lava Records, Republic Records, Max Martin, Savan Koecha, Rickard Goransson, Onika Maraj, IIya, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, Jessie J, Glen Campbell, Julian Raymond, Big Machine Records, Miranda Lambert, RCA Nashville, Frank Liddell, Chuck Ainlay, Glenn Worf, The Band Perry, John Hartford, Paramore, Fueled by Ramen, Warner Bros., Records, Hayley Williams, Taylor York, Justin-Meldal-Johnsen, and all other original owners. I do not own anything in this blog. If any people, corporations, businesses, companies, etc, were not previously given credit for their work, they are given credit now and their previous absence was unintentional. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own. I wrote this blog for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended.
Hello people of the internet!!! On today’s ‘YouTube Wednesday’ we are going to discuss the 2014 YouTube Rewind (here’s the link for y’all YouTube Rewind: Turn Down for 2014)! Now if you don’t know, every year YouTube releases a cool video where they highlight the biggest YouTube songs, events, videos, etc. of the year, and the video has numerous cameos from your fav YouTube stars. These videos honestly amaze me more and more every year, because of the creativity, hard work, and awesomeness that goes into all of these videos. So please read keep reading to find out why I know that y’all will love this video! Ready? Let’s go!
The video includes YouTube stars such as: Bethany Mota, Amanda Steele (MakeupbyMandy24), AmazingPhil, Brittani Louise Taylor, Connor Franta, Epic Rap Battles, Hannah Hart, Grace Helbig, and so many more! There were also SO many popular songs featured such as: ‘Turn Down For What’ by DJ Snake & Lil Jon (link here: DJ Snake, Lil Jon – Turn Down for What ), ‘Fancy’ by Iggy Azalea (link here: Iggy Azalea – Fancy (Explicit) ft. Charli XCX – YouTube), #SELFIE’ by The Chainsmokers, (here’s a link: #SELFIE (Official Music Video) – The Chainsmokers) ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams (link: Pharrell Williams – Happy (Official Music Video), ‘All About That Bass’ by Meghan Trainor (here’s a link: Meghan Trainor – All About That Bass – YouTube), and lots of our other favs from 2014. We also got to see recreations of some of this year’s most popular viral videos and events such as: the ‘First Kiss’ Video which was uploaded by Tatia Pllieva (I got a link for ya: FIRST KISS), the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (which was uploaded by basically everyone), and lots of other really awesome videos. What I loved most about this rewind video, is that it had really cool transitions with the music and the different scenes, and that it felt like a really epic music video, not just a mix of various video clips. There was also another really cool segment where different YouTubers performed ‘Let It Go’ from Frozen, while they stood in front of a cool snowy mountain background and drew with snow in the air. I honestly LOVED the special effects in this scene, because it really felt like a scene from a movie, it was just so cool. I also thought that the ending was perfect (which was a “how it should of ended’ segment, because it left the vide on a hilarious ending note. Just perfect! It was so cool to see a visual yearbook of YouTube and pop culture events, because you realize how much can happen and change in a year.
So what did y’all think of the 2014 YouTube Rewind? Personally this one was so good that it made me excited for the next year’s video. I can’t wait to see what AMAZING music and YouTube acts will be featured! What do you think next year’s video is going to be like? The one thing we can predict is that if 2014 was so big and impactful, 2015 is going to be even crazier.
All photos and information used in this blog belong to YouTube, DJ Snake, Lil Jon, Iggy Azalea, Charli XCX, The Chainsmokers, Pharrell Williams, Meghan Trainor, Tatia Pllieva, The Amyotrophic Lateral Scierosis Association and all of it’s sponsors and affiliates, Columbia Records, Island Records, Amethyst Kelly, Charlotte Aitchison, George Astasio, Jason Pebworth, Jon Shave, Kurtis McKenzie, The Invisible Men, the Arcade, 604 Records, Dim Mak Records, Andrew Taggart, Back Lot Music, I Am Other, Columbia Records, Epic Records, Kevin Kadish, WREN studios, Soko, 9to5google.com, Frozen, Walt Disney Corporation, Idina Menzel, Hollywood Records, Kristen ANderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Action Movie Kid, Aichi Ono, Amanda Steele, AmazingPhil , Andy Raconte,, Anil B. Ape Crime, Apollos Hester, Barely Political, Bart Baker, Bethany Mota, Big Bird, Bilingirl, Brett Nichols, Brittani Louise Taylor, Carrie Fletcher, Chris Hardwick, Colin Furze, Conan O’Brien, Conchita Wurst, Connor Franta, Corridor Digital, Cyprien, daaruum, danisnotonfire, Devil Baby, Dodie Clark, Ella Caney-Willis, Enjoy, Phoenix, Epic Rap Battles, Evan Edinger, fouseyTUBE, Freddie W, Gabriel Valenciano, Gal Volinez, Grace Helbig, Hajime, Hannah Hart, Heart, Hello Denizen, Hikakin, HolaSoyGerman, How It Should Have Ended, IISuperwomanII, iJustine, Ingrid Nilsen, iTakahashi, JennXPenn, Jenna Marbles, Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver, Kacy Catanzaro, Kid President, Kingsley, Kosuke, Kurt Hugo Schneider, Le Floid, Luke Cutforth, Mamiruton, Manako (Q’ulle), MasuoTV, Matt Bittner, Max Murai, Michelle Phan, Mika Shindate, Niki Albon, PDS, Pentatonix, PewDiePie, PrankvsPrank, Raphael Gomes, Rhett & Link, Rosanna Pansino, Sadie Miller, Sam Tsui, Sami Slimani, Sammy Albon, Sasaki Asahi, Seikin, Sione Vaka Kelepi, Sir Fedora, SkyDoesMinecraft, Smosh, Stephen Colbert, Steve Kardynal, Stuart Edge, The Fine Bros, The Gregory Brothers, The Slow Mo Guys, Troye Sivan, Tyler Oakley, VlogBrothers, Vsauce2, Vsauce3, WORLD ORDER, and all other original owners. I do not own anything in this blog. If any people, corporations, businesses, companies, etc, were not previously given credit for their work, they are given credit now and their previous absence was unintentional. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own. I wrote this blog for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended.
