The First Ever iHeartRadio Music Awards!
Your full recap of the first ever iHeartRadio Music Awards!
Rihanna holding one of her many awards of the night! (photo from http://news.iheart.com/awards/)
It was an exciting night at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Thursday, May 1. The first ever iHeartRadio Music Awards were held at 8 p.m. on NBC! Did you miss the event? No need to panic because BUnow has the full recap to settle your worries.
The show opened with Pitbull on a boat! The yacht-like setting looked like a real vacation as Pitbull performed “Wild Wild Love” with G.R.L. and “Timber,” but Kesha (who recently dropped the dollar sign from her name post rehab) was not present for the performance. There were some noteworthy moments that went down at the awards show, but first we must talk fashion!
Celebrities filled the red carpet and eventually their beautifully decorated tables inside the venue for the awards show, which was quite entertaining for its first time debut. From Luke Bryan smooching his gorgeous wife Caroline, to Jared Leto looking sharp in a bright blue jacket and silver aviators, all of the celebrities walking the red carpet seemed excited about attending the awards show. Even though stars like Selena Gomez and Rihanna did not attend the pre-show, other big stars stunned on the carpet. Hilary Duff looked amazing, post separation from Mike Comrie, in a gold embroidered LBD by Maria Lucia Hohan. Teen heartthrob, Austin Mahone looked super cute in all white, as his fan army the “Mahomies” cheered him on from outside the carpet. Two stars that really made heads turn were Selena Gomez and Jennifer Lopez. As usual, E! News covered all of the fashion. E! revealed that Gomez kept it simple in a midriff-baring Cushnie et Ochs number, and Lopez looked incredible in a beaded halter mini by Zuhair Murad.
Many stars such as Ashley Greene and Giuliana Rancic looked fabulous, but some A-list celebs did not dress to impress. Rihanna can look great in just about anything, but when she showed up late to the awards show with an “interesting” hair style, gothic ensemble and green lipstick, it was safe to say it was not her best look. Other poorly dressed stars were Cheryl Burk, sporting a metallic and leather dress that looked like she was wearing a bustier, and Chelsea Kane who wore a floral printed jersey and a white skirt. For the whole fashion scoop on the iHeartRadio red carpet click here.
Even though Rihanna failed in the fashion portion of the night, she ended up winning the most awards. She won the first award of the night for the Hip Hop/R&B Song of the Year for “Pour It Up,” but presenter, Pitbull had to accept the award because RiRi was running a little late. The iHeartRadio Twitter account tweeted, “Here’s a LA story for you: TRAFFIC. @Rihanna is actually stuck on the 405 Freeway on her way to the #iHeartAwards!” She won Best Fan Army for her “Rihanna Navy,” song of the year for “Stay,” and last but certainly not least, Rihanna took home the biggest award of the night, Artist of the Year!
Many more awards were given out and some of the winners were shocking choices, while others were obvious. The winners are as follows:
Best New Artist- Lorde (this was our choice, so we were happy)
Best Collaboration- “Timber” Pitbull feat. Kesha
Best Lyrics- “Wrecking Ball” Miley Cyrus (which was a little odd because iHeartRadio reported that Miley Cyrus did not even write the song)
iHeartRadio Young Influencer Award- Ariana Grande (who was star struck when Hilary Duff handed her the award)
iHeartRadio Instagram Award- Austin Mahone (another choice of ours)
Country Song of the Year- “Boys ‘Round Here” Blake Shelton
EDM Song of the Year- “Wake Me Up” Avicii
iHeartRadio Innovator Award- Pharrell Williams (who wore his Twitter famous Vivienne Westwood tall hat and had a crowd raising set of his new song “Come Get It Bae,” “Get Lucky,” “Happy,” and “Blurred Lines.”)
One moment that was pretty awkward to say the least was when Billy Ray Cyrus accepted his daughter, Miley Cyrus’ award for Best Lyrics. It seemed as though he thought it was appropriate to make a lengthy speech, almost acting as if he won the award himself. The country artist referenced the storytelling of late country artist George Jones (which was confusing because Miley is not a country singer).
Kendrick Lamar had a sentimental performance, surrounded by fans, when he covered the 1996 hit of “California Love”. After he admitted that he saw the music video being filmed by 2Pac and Dr. Dre.
One of the best moments of the night was when the late Michael Jackson’s newest song debuted, “Love Never Felt So Good,” which will feature Justin Timberlake when it is played by stations around the country. Even though the iconic star passed nearly five years ago his music is proving to live on forever. According to E!, the King of Pop recorded the song 31 years before its debut on Thursday! Usher led a choreographed performance to the song, which included vocals, costume, and the famous moonwalk. This isn’t the only “new” music from Jackson though: XSCAPE, an album featuring his previously unreleased songs, will be available May 13. Per Hollywood Reporter, Justin Timberlake, and Mary J. Blige are two featured artists on the record, E! reported. You can listen to Jackson’s new song here.
Another shocking moment was when Ariana Grande took the stage to perform her newest single, “Problem, featuring Iggy Azalea, (who has been getting tons of press for being an up and coming star to watch with famous collaborations already) the new face of Revolve Clothing for the summer of 2014, and “The Way.” Grande’s performance was flawless, as usual, but it was the celeb reactions captured by cameras that really started a media frenzy. It seemed as though some stars had their own “Problem” with the young singer. The camera panned to Rihanna who seemed disinterested in the performance. When Grande started to dance the camera went back to Rihanna who was seen holding her mouth as she could not stop laughing, making it seem as though she was poking fun at the “The Way” singer. Country singers and bromance buddies, Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan were caught on candid camera as their expressions were anything but interested. Bryan later tweeted, “Wow me concentrating doesn’t look good.” Their reactions went viral. For the full scoop head to E!
From red carpet fashion, to late arrivals and great music, the first ever iHeartRadio Music Awards seemed to be a success. For the best moments of the night and more news about the awards show click here
