It's that time of the year when all of Europe and selected outsiders come together for the biggest singing competition in the world. Move over, Idol, The Voice and The X Factor, as 2016 Eurovision Song Contest is the biggest yet, with 43 countries battling it out for the trophy. With Russia as the favourite going into the competition even Australia who is now granted the status of a fully fledged contestant has entered one of its strongest competitors. After Sweden took the crown in 2015, it was Stockholm's turn to host the show. With two semi-finals and a final which saw 26 countries vying for the crown.
The ultimate winner of the contest was Ukraine with the song 1944, performed by Jamala. This was Ukraine's second win and its first since 2004. This was the first time since the introduction of professional jury voting in 2009 that the overall winner won neither the jury vote, which was won by Australia's Dami Im with Sound of Silence, nor the televote, which was won by Russia's Sergey Lazarev's You Are The Only One, with Ukraine placing second in both. As soon as the results were announced petition was signed by Change.org to get the organizers of the contest to cancel the results, doubting Jamala's victory. However, the European Broadcasting Union stood firm and affirmed their initial decision.
The ultimate winner of the contest was Ukraine with the song 1944, performed by Jamala. This was Ukraine's second win and its first since 2004. This was the first time since the introduction of professional jury voting in 2009 that the overall winner won neither the jury vote, which was won by Australia's Dami Im with Sound of Silence, nor the televote, which was won by Russia's Sergey Lazarev's You Are The Only One, with Ukraine placing second in both. As soon as the results were announced petition was signed by Change.org to get the organizers of the contest to cancel the results, doubting Jamala's victory. However, the European Broadcasting Union stood firm and affirmed their initial decision.
The 2016 Billboard Music Awards was also held in May hosted by Ludacris and Ciara and The Weeknd leading the nominations with 20. Leading up to the awards there was drama involving Kesha and Dr.Luke who are still embroiled in litigation. Dr.Luke's Kemosabe Records who initially granted approval to Kesha to perform at the awards, thereafter rescinded it which led to a major media backlash and a huge fan uproar. However, this decision was again changed and Kesha was allowed to perform, which led to her first official performance at an awards show since her infamous lawsuit.
The BBMA kicked off with an opening medley by the 2016 Billboard Millennium Award recipient Britney Spears whose medley included iconic hits such as Toxic, Womanizer and Work Bitch. The best performance of the night however was Pink's Just Like Fire which saw her putting on a marvelous acrobatic show. Other awesome performances include DNCE's Cake By The Ocean, Ariana Grande's Dangerous Woman/Into You, Rihanna's Love On The Brain and a tribute to Prince by Madonna and Stevie Wonder. The Weeknd was the big winner of the night grabbing 8 wins including Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Song Sales Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist and Top R&B Artist. Adele won 5 awards including Top Artist, Top Female Artist and Top Billboard 200 Artist. Other winners included:
- Top Male Artist: Justin Bieber
- Top New Artist: Fetty Wap
- Top Duo/Group: One Direction
- Top Touring Artist: Taylor Swift
- Top Hot 100 Song: Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth - See You Again
- Top Billboard 200 Album; Adele - 25
- Top Dance/Electronic Artist: David Guetta
- Top Dance/Electronic Song: Major Lazer & DJ Snake ft. MO - Lean On
- Top Dance/Electronic Album: Zedd - True Colours
- Top R&B Song: The Weeknd - The Hills
- Top R&B Album: The Weeknd - Beauty Behind The Madness
- Top Rap Artist: Drake
- Top Rock Artist: Twenty One Pilots
- Top Soundtrack: Pitch Perfect 2
- Billboard Icon Award: Celine Dion
Moving on to chart news, in the US Desiigner's Panda finally ended the 9-week reign of Rihanna ft. Drake's Work. After only two weeks at the top Drake ft. Wizkid & Kyla's One Dance grabbed the top spot. One Dance became Drake's first No.1 in the US as a lead artist while he earned the top spot alongside Rihanna with Work and What's My Name earlier and came as close as No.2 with Hotline Bling and Best I Ever Had. The fourth and final week of the month saw Justin Timberlake's Can't Stop The Feeling! from the original soundtrack from the movie Trolls grab the No.1 spot. The charts witnessed a surge in hits by Prince in early May as the superstar's death caused his fans to purchase, stream and request his hits on the radio. As a result When Doves Cry and Purple Rain, his two signature hits re-entered the top 10, both of which had a stint at No.1 back in 1984.
Next up Queen Bey's surprise sixth studio album Lemonade was released after which Beyonce became the first female artist to chart 12 or more songs on the US Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, with every song on the album debuting on the chart. She passed the previously held record of 11 by Taylor Swift's Speak Now album. Formation, the lead single from Lemonade debuted at No.10 on the Hot 100. During the month The Chainsmokers ft. Daya's Don't Let Me Down, Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna's This Is What You Came For and Rihanna's Needed Me all entered the top 10.
Meanwhile in the UK, Drake's One Dance continued its supremacy over the charts being at the helm throughout the month and accumulating six consecutive atop the charts. JT's Can't Stop The Feeling!, Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna's This Is What You Came For, Galantis' No Money, DJ Snake ft. Bipolar Sunshine's Middle and Desiigner's Panda all entered the top 10 during the month.
Other songs which became popular during the month include:
- Drake ft. Rihanna - Too good
- Fifth Harmony - Write on me
- Twenty One Pilots - Ride
- Jennifer Lopez - Ain't your mama
- Little Mix ft. Sean Paul - Hair
- Ruth B - Lost boy
- Tim McGraw - Humble and kind
Till the next beat...
At Ease!!!
(All images used in the posts unless otherwise mentioned are drawn from https://images.google.com/ and the author does not hold copyright over the photos used.)
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