There was a lot to take in over the three hours of the 2019 Billboard Music Awards. But the telecast was just the tip of the iceberg.
The Billboard team was on the ground at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena all day Wednesday (May 1), starting with the red carpet all the way to the final star coming backstage for photos and interviews. Below, find 17 things you didn’t see on TV during the BBMAs, from Maluma talking about Madonna licking his toes in the “Medellin” video (!) to Cardi B celebrating her six new trophies.
4:14 p.m.: When Billboard catches up with Maluma on the red carpet, he talks about what it was like to team up with the Queen of Pop for their “Medellin” song and video. “Not everybody could say Madonna licked their toes,” the Latin superstar laughs of a particularly intimate moment in the new video.
Watch @Maluma talk about his first time at the #BBMAs, working with @Madonna, and his upcoming album ’11:11.’ pic.twitter.com/ACd6WfJmcp
— billboard (@billboard) May 2, 2019
Watch @SabrinaAnnLynn chat about the upcoming ‘Singular: Act II’ and why her next single is her “most personal” one at the 2019 #BBMAs pic.twitter.com/JcG0SeRxty
— billboard (@billboard) May 1, 2019
Watch @iambeckyg talk about her new single #NextToYou and working with @Anitta on “Banana” at the #BBMAs pic.twitter.com/iqJ3cYSI2O
— billboard (@billboard) May 2, 2019
5:30 p.m.: How will Ella Mai celebrate her win for top R&B artist at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards – the first prize given out Wednesday night? “I wish I had time to, but I leave tonight to go back out on tour,” the “Boo’d Up” breakout star tells reporters backstage. Next stop on her tour: Huntington, West Virginia, on Thursday night.
Watch @QueenNaija talk about how artists like SVW have shown support for her music, and her favorite @MariahCarey song at the #BBMAs pic.twitter.com/8ceYBaiwB6
— billboard (@billboard) May 2, 2019
6:11 p.m.: Seat fillers waiting in the hallways for a chance to get inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena spot BTS after their top duo or group win and shriek to get their attention. (It works.)
6:14 p.m.: BTS file into the Billboard video lounge backstage for a post-win interview. A few minutes later, their reps deliver their two brand-new, shiny BBMA trophies to the septet to pose for photos.
Watch @Lauren_Daigle chat about performing on @AmericanIdol, and meeting @MileyCyrus and the Cyrus family at the #BBMAs pic.twitter.com/2ZmEN6NjCw
— billboard (@billboard) May 2, 2019
We caught up with @JuliaMichaels at the #BBMAs to discuss her intense writing session with @thisisLANY for their song “Okay” & more pic.twitter.com/Wcycpp5qag
— billboard (@billboard) May 2, 2019
6:47 p.m.: Madonna enters our backstage video lounge bearing a gift for Billboard’s Keith Caulfield: his very own eye patch to wear during the interview.
6:56 p.m.: Juice WRLD poses for photographers backstage, holding his very first BBMA –top hip-hop song for “Lucid Dreams” – over his head.
We caught up with @Ciara to discuss performing “Thinkin Bout You” at the #BBMAs, and how inspirational @Oprah is! pic.twitter.com/pt4Zza5Y06
— billboard (@billboard) May 2, 2019
7:33 p.m.: “You guys are a fucking blast, dude,” Panic! at the Disco‘s Brendon Urie says to the rowdy photographers backstage, who are begging him to stick his tongue out and hoist his two new BBMAs in the air; Panic! won top rock song for “High Hopes” and top rock album for Pray for the Wicked.
7:39 p.m.: In the Billboard video lounge backstage, Urie raves about the “bright baby blue eyes” of Taylor Swift’s newest kitten, Benjamin Button, who stars alongside Swift and Urie in the brand-new “ME!” video. “When I gave him to Taylor, he started purring and never stopped purring,” Urie says of the purr-fect moment. “She said, ‘Can I have him?'”
8:01 p.m.: Cardi B steps into our backstage video lounge after taking home a whopping six trophies at the awards show. During one of her speeches on Wednesday night, she talked about her excitement over going to No. 1 but she said she can’t stress too much about topping the charts. “Going No. 1 is a bonus,” she says.
