The 2016 Billboard Music Awards provided plenty of water-cooler talk for Monday morning, from Britney Spears‘ hit-packed medley and Celine Dion‘s emotional performance of Queen‘s “The Show Must Go On” and acceptance of the ICON Awards to Madonna‘s tribute to Prince, with a surprise assist from Stevie Wonder. But that wasn’t all that went down in Las Vegas.
Billboard Music Awards 2015: 21 Things You Didn’t See on TV
Billboard had eyes all over the brand-new T-Mobile Arena: on the (magenta) red carpet, backstage, in the star-packed photo lounge, and right in the crowd. Below, find 24 things you didn’t see on TV:
2 p.m. PT: The Billboard Music Awards magenta carpet opens up on a sunny, sweaty, 80-degree-plus Las Vegas day.
.@FifthHarmony share their favorite Prince songs — #BBMAs pic.twitter.com/LHneOHP1tt
— billboard (@billboard) May 22, 2016
Our cover star and @Hot100Fest headliner — #BBMAs pic.twitter.com/9055ZvqB7g
— billboard (@billboard) May 23, 2016
5 p.m.: Before Britney Spears even starts her 10-minute-plus medley of hits to kick off the show, she gets a standing ovation from the T-Mobile Arena crowd.
5:26 p.m.: Britney breezes backstage in a two-piece blue rhinestone number to take pics in the Billboard photo booth.
The legend herself! –?? Congrats @BritneySpears on your #BBMAs millennium award — pic.twitter.com/ktgGav0Nnt
— billboard (@billboard) May 23, 2016
5:32 p.m.: The audience is instructed to wear light-up bracelets correctly for the Fifth Harmony and Meghan Trainor performances. “Don’t wear it like a watch. Have the buckle on top.”
5:48 p.m.: Justin Bieber begins his performance behind a screen, making him look like a hologram from the audience.
5:55 p.m.: During a commercial break, a massive clock is set on fire to test it out for Pink‘s pyrotechnic performance of latest single “Just Like Fire.”
6:14 p.m.: Serayah rocks a orange bandeau top with matching track pants to take some pictures in the Billboard photo booth backstage, singing along to Rihanna’s Anti.
Deuces! @Serayah BTS ?? #BBMAs pic.twitter.com/SKVgX8uSzu
— billboard (@billboard) May 23, 2016
6:24 p.m.: Following Lukas Graham‘s emotional performance of breakout hit “7 Years,” a piano is rolled out onto a platform in the middle of the crowd. Twenty minutes later, Ben Folds gets behind the keys to back up Kesha on her cover of Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe.”
6:29 p.m.: Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani hold hands as they walk offstage after performing “Go Ahead and Break My Heart.”
6:40 p.m.: Rachel Platten takes pics in the photo lounge as Robyn‘s “Dancing On My Own” and Janet Jackson‘s “That’s the Way Love Goes” blasts in the background.
BTS with @DNCE — #BBMAs pic.twitter.com/iY94e9ATYu
— billboard (@billboard) May 23, 2016
6:48 p.m.: Kesha hugs Ben Folds after their triumphant performance.
7:01 p.m.: Before hitting the Billboard photo booth, David Guetta sees DJ Khaled on the TV monitor backstage and exclaims, “I love this guy!”
Congrats, @ThomasRhett on Top Country Song! #BBMAs — pic.twitter.com/TdrRW2UFne
— billboard (@billboard) May 23, 2016
7:22 p.m.: During the video package introducing Troye Sivan, a group of fans chants, “Troye! Troye! Troye!”
7:27 p.m.: Kesha sings along with The Go-Go’s to “We Got the Beat” from the back of the audience.
7:31 p.m.: Celine Dion holds hands with her son as they walk backstage to the photo room.
7:33 p.m.: Keke Palmer admires the box lunches Billboard staffers are munching on backstage — so we go and get her one while she takes photos. “Somebody loves me!” she squeals when presented with the turkey sandwich.
7:55 p.m.: Celine pauses backstage to watch Madonna’ Prince tribute on a TV monitor.
–Additional reporting by Shirley Halperin and Denise Warner
