Lack of suspense leads Billboard Awards to focus on fun, performances

The Billboard Music Awards return to Las Vegas Sunday -- and to existence after a five-year absence.

The three-hour show at the MGM Grand Garden arena will be hosted by "The Hangover" star Ken Jeong and feature performances by Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Keith Urban, Black Eyed Peas, Lady Antebellum, Taio Cruz, Cee Lo, Nicki Minaj and Pitbull.

In addition, Beyonce will be presented with an honorary Billboard Millennium Award.

"Billboard magazine is the definitive gold standard of measuring an artist's success," says Richard Beckman, chief executive officer of Promethus Global Media, which acquired the music trade publication in January 2010. "And I brought the greatest music producer in the country to do this, on a major network, in the great city of Vegas."

Beckman is co-producing the show with Don Mischer, co-producer of this year's Oscars telecast. Showtime is 5 p.m., with ABC broadcasting it nationally (tape delay means that viewers of the KTNV-TV, Channel 13 telecast must wait until 8 p.m.).

Leading the list of this year's Billboard Music Award finalists are Rihanna (18), followed by Eminem (16) and Lady Gaga (12). But the appeal of the Billboard awards has never been suspense over who will win. Unlike the Grammys and American Music Awards, winners are preordained by sales, downloads and airplay. (This year, there also are new criteria: Myspace and Facebook interactions.)

"Much as we'd like to think otherwise, I don't think people are waiting all year to find out who the winner of the Billboard Music Awards are," Beckman admits. "So what we're going to do is create a great evening, celebrate the music industry and create something that's fun to watch and attend."

The awards show, launched by Billboard magazine in 1990, took place in Las Vegas from 1996-2006 (for one year at the Aladdin and nine at the MGM Grand) and was originally broadcast on Fox. It ceased production in 2006 -- although the awards continued as a feature in the magazine.

"I don't think the shows in the last few years were terribly good," Beckman says. "I also know the ratings weren't as good as they were earlier on."

In 2007, Billboard and AEG Live announced their intention to relaunch the production in 2008, but that never happened. However, when ABC approached Beckman soon after the Billboard takeover, the idea took a firmer hold.

"We have a great partnership with the city and our intention is to continue the show in Vegas for the foreseeable future," Beckman says, adding that, depending on Sunday night's success, he might also bring other Billboard-branded shows to the Strip.

"Vegas is the entertainment capital of the country now," Beckman says.

Contact reporter Corey Levitan at clevitan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0456.