Musically, I live in 1979 for the purposes of this blog, but in real life I find myself in Las Vegas attending the 2019 Billboard Music Awards. I’ll be covering the red carpet, asking questions of today’s pop stars. To prepare, I have been listening to a lot of Top 40 music.
I have developed a theory. The music is all manufactured on computers now. (Ironic that yesterday's post was about Gary Numan and Tubeway Army) There’s not an organic instrument involved except the human voice, and even that has been electronically altered in many cases. The only way pop stars can give their music humanity is in lyrics that are often intimate, confessional and full of lines that must be bleeped to be played on the radio. Every songwriter gives away something of themselves in the pursuit of a making a meaningful connection . But there is such a thing as Too Much Information. On the title cut of her album Sweetener, Arian Grande sings "I like the way you lick the bowl (sheesh)/ Somehow your method touches my soul (sheesh, yeah)".
Ariana Grande is the first solo artist to have the #1, #2 and #3 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. She will perform along with Taylor Swift with Brendon Urie, BTS featuring Halsey, Ciara, Kelly Clarkson, Lauren Daigle, Dan + Shay, Halsey, Jonas Brothers, Tori Kelly, Khalid, Madonna and Maluma, Panic! at the Disco and Icon Award recipient Mariah Carey. ( I've just realized I still don't know who some of these people are).
Madonna is 60. She is reportedly spending $5 million of her own money to add CGI and holograms on her performance of the new single "Medellin", with Columbian reggaeton star Maluma. The song debuted at #34 on the Hot Latin Songs chart but has fizzled on mainstream pop charts.
One more note: The Billboard music awards aren't based on any kind of voting. It all comes down to numbers: sales, digital downloads, streaming, radio airplay and social interaction. That means the fans really do get the final word. But their choices have been confined to the same 20 acts who get their songs played on the radio over and over and over again. And at a time when more people than ever are writing and recording songs.
When I posted a photo of BTS autographs on twitter, I got an overwhelming response: 27.4K retweets, 58.2k likes and more than 900,000 impressions. The BTS Army is for real.
I will see if I can check in later on this day and will wrap up the experience tomorrow before heading back to my cozy music den of 1979.
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