The 2018 Billboard Music Awards take place on Sunday night, beginning at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. The Voice judge and singer Kelly Clarkson will serve as the show’s host.
Some of the live musical performances include Ariana Grande, Christina Aguilera with Demi Lovato, Ed Sheeran (performing on location from Dublin Ireland), Zedd with Maren Morris and Grey, Salt-N-Pepa, Macklemore with Kesha, Shawn Mendes with Khlaid, the Korean pop band BTS, Camila Cabello, John Legend, Dua Lipa, Jennifer Lopez.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Some of the celebrities announced for presenting the awards include Mila Kunis, Rebel Wilson, The Chainsmokers, Jenna Dewan, Nick Jonas and French Montana.
Janet Jackson will make her first televised appearance in nine years at the show to receive the Billboard Icon Award.
Numerous awards were handed out prior to the show’s start, leaving five major categories to be aired on the broadcast.
The nominees for Top Artist are Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift. The Top New Artist category includes 21 Savage, Camila Cabell, Cardi B, Khalid and Kodak Black.
As for the solo artist awards, the Top Male Artist nominees include Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars, Post Malone and Ed Sheeran while the Top Female Artist nominees include Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Halsey, Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift.
Finally, the Billboard Chart Achievement Award nominees are Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Drake, Sam Hunt and Ed Sheeran.
Clarkson admitted in an interview on the Today Show prior to the awards ceremony that she’s a little nervous about hosting.
“You know I’m really nervous when I’m really quiet,” Clarkson said. “I’m never quiet! There’s a lot going on inside (my head), trying to figure out, how do I do a monologue? How do I pull that off? I’m not a comedian!”
She admitted she might have a tough time pulling off jokes if they’re planned ahead of time.
“I have this nervous thing. Even if we planned something, I look at the prompter and say something totally different!” she said. “I don’t know what it is; I know how to read. I get nervous and then I just ramble about things I probably shouldn’t talk about. I’m actually very nervous because I have no filter!”
The former American Idol winner said one of the artist she’s most looking forward to seeing is Jackson, whom she’s been a fan of since childhood.
“I’m excited about a lot of people,” Clarkson said in an interview with Billboard. “And if I’m not an avid fan, our oldest daughter is — who’s coming, our 16-year-old (stepdaughter Savannah) — so she keeps me cool.”
