Mary J.
Blige and rapper T.I. were the big winners last night (Dec. 4) at the 2006 Billboard
Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada. Blige
took home a total of nine awards for her album The Breakthrough, which
debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts in December of 2005 and has since
been certified double platinum (2 million sales). Blige
won Female Artist of the Year, Best R&B Hip-Hop Album, Artist of the Year,
Hip-Hop Single of the Year and others awards.T.I.
was also repeatedly honored for his hit album King. The rapper took home
a total of five Billboard Awards including Male R&B Hip-Hop Artist of the
Year and Rap Album of the Year."I
want to thank everybody," T.I. said after accepting his award. "[I’d
like to thank] the fans who supported me from day one. I also got a phenomenal
supporting cast."Other
winners during the evening included American Idol winner Carrie Underwood, Rihanna,
Chris Brown, The Fray, Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland and Nickelback. The
2006 Billboard Music Awards took place at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. The
evening featured performances by Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Rick Ross, Pharrell, Fergie
featuring will.I.am, Gwen Stefani and others. Stevie
Wonder made a special guest appearance during the evening, to present the Billboard
Century Award to legendary singer Tony Bennett.Janet
Jackson opened the show with a medley performance of her 1980 hit "Pleasure
Principle," which was mixed with "So Excited," from her most recent
album 20 Y.O.The
evening took place without any major incidents, despite the fact that Britney
Spears and Paris Hilton backed out of hosting the event. Hilton
and Spears had been tapped to co-host the annual awards show, but Spears backed
out on Friday (Dec. 1), leaving the hosting duties to Hilton. Yesterday,
(Dec. 4), Hilton also backed out of hosting the 2006 Billboard Awards, leaving
the prestigious music industry event without a host for the entire evening. "It
is my understanding that some satirical references ridiculed some of her peers,"
the heiress’ publicist, Elliot Mintz, told the Associated Press. "Paris
did not want to say anything that could appear hurtful or embarrassing about people
she knows."