Kelly Clarkson kicked off the Billboard Music Awards with a musical medley of the year’s biggest hits.
The ‘Behind These Hazel Eyes’ hitmaker made her entrance to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas through the audience, taking a seat next to actor Terry Crews and discussing Taylor Swift and Brandon Urie’s show-opening performance of ‘Me!’ before being ejected by former New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski, who claimed he was a security guard and she was in a seat needed by Florida Georgia Line.
But when the country stars claimed they didn’t recognise the evening’s host, she said: "Oh, you got jokes, you got jokes? Okay. I’ll prove it."
She was then joined by a guitarist and back-up singers and performed the duo’s hit ‘Meant to Be’ before making her way to Ella Mai for a chorus of ‘Boo’d Up’.
She then climbed on stage and was joined by dancers as she sang snatches of tracks including Maroon 5’s ‘Girls Like You’, a country take on Zedd’s ‘The Middle’, Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa’s ‘One Kiss’, Panic! At The Disco’s ‘High Hopes’, as well as an impressive take on Cardi B’s ‘I Like It’, which featured male dancers with cash cannons and Kelly not only rapping but also tackling Bad Bunny’s Spanish verse.
That wasn’t Kelly’s only musical performance of the evening because later in the show, she changed into a pink dress to sing ‘Broken & Beautiful’ from her new movie ‘UglyDolls’.
And speaking ahead of the ceremony, the 37-year-old star – who was also host of the event in 2018 – had insisted she didn’t feel nervous about any of her duties on the night.
She told E! News: "I’m not really nervous about either. Performing, obviously, is fun and I am doing ‘Broken & Beautiful’ from the UglyDolls soundtrack. And then I’m hosting! I just have fun with it. Hopefully they like it and if you don’t, whatever. It’s happening regardless."
Kelly Clarkson’s musical medley
