Awards season may be over in the film industry, but that doesn’t mean the world of music has given up yet! The Billboard Music Awards is back this spring, awarding the most popular and best performing artists and songs from across the popular scene.
We’ve rounded up everything to know about the 2020 Billboard Music Awards, including how to watch it from the UK, what time it’ll be on, who the nominees are and who will be performing.
When will the Billboard Music Awards be happening?
The Billboard Music Awards will take place in Las Vegas on 29 April 2020 at 8pm ET, and last for a total of three hours. If you’re planning on tuning in from the UK, that’s a 1am start – so get comfy because you’ll be in for a long night.
There’s likely to be red carpet coverage a few hours before the awards actually kick off – though it remains to be seen whether or not this will be televised, or just on social media.
How can I watch the Billboard Music Awards?
If you’re in the US, the Billboard Music Awards will be airing on NBC, which should be accessible through your cable TV.
As for watching it online/on-demand, this will be after streaming service NBC Peacock launches, so we’re taking a bet that the show will be streamable on that platform. At the moment, viewers can simply head on over to the NBC website to access catch-up content, but this all may shift come Peacock’s 15 April launch.
If you’re based outside of the US, don’t fret. You should still be able to watch the Billboard Music Awards through using a VPN. VPNs (virtual private networks) change your IP address, so you can browse the internet as if you’re based in another location by logging onto a server.
There are lots of VPNs to choose from, but we personally recommend NordVPN for being fast, reliable and a decent price – ExpressVPN is also a good option. If you’d like more options, check out our list of the best VPNs for streaming. There are also free VPNs available, but these likely won’t have enough servers to be able to stream successfully.
For watching the Billboard Awards, you’ll have to connect to a US server on your VPN, and then open either the NBC website, or the streaming service Peacock once it becomes available. We aren’t yet certain where the show will be hosted – and will update this article nearer the time once we know.
Who will be hosting?
For the third time in a row, singer-songwriter and television personality Kelly Clarkson will be back on hosting duties. Last year Clarkson had her appendix removed right after the show, so fingers crossed there won’t be any further drama this year!
Who are the nominees?
As of yet nominees haven’t been released for the Billboard Awards, but once they have we’ll update this article with all the categories. Based on this year’s sales, it’s likely we’ll see Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Drake and Post Malone all up for an award – or several.
Who is performing?
Again, it’s still too early to tell which special guests will be performing. The only artist we can probably take a bet on is Kelly Clarkson – seeing as she is hosting and has performed in previous years – but this hasn’t yet been confirmed.
Last year featured performances from Taylor Swift, Madonna, BTS and Mariah Carey – so no doubt there’ll be some big names taking to the stage.
Author: Hannah Cowton, Senior Staff Writer
Hannah Cowton is a Senior Staff Writer at Tech Advisor and Macworld, working across entertainment, consumer technology and lifestyle. Her interests and specialities lie in streaming services, film and television reviews and rumours, gaming, wearables and smart home products. She's also the creator of The London Geek, a geek culture and lifestyle blog.