The award show host Kelly Clarkson, who was the first winner of ‘American Idol,’ kicked off the proceedings on a sombre note saying “once again we’re grieving for more kids that have died for just absolutely no reason.”
“They also wanted me to do a moment of silence and I’m so sick of ‘moment of silence,’ it’s not working … why don’t we not do a moment of silence, why do a moment of action?” Clarkson asked her audience, stuggling to hold back tears.
Later, teen singing sensation Shawn Mendes and singer Khalid where joined on stage by the choir from the Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas highschool for a performance honoring victims on school shootings.
Singer Janet Jackson was honored with the Billboard “Icon Award” while South Korean boy band BTS and Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello also walked away with awards.