LAS VEGAS (AP):
SHAGGY GOT two of the most telling awards at the Billboard Music Awards on Tuesday night.
Billboard declared Shaggy the Male Artiste of the Year and Male Albums Artiste of the Year. Shaggy's album Hot Shot, released in the summer of 2000, contained the mega hit It Wasn't Me, a duet with singer Ricardo 'Rik Rok' Duccent.
Shaggy was among the performers at the event, which was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The ceremony began with Britney Spears in a pre-recorded performance in front of the dancing fountains at the Bellagio hotel-casino.
Alicia Keys, 'N Sync and Tim McGraw also performed.
R&B singer R. Kelly took home the most awards six while Destiny's Child and country crooner Tim McGraw picked up five apiece.
R. Kelly, whose remix of the hit song Fiesta with Jay-Z topped the charts this year, dominated the awards in the R&B/hip-hop category. He won Artiste of the Year, Albums Artiste of the Year, Singles Artiste of the Year and Songwriter of the Year in that category.
"It's just a constant reminder of how hard work paid off," R. Kelly said.
He was also honoured for Album of the Year and Single of the Year in the same category.
Destiny's Child won the show's top honor, Artiste of the Year. For Country Album of the Year, McGraw's Greatest Hits album beat the hit album Breathe by his wife, Faith Hill.
"I think that I'm a fan of music in general and always have been since I was a kid," McGraw said. "I just try to make the music I hear in my head and hope everybody likes it."
Comedian Bernie Mac, who hosted the show, had a few tips for the winners' acceptance speeches.
"You got 30 seconds. That's it. Thank the fans, thank the record company, thank the Lord, then sit down," Mac said.
'N Sync received a special award for Celebrity, the album with the highest one-week sales total in 2001.
Janet Jackson was honored with an artiste achievement award. She told the crowd her first performance was at the MGM Grand hotel-casino when she was 7 years old.
"I never dreamed that all these years later I would be back here to receive such an honor," she said.
To close the show, rappers and pop, R&B and rock singers filled the stage to perform an all-star remake of Marvin Gaye's classic, What's Going On.
The annual Billboard Awards are determined by the magazine's year-end chart listings, which are based on a combination of record sales and radio airplay.
