Technically speaking, the Billboard Music Awards aim to celebrate the biggest stars in popular music with no particular focus on country of origin. But this year, the American show has an undeniable streak of Canadian talent.
Set to air Sunday night from Las Vegas, the Billboard Music Awards will profile some of Canada’s most popular artists alongside the world’s best. Three of the five performers nominated for Top Artist are Canadian, and the ceremony is studded with performances by Canucks.
Drake, Justin Bieber and the Weeknd are all nominated for Top Artist alongside Adele, and the lone American nominee, Taylor Swift. The same trio leads the pack for most Billboard nominations, putting Canadians in a rare position to possibly sweep several categories.
The Weeknd scored the most nominations with 19, Justin Bieber holds second place with 12 nominations, and Drake holds 11 nominations, tying him in third place with American hip-hop artist Fetty Wap.
Major Canadian stars will also be performing on Sunday.
Justin Bieber is set to perform his smash hit “Sorry,” and new single “Company,” while Pickering, Ont. native Shawn Mendes, best known for his single “Stitches,” will also take to the stage.
Arguably one of the most anticipated performances of the night will be Celine Dion, who is set to sing Queen’s “The Show Must Go On.”
The cover will mark Dion’s first televised performance since the death of her beloved husband, Rene Angelil, and her brother, Daniel Dion. Both men died of cancer within days of each other in January.
The song is a poignant choice for Dion; Queen guitarist Brian May wrote it in 1991 to honour frontman Freddie Mercury, who was struggling through the final stages of HIV/AIDS.
Dion will also be honoured with a special Icon Award. Previous winners have included Prince, Stevie Wonder and Neil Diamond.
The strong Canadian showing at the Billboard Awards comes after a landslide year for Canadian artists. For the first time ever, four of the top tracks on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart belonged to Canadians for a brief time last fall. (The top four songs included “The Hills” and “Can’t Feel My Face” by the Weeknd, “What Do You Mean?” by Justin Bieber, and “Hotline Bling’ by Drake.)
And while Canadians are poised to have a big night, the show will also serve up notable performances by American artists. Madonna is set to honour the late Prince in a tribute, Britney Spears will perform a mash-up of her hits, and Kesha is expected to sing for the first time since her legal dispute with producer Dr. Luke.
U.K. singer Adele won’t perform on Sunday, but she will premiere a new music video for her latest single, “Send My Love (To Your New Lover).” Adele’s last music video, for “Hello,” directed by Montreal native Xavier Dolan, broke the record for most watched video on its debut day with 27 million views.
