Billboard Music Awards Get Put Out To Pasture

Tom Breihan’s rundown of the American Music Awards noted that Sunday night’s Fergilicious debacle was saved from being the most irrelevant music-awards show of the year by the Billboard Music Awards, the annual rundown of best-selling albums that last year had the dubious distinction of plopping Chad Kroeger, Kid Rock, and ZZ Top on its stage. But as it turns out, Billboard isn’t hosting a music-awards show this year, and the official reason isn’t the fact that celebrating record sales in 2007 is sort of like celebrating snowstorms in Aruba.

Billboard will unveil a new music awards show in 2008, produced in collaboration with AEG Live, the live entertainment division of Los Angeles-based promotion giant AEG. The partnership is a result of the recently formed exclusive strategic alliance between Billboard parent the Nielsen Company and AEG Live.

“We have been working closely with AEG Live to identify new opportunities to expand and deepen the Billboard brand and our broadcast awards shows,” said Tamara Conniff, group editorial director of Billboard. “Leveraging our considerable combined strengths, we are excited to work with AEG to launch a new Billboard Music Awards show in 2008 that takes full advantage of the benefits of our partnership.”

“Leveraging”! “The benefits of our partnership”! It all sounds as sexy and rock and roll as a bank merger, doesn’t it. What Conniff is really trying to say: “No one watched last year, maybe because this awards show has less suspense than a Don’t Forget The Lyrics rerun. Which would get better numbers, come to think of it. Plus, it’s really kind of embarrassing at this point to have anything celebrating music being sold–we don’t want to have to trot out Chad Kroeger again. Because what’s he gonna do at this point, sing a duet with Wayne Gretzky?”

Billboard, AEG Align For 2008 Awards Show [Billboard] [Photo: Getty]