Given that the Billboard Awards are primarily based on US record sales and radio play it is perhaps no surprise that 50 Cent and Green Day dominated. Both got themselves six awards at the trade mag's annual bash in Las Vegas last night.
50 Cent was named R&B/Hip Hop, Rap, Hot 100 and overall Artist Of The Year, as well as winning the Ringtone Of The Year and Album Of The Year awards, for 'Candy Shop' and 'The Massacre' respectively. Green Day won both Rock and Modern Rock Artist Of The Year awards (quite what the different is between 'rock' and 'modern rock' I'm not sure), as well as being named Pop Group, Billboard 200 Group and Hot 100 Group of the year. They also won the Rock Song Of The Year award for 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'.
50 Cent is currently in Paris and was unable to attend the awards show, though host LL Cool J put in a phone call to the hip hop star to inform him of just how many gongs he had won. Green Day were in Vegas and they opened the awards show with a performance of 'Holiday'. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong later presented Tom Petty with the Billboard Century Award, telling the audience: "I love music, I love rock and roll, therefore I love Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. If you're going to come up [on stage] and thank God, thank God for Tom Petty."
Other multiple winners included Mariah Carey, who won five awards, and 'American Idol' Carrie Underwood and Shakira, who both won three. There's a full list of winners at the bottom of today's Daily.