Billboard Music Awards predictions 2019: Our odds say Cardi B, Drake and BTS will be among the big winners
The 2019 Billboard Music Awards are tonight on NBC, so who will win big at this event hosted by Kelly Clarkson. Scroll down for our complete predictions in 15 categories, with the nominees listed in order of their racetrack odds (our projected winners are highlighted in gold). These odds were calculated by combining the predictions of hundreds of Gold Derby users like you who entered their picks here in our predictions center.
The Billboard Awards are unlike other music kudos. They aren’t decided by fans voting online or music industry insiders evaluating their peers. They’re decided by the same metrics that determine the weekly Billboard charts. So the winners will be based on audience interactions with music including record sales, track sales, online streaming performance, touring performance and radio airplay during the eligibility period of March 23, 2018 to March 7, 2019.
By those standards we think Cardi B will be the big winner. She goes into these awards with 21 nominations, more than any other artist, and we’re betting that she’ll take Top Artist of the Year against fellow chart-topping rivals Drake, Ariana Grande, Post Malone and Travis Scott. We think she’ll also be rewarded Top Hot 100 song for “I Like It” featuring J Balvin and Bad Bunny. But even if that song loses, she also ranks second in our odds with another collaboration: “Girls Like You” with Maroon 5.
Meanwhile, Drake is expected to go home with Top Male Artist and Top Billboard 200 album for the platinum “Scorpion,” Other predicted champs include Imagine Dragons (Top Duo/Group and Top Rock Artist), BTS (Top Social Artist for the third year in a row), Dua Lipa (Top New Artist) and “A Star is Born” (top soundtrack), among others. Do you think our predictions are spot-on, or are we literally way off the charts?
Top Artist
Cardi B — 10/3
Drake — 19/5
Ariana Grande — 4/1
Post Malone — 9/2
Travis Scott — 9/2
Top New Artist
Dua Lipa — 82/25
Juice WRLD — 19/5
Ella Mai — 4/1
Bazzi — 9/2
Lil Baby — 9/2
Top Female Artist
Cardi B — 82/25
Ariana Grande — 37/10
Taylor Swift — 9/2
Halsey — 9/2
Ella Mai — 9/2
Top Male Artist
Drake — 16/5
Post Malone — 39/10
Travis Scott — 9/2
Ed Sheeran — 9/2
XXXTentacion — 9/2
Top Duo/Group
Imagine Dragons — 82/25
Panic! At the Disco — 39/10
BTS — 4/1
Maroon 5 — 9/2
Dan and Shay — 9/2
Top R&B Artist
Khalid — 82/25
XXXTentacion — 19/5
Ella Mai — 4/1
H.E.R. — 9/2
The Weeknd — 9/2
Top Rap Artist
Cardi B — 16/5
Drake — 19/5
Post Malone — 9/2
Travis Scott — 9/2
Juice WRLD — 9/2
Top Rock Artist
Imagine Dragons — 16/5
Panic! At the Disco — 19/5
Queen — 4/1
Twenty One Pilots — 9/2
Lovelytheband — 9/2
Top Country Artist
Dan and Shay — 16/5
Kane Brown — 39/10
Jason Aldean — 4/1
Luke Combs — 9/2
Florida Georgia Line — 9/2
Top Touring Artist
Beyonce and Jay-Z — 10/3
Taylor Swift — 37/10
Ed Sheeran — 4/1
Bruno Mars — 9/2
Justin Timberlake — 9/2
Top Social Artist
BTS — 16/5
Ariana Grande — 19/5
Louis Tomlinson — 9/2
GOT7 — 9/2
EXO — 9/2
Top Billboard 200 Album
“Scorpion,” Drake — 82/25
“Invasion of Privacy,” Cardi B — 4/1
“Astroworld,” Travis Scott — 4/1
“Beerbongs and Bentleys,” Post Malone — 4/1
“?,” XXXTentacion — 9/2
Top Hot 100 Song
“I Like It,” Cardi B feat. Bad Bunny and J Balvin — 82/25
“Girls Like You,” Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B — 19/5
“Sicko Mode,” Travis Scott — 9/2
“Better Now,” Post Malone” — 9/2
“Lucid Dreams,” Juice WRLD — 9/2
Top Collaboration
“I Like It,” Cardi B feat. Bad Bunny and J Balvin — 82/25
“Girls Like You,” Maroon 5 feat. Cardi B — 19/5
“Psycho,” Post Malone feat. Ty Dolla Sign — 9/2
“Happier,” Marshmello and Bastille — 9/2
“Love Lies,” Khalid and Normani — 9/2
Top Soundtrack
“A Star is Born” — 16/5
“Bohemian Rhapsody” — 39/10
“The Greatest Showman” — 4/1
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” — 9/2
“13 Reasons Why” — 9/2
Be sure to make your Billboard Music Award predictions so that Hollywood insiders can see this year’s contenders are faring in our odds. You can keep changing your predictions until winners are announced. And join the discussion on this and more taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our music forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.