Billboard Music Awards

Kanye West gave ABC censors a collective heart attack Sunday night at the Billboard Music Awards -- because the rapper dropped so many n-words ... most of his act was dead silence.

Kanye closed the show with his hit, "All Day" -- but about all you could hear on TV was the song's title. Censors killed the audio for so much of the song ... you're really left wondering -- why bother? The censoring went as long as 15 solid seconds at times.

Plus, you could barely SEE Yeezy through all the fireworks and smoke. Again ... why bother?

One thing you could hear clearly -- the boos for Kylie and Kendall Jenner as they introduced their bro-in-law.

Harry Styles paid tribute to 1D, as in ... DEEZ NUTS ... in Las Vegas.

One Direction won the Billboard Music Award for Top Duo/Group, and Harry celebrated by slyly grabbing a hold -- playfully and gently, we hope -- of bandmate Niall Horan's balls.

Watch ... Niall plays it off pretty good.

Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris are a lot closer than expected at the Billboard Music Awards -- and he got the full GFE after she won an award.

Ok, Calvin wasn't the first person she hugged after winning Top Billboard 200 Album -- but he IS the only one who got an extended hug combined with a neck snuggle. They haven't exactly been undercover, but this qualifies as a full couple coming out.

5:55 PM PT -- Crisis averted. Mariah performed 2 songs -- "Vision of Love" and her new hit, "Infinity." Not only did she show up ... she NAILED one of the closing notes. Like, old school Mariah ... nailed it.

Mariah Carey knows how to cause a mass panic -- she bailed on her final rehearsal before the Billboard Music Awards, which air LIVE in a few hours -- but Mimi's got one word for the haters ... CHILL.

TMZ has learned BMA producers are scrambling because they don't know what's going on with Mariah -- especially on the heels of her bronchitis issues earlier this week. Our BMA sources say the other reason for concern is ... it's been 17 years since she was last on the award show.

But our Mariah sources are laughing off the panic, because producers shouldn't be shocked at all. As one source put it, "Nobody does dress [rehearsal]. WTF?? No big stars go ... ever."

It's true, you'd think award shows are old hat for a vet like Mariah. Plus, she performed as scheduled last night at Caesars Palace, and seemed fine.

As for what happens tonight on live TV? Stay tuned ...

Taylor Swift's playing the old music game -- make your fans think you're single, 'cause it's good for business -- and that may be why she'll sit 2 seats away from her boo at Sunday's Billboard Music Awards.

Taylor and Calvin Harris have been seen together in public showing lots of affection, but we're told Taylor requested that several of her friends form a human barrier between her and the famous DJ.

Apparently she wants to have interaction without reaction.

Miguel won't be celebrating the 2nd anniversary of his disastrous Billboard Music Awards performance -- unless he wants to raise a glass to the fan who's suing him for crash landing on her in Las Vegas.

One of the women who claimed to be injured during Miguel's infamous failed stage leap has finally lawyered up -- and in her lawsuit, Cindy Tsai says she took the brunt when Miguel came up short and landed on her head. She says her cabeza met the catwalk ... hard.

Tsai is suing Miguel -- as well as the MGM Grand Hotel, where the event was held -- for negligence and is seeking damages to cover medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Another woman had considered suing for the incident ... but it looks like she never did.

Robin Thicke sang his heart out at the Billboard Music Awards ... begging for estranged wife Paula Patton's forgiveness -- and also gave a random woman in the crowd a face full of his crotch. Bad timing?

As TMZ first reported, Thicke penned the song "Get Her Back" specifically to try and win back Patton ... with lyrics like "All I wanna do is make it right" and "I'll wait for forever for you."

The song was catchy and filled with the requisite amount of pleading but at the end of the song he made the poor choice to drop to his knees and pump his hips at a cute chick in the front row.

Kendall Jenner was doing just fine during her introduction of 5 Seconds of Summer during last night's Billboard Music Awards ... when suddenly words became her enemy and the whole thing went to hell.

Jenner got through the first part without a hiccup, but suddenly got thrown off track ... which led to her blurting out, "Guys, I'm the worst reader!"

Jenner took to Twitter afterwards and seemed to blame her eyesight for the debacle, writing, "Anndddd as if I wasn't nervous already!!!! #NeverLeavinMyContactsAtHomeAgain! #LOL #LessonLearned"

Better luck next time.

A hologram performance by Michael Jackson -- the main event at Sunday's Billboard Music Awards -- could be put to sleep before it even hits the stage ... thanks to a last-minute lawsuit.

Alki David -- who says he controls the rights to the hologram technology -- filed suit late Thursday against the Michael Jackson Estate, MJ's production company and Dick Clark Productions ... to stop them from showing a hologram of Michael using David's technology.

According to the suit -- obtained by TMZ -- a life-size, projected 3D image of Michael will showcase a never-before-released Jackson song, "Slave to the Rhythm."

The MJ spectacle is similar to the Tupac Shakur hologram at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival ... which David claims was based on the same technology.

David says if Billboard goes ahead with the Jackson performance Sunday ... it will destroy his plans for a similar, high-profile holographic MJ performance. He wants a judge to stop it ... STAT.

Howard Weitzman, the lawyer for the MJ Estate, tells TMZ, "This is another Alki David stunt, no different than his claiming that Brandon Howard was Michael Jackson's son. It is ludicrous ... and the show goes on."

Robin Thicke is so desperate to get his wife back ... he WROTE A NEW SONG about it -- including the lyrics "I should've kissed you longer / I should've held you stronger" -- and TMZ has learned he'll debut it live on stage ... at the Billboard Music Awards.

TMZ has obtained a copy of the lyrics for the new song -- called "Get Her Back" -- and the whole thing is dripping with regret over his split from Paula Patton.

Some highlights:
-- "All I wanna do is make it right"
-- "I gotta get her, go get her back / I gotta treat her right / I gotta cherish her for life"
-- "I should've kissed you longer / I should've held you stronger / And I'll wait for forever for you."

Robin's other public pleas to Paula -- opening up during concerts about forgiveness -- have fallen on deaf ears.

If at first you don't succeed ... beg in front of a national TV audience Sunday night at 8:00 PM on ABC.

TMZ has learned Miguel practiced his flying leap TWICE during rehearsals for the Billboard Music Awards -- but the singer tells us ... producers never warned him to cut the maneuver out of his act.

Sources connected to the production tell us the BMA's executive producer Don Mischer personally spoke to Miguel after rehearsals and told him not to attempt the leap.

But Miguel's rep is strongly denying that ... telling TMZ, "The reports claiming that Miguel was warned by producers not to jump are completely false."

In fact, a source close to Miguel added that producers actually asked him if he was going to attempt the jump to make sure their cameras didn't miss it during the show.

As TMZ first reported ... Khyati Shah, one of the 2 women Miguel landed on, now claims she's experiencing symptoms related to neurological damage, and is considering a lawsuit.

Miguel's rep says, "A number of attempts were made to reach Khyati and her lawyer after the performance to see how she was doing and whether any assistance could be offered."

Miguel was ORDERED not to attempt a dangerous jump over the crowd during his performance at the Billboard Music Awards because producers believed it was too dangerous ... but the singer ignored them ... sources connected to the production tell TMZ.

We're told ... Miguel approached producers before rehearsals and asked if he could try to jump over the crowd during his performance ... but producers shot down the idea, telling Miguel it was just too dangerous.

But when showtime came around, Miguel blew off the order ... and producers' fears were realized when he botched the jump and leg dropped a female fan ... slamming her head against the stage.

Now, the victim's lawyer says she may have suffered a brain injury as a result ... and a lawsuit could be on the way.

The girl who took Miguel's leg drop to the head at the Billboard Music Awards may have suffered brain damage ... the victim's lawyer tells TMZ.

As you'll recall ... Miguel took a flying, theatrical leap across the stage and landed with thunderous force on Khyati Shah's head.

Vip Bhola, Shah's lawyer, says, "Some of the difficulties she's experiencing are cognitive in nature and lead to suspicion of a neurological head injury."

Bhola says BMA responded to the accident with a pathetic gesture -- an ice pack designed to soothe a bruised elbow. The attorney insists his client should have been rushed to the hospital.

Bhola tells us his client is waiting for test results from a neurologist. When the results are in -- sometime next week -- Khyati will decide if a lawsuit is in the cards.

2:43 PM PT -- Yeeeah, BROTHER -- Hulk Hogan has officially weighed in on the leg drop heard 'round the world, saying ... "MIGUELAMANIA at least he did it right brother."

Miguel was TRYING to jump from the stage to a platform ... but he missed ... and instead, a fan got ROCKED with a BRUTAL (yet accidental) LEG DROP TO THE FACE!!!!!

It all went down during M's performance at the Billboard Music Awards last night when the singer was performing his hit, "Adorn" ... which, minus the face-bashing, was pretty damn good.

After the performance, Miguel met with the fan backstage and tweeted about the leg drop -- "Got caught up in the moment, thank goodness Khyati is okay."

Meantime, here's what a REAL leg drop looks like ...

Justin Bieber was straight up BOOED at the Billboard Music Awards last night ... and not like 1 or 2 people ... it was a straight up CHORUS of boos ... and it made Justin super uncomfortable.

It all went down when Cee Lo called on Bieber to receive the first ever Milestone Award -- but when Bieb got to the stage, the crowd turned on him.

Of course, there were some screams from the hardcore Bieber fans ... and JB managed to silence the haters for a minute by thanking Jesus Christ (who's gonna boo JC?) ... but overall, more boos than a haunted house.

As for the Bieber/Selena Gomez situation, the two were NOT seated together during the show -- despite a pre-show photo of the seating arrangement that suggested they would be.

Instead, she was kickin' it with Taylor Swift ... and didn't stand when Bieber's name was called for the Top Male Artist Award.

It's official ... Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez are officially a pair once again!!!!!!!!! At least in their seats at the Billboard Music Awards this weekend.

Photos of the seating arrangements have surfaced on the Internet -- and you can plainly see, Justin and Selena will be seated next to each other at the award show on Sunday.

And for anyone thinking it's an accident -- celebs can easily request to sit apart from people if they really want to ... so it's obvious, neither Justin nor Selena had a problem being so close to one another.

Justin and Selena split last year, but ever since then they've been on-and-off-again more than Lindsay Lohan's movie career -- so this could finally be a sign they're back together.