Welcome back to POP! Of Culture Weekly, where we discuss the highlights of all things entertainment for the week! This week, we cover The Bachelorette and the 2020 Billboard Music Awards! Check it out!
ABC’s The Bachelorette Season 16 Begins
The hit ABC network reality show The Bachelorette, aired on Tuesday Oct. 13. This season of The Bachelorette was shot in a different location than previous seasons of the show. Because of the pandemic restricting them to film the show regularly, TV show host Chris Harrison, Bachelorette Clare Crawley, and the 31 men who hope to fall in love with her had to change a couple things to shoot the show safely.
The first thing that the Bachelor Nation noticed was that the show didn’t shoot at the usual Bachelor Mansion that past seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have shot at. Instead, this season was shot at the La Quinta Resort in Palm Springs. In this way, each of the men were able to have their own rooms to quarantine for 2 weeks and get tested for COVID-19. After the two weeks and testing negative, the men were finally able to meet Clare.
As Clare met her men and got to know a little bit more about them, there was one man that really caught her attention; Dale, a 31-year-old former pro football player from South Dakota. From the moment she saw Dale, it was like “love at first sight”.
After getting to know the men, a little bit of drama and giving Dale the first impression rose, Clare sent eight men home, leaving the other 23 men still hopeful for love.
2020 Billboard Music Awards Highlights
The 2020 Billboard Music Awards took place on Wednesday, Oct. 14. To follow the COVID-19 rules, the audience members and some award winners attended the show virtually. The show, which usually takes place in the Spring, was delayed for five months because of the pandemic.
The show had lots of performances from top artists in pop music. Demi Lovato performed her new politically-charged song Commander In Chief. John Legend also performed at the award show and dedicated his song Never Break to his wife Chrissy Teigen after they suffered the loss of their unborn child just a couple weeks ago. BTS lit up the stage from South Korea with their song Dynamite.
The Icon Award, presented by Cher, was given to Garth Brooks. This year, the Billboard Music Awards created a new award called the Change Maker Award. This award was given to rapper, singer/songwriter and actor Killer Mike. Post Malone was the biggest winner of the night with a total of nine awards including Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Rap Artist, etc.
I watched the Billboard Music Awards and honestly the performance that stood out to me the most was BTS. I had obviously heard their songs but I never really gave them a chance, but their live performance was actually very entertaining. The performance gave me Michael Jackson vibes, which I intrigued by for sure.
I also watched the season premiere of The Bachelorette and boy was it JUICY!! I actually have never really been a fan of this show but my roommate had it on and I got hooked! I think this season is going to be so interesting considering Clare pretty much chose Dale as soon as she saw him. I personally liked Blake way better because it was so cute how he cared to actually check up on her during quarantine and didn’t care that he broke the rules! He definitely deserved the first impression rose!
I love the Bachelor franchise and pop culture in general so I already love your blog! I think you did a great job of breaking down the way the show has been running, and breaking down the drama so far. I think a cool idea would be to give weekly or even bi-weekly bachelor updates! You are really good at it!
Demi Lovato is such a powerful songwriter with a powerful voice to back it. Her performance at the Billboard Music Awards was one of my favorites because I am such a big fan of her work. This song has such a powerful message associated with it that everyone needs to hear. But during the performance I did wonder if the choice of the blue outfit and lights was deliberate to showcase who she was voting for in the presidential election.
I loved Hannah’s season, but after watching a few clips of Claire’s I really can’t seem to convince myself that it’s worth watching a 40 yr old women act like a 12 year old… I’m disappointed she is being so immature. I expected better.