Taylor Swift Rules Billboard.com's 2013 Mid-Year Music Awards
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Taylor Swift continued a stellar year by dominating the 2013 edition of Billboard.com's Mid-Year Music Awards poll, which allowed fans to weigh in on their favorite artists, songs, albums and performance of the first six months of the year. After voting officially concluded when June rolled over into July, hundreds of thousands of entries were tallied and the 23-year-old country superstar came out on top in three key categories, including the coveted First-Half MVP contest.
Swift, whose fourth studio album "Red" scored the biggest debut sales week of 2012 upon its release last October, has spent much of 2013 supporting the full-length on her massive Red world tour, which began in March and will continue through December. The singer has also taken time to perform at ceremonies like the 55th Annual Grammy Awards and the 2013 Billboard Music Awards -- the latter at which she also won the Artist of the Year trophy -- while also collecting more hits like "I Knew You Were Trouble, "22" and "Everything Has Changed" to follow her first Hot 100 chart-topper, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." Billboard.com fans did their part in recognizing Swift's many achievements over the past six months: she was named First-Half MVP, topping artists like Justin Timberlake and Beyonce handily; "Red," which returned to the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart earlier this year, was bestowed with the 'Favorite Billboard 200 No. 1 Album' award; and the Red tour trumped Rihanna's Diamonds tour to earn the title of the voter's favorite live show on 2013.
Meanwhile, stars like Timberlake, Bruno Mars and Justin Bieber all posted strong showings in multiple categories, but it was the fresh-faced Ariana Grande who most handily defeated her competition. The Nickelodeon star and "The Way" singer was named Best Newcomer by earning a whopping 50 percent of the votes in the category, trouncing closest competitors Icona Pop and being handed the title from last year's Newcomer winners, One Direction. Another young female pop personality, Miley Cyrus, also found lots of success in this year's mid-year poll, with wins in the Best Music Video, Best Comeback and Best Style competitions.
Other big winners from the Mid-Year Music Awards poll included P!nk, whose hit single "Just Give Me a Reason" (feat. Nate Ruess) topped a pair of Bruno Mars cuts to earn the Favorite Hot 100 No. 1 Song crown; Beyonce, whose powerhouse performance at the Super Bowl halftime show squeaked by Taylor Swift's Billboard Music Awards display as fans' favorite televised performance of the past six months; Swedish House Mafia, who bid farewell at the Ultra Music Festival and won the fan vote for Best Festival Performance; and Britney Spears, whose next musical project is the most anticipated event of 2013, according to fan votes.
Check out the full results below -- including the percentage of the votes that each candidate received -- and let us know if you approve of the final tallies in the comments section!
Here are the final results for Billboard.com's 2013 Mid-Year Music Awards poll:
First-Half MVP:
1. Taylor Swift (26%)
2. Justin Timberlake (16%)
3. Beyonce (15%)
Best Newcomer:
1. Ariana Grande (50%)
2. Icona Pop (16%)
3. Jessica Sanchez (12%)
Favorite Hot 100 No. 1 Song:
1. P!nk featuring Nate Ruess, "Just Give Me a Reason" (29%)
2. Bruno Mars, "Locked Out Of Heaven" (15%)
3. Bruno Mars, "When I Was Your Man" (14%)
Favorite Billboard 200 No. 1 Album:
1. Taylor Swift, "Red" (25%)
2. Justin Bieber, "Believe: Acoustic" (20%)
3. Bon Jovi, "What About Now" (11%)
Best Music Video:
1. Miley Cyrus, "We Can't Stop" (27%)
2. Selena Gomez, "Come & Get It" (19%)
3. Taylor Swift feat. Ed Sheeran, "Everything Has Changed" (17%)
Best Comeback:
1. Miley Cyrus (36%)
2. Justin Timberlake (31%)
3. Paramore (10%)
Most Memorable Feud:
1. Nicki Minaj vs. Mariah Carey (40%)
2. Justin Bieber vs. Black Keys' Pat Carney (25%)
3. Drake vs. Chris Brown (17%)
Most Shocking Moment:
1. Beyonce's Lip Sync Performance at Inauguration (44%)
2. Paris Jackson's Attempted Suicide (33%)
3. Lil Wayne's Death Scare (16%)
Best Festival Performance:
1. Swedish House Mafia's farewell show at Ultra Music Festival (35%)
2. Paul McCartney at Bonnaroo (19%)
3. Kanye West at Governor's Ball (17%)
Best Style:
1. Miley Cyrus (30%)
2. Rihanna (19%)
3. Justin Timberlake (18%)
Best Tour:
1. Taylor Swift's Red tour (27%)
2. Rihanna's Diamonds tour (20%)
3. Bon Jovi's Because We Can tour (16%)
Coolest Marketing Stunt:
1. Jay-Z Announces Album in Samsung Ad (27%)
2. Fall Out Boy Unveils Comeback, Album Release, Single, Video in One Day (25%)
3. Kanye West Projects New Song on Buildings Around The World (16%)
Best TV Performance:
1. Beyonce at Super Bowl (32%)
2. Taylor Swift at Billboard Music Awards (30%)
3. Adele at Academy Awards (21%)
Best Music Reality Show:
1. The Voice (45%)
2. American Idol (25%)
3. America's Got Talent (10%)
Most Overrated Artist:
1. Justin Bieber (37%)
2. Taylor Swift (24%)
3. Beyonce (13%)
Most Disappointing:
1. Lady Gaga Cancels Tour Dates (35%)
2. Justin Bieber's Chaotic European Tour (33%)
3. Season 12 of "American Idol" (17%)
Most Anticipated Event of 2012's Second Half:
1. New Music From Britney Spears (23%)
2. New Music From Lady Gaga (19%)
3. Beyonce's 'Mrs. Carter' Tour… And Album? (17%)