The competition at this year’s Billboard Music Awards is fierce, with artists from around the globe competing for the coveted golden mic. Predicting what artists will take home marquee awards like Top New Artist and Top Group takes a combination of skill, knowledge, and a little bit of luck, three ingredients that can win you bragging rights as the ultimate arbiter of the music scene. VersusGame wants to reward you with something even better if you can guess the winners on May 23rd: Money.
VersusGame is a mobile gaming app that rewards you for your knowledge of everything from pop culture to sports to entertainment and food. Playing is simple: You download the app to your phone, buy some credits, find a game, and start predicting to win. There are categories to fit anyone’s interest, from guessing who a celebrity’s favorite rapper is to guessing when a surprise album will drop. Calling something correctly will net you VersusGame coins that you can cash out for real money. The mobile gaming company has already given away $16M to players over the last two years, and are giving one lucky fan $1M during the Billboard Music Awards on May 23rd.
To do that, VersusGame is partnering with influencers and artists like Cameron Dallas, Josh Richards, Taylor Caniff, Jack J (JVCK), and Ktlyn. Each of them will be posting their own game for fans in the days leading up to the BMAs, and include questions like “Who will be the Top Male Artist?” and “Who will be the Top Rap Artist?” On Sunday morning, Josh Richards will randomly pick three finalists from the pool of VersusGame players who will be given a set of 10 award predictions. Guess all of them right, and one winner will have a shot at $1M in cash.
It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to put your music and pop culture knowledge to the test. Predicting the artists walking home with a trophy from the Billboard Music Awards has always been about bragging rights. Now those bragging rights come with cash.
Fontaines D.C. have teamed up with Rosalía for their new collaboration, Where Is Gone?.
The song features on the Irish rock band's forthcoming album, Dopamine Chamber, which arrives on Friday (16.10.26). For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, working with the Spanish superstar is particularly special because of his own Spanish roots.
He explained: “I’ve admired Rosalía ever since her debut album, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
“What excited me most was the way she continued to preserve Spain's musical traditions, something that felt spiritually connected to what we've been trying to achieve with Irish music. Having roots in both countries, it's been really special to witness. "She's an artist who has continued to amaze me at every point in her career.”
Frontman Grian Chatten has also described the collaboration with Rosalía as one of the most memorable achievements of his career.
He revealed that he felt "humbled" when she agreed to lend her voice to the band's album.
Speaking to NPR, Grian said: “I've always felt there's something almost like a single big idea that I'm personally trying to communicate to the world before I get old and die, if that makes sense. There's one thing I think I'll spend my life trying to express. I have a feeling she has a similar outlook. … I mean, she's an amazing arranger, composer and lyricist. It means so much that she wanted to sing on something we'd put together. It's definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Rosalía's links to Irish rock music extend beyond Fontaines D.C. She also offered inspiration and helped develop the Spanish lyrics for U2's The Mirror Maker (Rosalía), a track from their forthcoming album, Carnaval de Luz.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don't know him personally, but he sent me a text explaining that he was working on a new project and had written a song called The Mirror Maker."
Rosalía joked that Bono had invented a few words of his own.
She recalled telling him: “I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I told him he could create his own language if he wanted to.”
She described the opportunity to collaborate with the 66 year old music veteran as a real privilege.
She added: “Bono is a legend.
“It's amazing.”
Bono recently revealed that he was worried about seeming like a stalker when he reached out to Rosalía to ask whether he could name the song after her.
