R&B singer R. Kelly [ tickets ] lead the charge at Tuesday's (12/4) Billboard Music Awards with six wins, while Tim McGraw [ tickets ] and Destiny's Child [ tickets ] brought home five from the ceremony at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Kelly was honored for his 2000 album "Tp-2.com" (Jive) and the hit that it spawned, "Fiesta." Among the awards that R&B-pop trio Destiny's Child won was Billboard Artist of the Year, taking the honor for the second consecutive year.

Only a handful of the 41 awards were presented during a two-hour televised segment on Fox-TV.

Rapper DMX earned a special award for being the only artist in history with four albums to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. He was absent from the ceremony, however, after missing his plane.

R&B singer Mary J. Blige honored 'NSync, who had "the biggest one-week album sales in Billboard history with 'No Strings Attached' last year. This year, 'Celebrity' sold more copies in one week than any other release in 2001."

Rockers Godsmack [ tickets ] added color to the otherwise mainstream event. With his facial tattoo and working-class ethic, lead singer Sully Erna accepted Rock Artist of the Year from Creed.

Like other televised award shows, artists took the opportunity to blatantly promote their wares. In introducing a performance by reggae pop artist Shaggy, Ludacris plopped his latest CD, "Word of Mouf," on the podium.

"While we're here on live TV, you know, 'Word of Mouf,' the album, is in stores right now. Be sure you all go get that album," he said.

The ceremony began with Britney Spears and her dancers performing to "I’m a Slave 4 U" outside of Vegas' Bellagio hotel. R&B-pop singer Pink followed in the arena with an energized, full-band rendition of her latest hit, "Get the Party Started." Reggae artist Shaggy, however, offered the most impressive performance of the night by improvising a bit through "Wasn't Me."

Afterward, Shaggy--wearing a red suit and floor-length fur coat--was honored with Male Albums Artist of the Year and Male Artist of the Year.

"Let me say, first of all, thanks to God for this talent that he blessed me with, man," he said. "I always like to say thanks because it's not often we can be in the forefront of things like that as a reggae act. I'm just glad we get to collect these things in front of everybody."

Besides DMX and 'NSync, Janet Jackson [ tickets ] and John Mellencamp were also given special awards--Artist Achievement and Century awards, respectively

Jackson delivered the night's most heartfelt thank-you speech.

"I'm truly honored to be recognized for doing that which I love," Jackson said (earning points, no doubt, for her grammatical skills from teachers everywhere). "My very first performance ever was here at the age of 7 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. I never dreamed that all these years later I would be back here to receive such an honor. I'm grateful to Billboard, to all the fans and especially God for making this possible."

Comedian Bernie Mac proved to be a viable host. Early in the show, he offered tips for those accepting awards: "You got 30 seconds. That's it. Thank the fans, thank the record company, thank the Lord, then sit ... down."

After Wayne Newton and Blink-182 presented Lil Romeo with Rap Artist of the Year, Mac shared, "You got a show business legend, Wayne Newton, out here with Blink-182. Now, I don't know, but that's not like a tradition. Blink-182 sounds like some kind of ointment or something. Doesn't he look good? Hair back, strong. He 140-year-old. Next year, he gonna be doing the Source awards."

The event closed with the much-touted live rendition of "What's Going On," an all-star cover of Marvin Gaye's hit, with the Band-Aid-wearing Nelly, Gwen Stefani, Destiny’s Child, ‘N Sync, Blige and others.