Katy Perry to Debut New Song at Billboard Music Award

Katy Perry is the latest addition to a growing list of superstar performers taking the stage at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, which airs live May 20 on ABC at 8 p.m. ET from the MGM Grand Arena.

The pop star will be debuting her new song, "Wide Awake," written for her upcoming film "Katy Perry: Part of Me," live on the BBMA stage.

Previously announced performers include Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, Carrie Underwood, LMFAO, CeeLo Green, Kelly Clarkson, Usher, The Wanted, Linkin Park and Nelly Furtado.

In 2011, Perry became the only woman in history to earn five No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart from the same album. Her "Teenage Dream" set spun off the No. 1 Hot 100 hits "California Gurls" (featuring Snoop Dogg), the title tracks, "E.T." (featuring Kanye West), "Firework" and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)." She nabbed another No. 1 this year, with "Part of Me," the first single from the special edition album "Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection."

The "Teenage Dream" album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2010 and has sold 2.2 million copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan.

2011 was a banner year for the singer, as she was also the most-played artist on the radio according to Nielsen BDS (with 1.5 million detections of her songs registered on all formats) and had three of the top 10 most-played songs of the year ("E.T.," "Firework" and "Last Friday Night"). She was also the top selling artist of 2011 in terms of digital track sales, according to SoundScan, with 15.2 million sold. Last year, her "E.T." collabo with West was 2011's third-biggest selling digital song in the U.S., with 4.8 million sold. Collectively, her career digital song sales in the U.S. stand at 41.3 million.

Additional acts will be announced in the coming days.

Adele, LMFAO, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Lil Wayne are the leading finalists. Adele takes the lead as a finalist in 18 award categories, while LMFAO is a finalist in 17 categories. Rihanna lands in 13 categories this year, after leading the pack with 18 category appearances in 2011. Lady Gaga and Lil Wayne each snagged a spot in 10 categories.

Hosting this year's event will be "Modern Family" co-stars Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell.

Tickets for the 2012 Billboard Music Awards are now on sale at Ticketmaster.com and MGMGrand.com. The 2012 Billboard Music Awards will be co-executive produced by Richard D. Beckman, CEO of Prometheus Global Media and Don Mischer Productions.

Katy Perry Wants A Fucking Vacation For Herself After 'Wide Awake' Single

Katy Perry has been a very busy pop star over the past two years, scoring five Hot 100 No. 1s off her 2010 effort "Teenage Dream" and another topper in February with "Part of Me," off the "Complete Confection" collection. She'll try to do it again with "Wide Awake," which hits radio later this month.

"I swear, after this song, I'm taking a fucking vacation," Perry said following her acceptance speech for artist of the year the NARM Music Awards on May 10.

The mid-tempo "Wide Awake," written expressly for her "Part of Me 3D" movie hitting theaters July 5, is the second single off "Complete Confection." At NARM, Perry went out of her way to thank the music industry for helping her succeed, but she also allowed some of the credit to land on her.

"I have to say that I do a lot to sell my records," she said with a smile. "I do the right things… I work very hard! I like to sell out in all the best ways."

Perry, who began her music career as a Christian artist, relayed a story about growing up not being able to listen to secular music -- her parents are ministers -- and recalled when she first decided she wanted to be "what I am today."

             " I wasn't allowed to listen to secular music, so every time I would go over to my friends house I would make them turn on MTV real quick. And one of my friends… one day pulled out a record, a song in particular called "Killer Queen" by Queen. 


I remember hearing that song and -- I don't know if you have that moment in your memory because you work in the music industry -- there was that one song that hit you like a shockwave and I remember falling down in what felt like slow motion in my bed listening to the lyrics of "Killer Queen." And I thought to myself, 'Oh my gosh, this music is incredible. These lyrics speak to me…' and that's what made me want to be what I am today. 


So thank you for selling that record to her, so that I could have that one moment, that epiphany that led me to this place today. " 

As previously reported, Perry, who said she's going through a "goth" phase right now, also made a business-related comment to her label during her acceptance speech, referring to the still-pending merger of Universal and EMI.

"I would like to thank my amazing record label team at EMI/Capitol Records. Long live EMI!" she said, before switching to a low growl, "You haven't taken us down yet Universal."