Man, 2017 was a weird, transitional year for pop culture, wasn’t it? We were right in the middle of that awkward phase where the "old" Disney Channel stars like Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus had fully moved on, but the new guard was still trying to find their footing. If you sat down to watch Disney Channel presents the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards, you probably felt that shift immediately. It wasn't just another awards show; it was basically a massive, glitter-covered branding exercise for the next decade of pop music.
I remember watching it and thinking how much the "RDMA" brand had changed since the early 2000s when it was just a radio bit. By 2017, they were filling the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. It was loud. It was bright. It was aggressively wholesome. But beneath the neon slime and the screaming kids, there were some actually massive career moments happening that people sort of overlook now.
The Night Britney Spears Became a "Legend"
One of the biggest reasons anyone remembers this specific broadcast is the Icon Award. Radio Disney decided to give its first-ever Icon Award to Britney Spears. It was a full-circle moment because, honestly, Radio Disney basically lived off her early hits in the late 90s. What made it special wasn't just Britney showing up—it was the tribute performance.
Jamie Lynn Spears actually came out to surprise her sister. That was a big deal at the time. She performed "Till the World Ends," and then you had Kelsea Ballerini doing "Oops!... I Did It Again," Sofia Carson taking on "Love Me Down," and Hailee Steinfeld crushing "Circus." It was this weirdly emotional medley that reminded everyone that even though Disney is a "kid" brand, their legacy is built on the backs of these absolute titans of industry. Britney sat there in the front row, looking like a proud big sister, and for a second, the corporate sheen of the show felt actually human.
Kelsea Ballerini and the Country-Pop Takeover
You can't talk about Disney Channel presents the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards without mentioning Kelsea Ballerini. She was everywhere that night. She wasn't just performing; she was co-hosting alongside Jordan Fisher, Sofia Carson, Alex Aiono, and Jenna Ortega. Looking back, that hosting lineup is kind of insane. Jenna Ortega was just the kid from Stuck in the Middle then—now she’s, well, Wednesday Addams.
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Kelsea won "The Freshest - Best New Artist" and "Country Favorite Artist." It was a pivot point. Radio Disney was desperately trying to prove that country music was "cool" for the Gen Z demographic. They weren't playing traditional honky-tonk; they were playing the polished, pop-infused country that Kelsea and Maren Morris were putting out. It worked. The audience ate it up.
Unexpected Performers and the Rise of "The Next Big Thing"
Alessia Cara performed "Scars to Your Beautiful," and it was probably the most "serious" moment of the night. She’s always had this raw, anti-pop-star energy that felt a little out of place next to the high-energy dance routines of the Descendants 2 cast, but that contrast is exactly what made the 2017 show interesting.
Then you had Noah Cyrus. People forget she performed "Make Me (Cry)" at the RDMAs. It was her big introduction to the Disney crowd, trying to establish her own identity outside of the Cyrus family shadow. It was moody. It was different. It definitely didn't feel like a "Disney" song, which showed that the network was trying to grow up with its audience.
- Camila Cabello made one of her big solo appearances after leaving Fifth Harmony, performing "Crying in the Club."
- Shawn Mendes won "He's The One - Best Male Artist," solidifying his status as the king of teen pop at that moment.
- Niall Horan showed up to perform "Slow Hands," marking the era where One Direction fans were picking sides in the solo-career wars.
Why the "AR" Experience Was a Total Flop (But Also Kind of Cool)
Disney tried something super ambitious with the 2017 broadcast: Augmented Reality. They kept hyping up that if you watched the show through the Radio Disney app, you’d see special AR elements. In 2026, we’re used to this stuff, but in 2017, it was clunky. The tracking was off, it drained your phone battery, and half the time it just looked like a floating 2D sticker over the stage.
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Still, you have to give them credit for trying to turn a linear TV broadcast into an interactive event. They knew kids weren't just watching the TV; they were on their phones. They were trying to bridge that gap. It was the beginning of the end for traditional "appointment viewing" for kids.
The "Hero" Award and Nick Jonas
Nick Jonas got the Hero Award for his work with Type 1 diabetes awareness. This is the stuff Disney does best—mixing the celebrity worship with a "be a good person" message. Jack Black actually presented the award to him, which was a random but hilarious pairing. Nick’s speech was actually pretty grounded. He talked about how he was told his career might be over when he got his diagnosis, and seeing that resonated with a lot of kids in the audience who were dealing with their own stuff. It gave the night a bit of substance.
The Awards That Actually Mattered (Sorta)
Look, we all know these awards are fan-voted and mostly a popularity contest, but the 2017 winners list is a perfect snapshot of what 12-year-olds cared about that year.
- Best Group: Fifth Harmony (even though they were down to four members).
- Fiercest Fans: Harmonizers. The drama between Fifth Harmony and Camila Cabello was at its absolute peak, and winning these awards was like a battleground for the fandoms.
- Song of the Year: "Treat You Better" by Shawn Mendes. It beat out "Can't Stop the Feeling!" by Justin Timberlake, which was a huge upset at the time.
The show also leaned heavily into the "social media star" category. Jake Paul was there. This was right before the "Team 10" house drama and the... let's say, controversial era of his career really took off. Seeing him win "Social Media Star" in a Disney-sanctioned event feels like a fever dream now.
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The Logistics of the Broadcast
The show didn't actually air live. It was taped on Saturday, April 29, 2017, and aired the next night on Disney Channel. This gave them time to edit out any mishaps, which is why the show feels so perfectly paced—almost too perfect. The transitions were seamless, the "impromptu" backstage moments were clearly scripted, and the lighting was dialed up to eleven.
If you go back and watch the clips today, the color grading is incredibly saturated. Everything is blue, pink, and purple. It’s a visual representation of the "musical.ly" era of the internet. It was the last gasp of that specific aesthetic before things started getting a bit more "indie-sleaze" or "minimalist" in the late 2010s.
The Lasting Impact on the "Disney Machine"
What most people get wrong about Disney Channel presents the 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards is thinking it was just a concert. It wasn't. It was the launchpad for the Descendants 2 marketing campaign. The cast—Dove Cameron, Cameron Boyce, Sofia Carson, and Booboo Stewart—were the unofficial royalty of the night. Their performance of "Ways to Be Wicked" was the climax of the show.
Tragically, looking back at these clips now is bittersweet. Seeing Cameron Boyce full of life and energy, dancing his heart out, hits differently today. He was such a core part of the Disney DNA during that 2017 window, and this awards show was really his time to shine as a performer, not just an actor.
How to Relive the 2017 RDMA Energy Today
If you're feeling nostalgic or doing research for a project on 2010s pop culture, don't just look for a full replay—Disney has mostly scrubbed the full telecast from their main platforms due to licensing. Instead, do this:
- Search YouTube for the Britney Spears Tribute: It’s the highest-quality part of the show and features some of the best choreography.
- Check the Radio Disney Spotify Archives: Many of the "RDMA" curated playlists from 2017 are still floating around if you dig into user-generated content. It gives you a better sense of the "sound" of that year than the actual trophy winners do.
- Watch the "Ways to Be Wicked" Performance: If you want to understand why Disney Channel was still a powerhouse in 2017, that performance is the reason. The production value was higher than some actual Broadway tours.
- Look for the "Behind the Scenes" Vlogs: In 2017, every star had a vlog. Searching for "RDMA 2017 vlog" will give you a much more "human" and less polished look at what was happening backstage at the Microsoft Theater.
The 2017 Radio Disney Music Awards wasn't the "best" show they ever did, but it was the most "2017" thing to ever happen. It was the bridge between the old world of TV stardom and the new world of social media dominance. It’s a neon-soaked reminder of a time when the biggest worry in the world was whether Camila or Fifth Harmony would take home the most "Ardys."