Rihanna did her best impression of Madonna at last night's Billboard Awards, nailing Britney Spears right on the kisser after a performance of olfactophilic pain anthem "S&M."

[There was a video here]

But ABC didn't air their sapphic smackeroo in its live broadcast. At left is video of the performance. At 4:02 the ladies go in for a hug. At 4:03 the camera cuts to the cheering audience. At 4:05 we return to Britney and Rihanna pulling apart. We missed the (incredibly brief) kiss!

To ABC's credit, straight girls kissing onstage is pretty boring at this point. (You know a trend is over when Miley Cyrus joins it.) So maybe they were trying to help Britney and Rihanna save face?

Or, more likely, the kiss was spontaneous and/or too quick for the live cameras to catch it. But don't let that stop you from spinning conspiracy theories in the comments! Maybe Rihanna wasn't kissing Britney, but sucking the life out of her before she humiliates herself on yet another ill-advised tour. Mercy kiss-killing. [ABC, image via Getty]

Previously: Watch Britney Spears Embarrass Herself at the Billboard Music Awards