Last night the 40th annual American Music Awards aired, and as expected the same five people that radio plays every five minutes on your radio won awards that no one will give a shit about a year from now. As for the performances, only a few stood out for me. Kelly Clarkson performed a medley of her hits to promote her upcoming Greatest Hits album and while I have all of her albums, it made me want to go out and actually buy her new album. P!nk was hands-down the best performance of the night, singing on key while doing an intense lyrical dance that she should have dedicated to Chris Brown and Rihanna. Speaking of which, I was surprised that I liked Swizz Beatz's new Birthday single, only because Chris Brown took off his shirt and started dancing like he was channeling MC Hammer having a seizure. And speaking of Hammer, he made a surpsise appearance and tore the roof off while performing alongside Psy, who performed Gangnam Style for the umteenth time and a remix of 2 Legit 2 Quit.
Now for the disappointments:
As you all know I find Usher annoying and void of a personality, and as an opening act for the AMA's he was a disappointment. The only time I thought he brought it all together was when he surrounded himself with like 30 dancers while performing Can't Stop Won't Stop. Christina Aguilera gave us trailer park realness (and apparently she's using Raven from RuPaul's Drag Race as a stylist) during her medley of new tracks, Lotus Intro/Army of Me/Let There Be Love. I also felt her vocals weren't up to par and she was out of breath halfway through her performance. It was nice that she wanted to bring out all the people considered freaks by middle America, but Xtina while I applaud that you want to be yourself and don't give a shit what other people think, I think if you are planning to tour this album you need to get yourself in fighting shape so you will have the stamina to do a proper tour.
No Doubt is another group I was disappointed by. The audience immediately jumped to their feet for the ska/rock/pop legends, hoping like the rest of us watching at home that we would get a hot performance...but the minute they performed Looking Hot (which Gwen did look, BTW), it all went downhill from there. If ND wanted to give a memorable performance maybe what they should have done is screen the video (which they pulled 24 hours after complaints) and perform behind it.
Linkin Park was another band that disappointed me. While I had forgotten they released a new album a few months back, of all the songs they chose to perform Burn It Down instead of something far more interesting. No lie I literally walked out of the room when they performed.
While some people in America may have loved or hated Ke$ha's Die Young performance, I was disappointed by it because I already saw her do the same performance last week on Australian X Factor.
Nicki Garbaj looked a mess in her crooked pink wig, white fur coat, ill-fitted silver shorts that looked like an adult diaper and snow boots. She should also send Madonna a check for ripping off Like A Prayer. for that shitty ass single Freedom. You can't be singing about Freedom when you're a slave to Young Money. And last but certainly not least can Justin Bieber just disappear? While I thought he did a fine job singing As Long As You Love Me, which always makes me think of the Backstreet Boys (who were also there) whenever I hear it, he lost me when he tried to act like the white Usher during his wack ass performance of Beauty and the Beast, which also featured Nicki Garbaj in a nappy ass Diana Ross wig. I also loved in the beginning of the show when Justin dedicated his forst award to "the haters." I will have you know that I love lesbians, so why would I spend my time and energy hating on someone who's music I find annoying.
Overall if you were expecting innovation or people actually giving us something we haven't seen before, then you were watching the wrong show. AMA's is basically a celebration of what's currently popular on the radio and what I like to call "corporate brainwashing." I know it will never happen but I wish producers of these shows will stop looking at these shows as "ratings grabbers" for the young demographic and actually mix it up by inviting some talented performers to come out and give us an alternative to the bullshit people are constantly being spoonfed.
Check out the performances below and list of winners below...
Artist of the Year: Justin Bieber
Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist: Justin Bieber
Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist: Katy Perry
Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group: Maroon 5
Favorite Pop/Rock Album: Believe, Justin Bieber
Favorite Country Female Artist: Taylor Swift
Favorite Country Male Artist: Luke Bryan
Favorite Country Band/Duo/Group: Lady Antebellum
Favorite Country Album: Blown Away, Carrie Underwood
Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist: Nicki Minaj
Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, Nicki Minaj
Favorite Alternative Rock Music Artist: Linkin Park
Favorite Electronic Dance Music Artist: David Guetta
Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist: Usher
Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist: Beyoncé
Favorite Soul/R&B Album: Talk That Talk, Rihanna
Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist: Adele
Favorite Latin Artist: Shakira
Favorite Adult Contemporary Inspirational Artist: tobyMac
New Artist of the Year: Carly Rae Jepsen
Usher — “Numb/Climax/Can’t Stop Won’t Stop”
P!nk — “Try”
Kelly Clarkson — “Miss Independent/Since U Been Gone/Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)/Catch My Breath”
Ke$ha — “Die Young”
No Doubt — “Looking Hot”
Nicki Minaj — “Freedom”
Linkin Park — “Burn It Down”
Christina Aguilera — “Lotus Intro/Army of Me/Let There Be Love”
Pitbull — “Don’t Stop the Party/Feel This Moment”
Swizz Beatz, Chris Brown & Ludacris — “Everyday Birthday”
PSY & MC Hammer — “Gangnam Style”
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