If you sat through the three hour-long telecast of the American Music Awards last night just to see Adam Lambert’s bondage performance, it might have left you scared and scarred or both. Lambert’s performance wasn’t the only one that gave us something to talk about--Lady Gaga was another, but we’ll get to her in a minute. Non-performance moments also got us talking. Taylor Swift reigned supreme taking home five awards though she wasn’t in attendance while Reba McEntire seemed to thoroughly enjoy the show.Cameramen seemed focused to get her reaction every five minutes. Did Reba like Janet Jackson’s performance? The Black-Eyed Peas? The grin seemed to say it all. So, let’s talk about the night that was the AMAs.
Lambert closed the AMAs with a very racy version of his new single, “For Your Entertainment.” Let’s not ignore the fact that Lambert, Lady Gaga and Rihanna all have albums dropping today so the AMAs was clearly used as a publicity platform for these artists, and rightfully so. Okay, back to Lambert. Like I said, it was a bit scary and a tad funny when he decided to do a little rolling action on his set platform. Then there was that kiss with the keyboardist that sent the message home that he is a sexual beast. For a split second I forgot he was on American Idol. What would Simon say about that performance? I will admit that I like the song and look forward to seeing what he does next.
Moving on to one of my favorite performances of the night, Lady Gaga. There’s no arguing that she’s original, as she constantly keeps her songs fresh by singing varied versions each time. Gaga, clad in a light-up top and flesh-colored ensemble, sang her current single “Bad Romance” as well as debuting her new song, “Speechless” off The Fame Monster. Gaga proved she is quite the multi-tasker as she pounded the piano keys and belted out the lyrics to “Speechless,” while smashing alcohol bottles across the piano as the piano burst into flames. I thought it was pretty cool, and it made me excited for her upcoming tour.
Jennifer Lopez took to the stage to sing her comeback song, “Louboutins” a humble reminder she is galaxies away from being just Jenny from the block. She also lost her footing after jumping off a platform around her back-up dancers. It’s a good thing she has a well-insured ass to break her fall.
It was also a night of comebacks. Janet Jackson opened the show with an underwhelming medley of her greatest hits. The camera work was about as awful as her outfit, most likely to take away from the obvious fact that she was lip-syncing. In better news, Whitney Houston took to the stage to perform “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength.” If we weren’t sure of her own strength, we are now. She exhibited that while she may have lost some of that tonality that dubbed her “the voice,” she is sounding amazing in her new voice. Houston also collected the International Award for Excellence.
Other noteworthy performances included Rihanna, Alicia Keys (who performed solo and with Jay-z), Carrie Underwood, Green Day, Kelly Clarkson and Daughtry. Oh yeah, and did I mention that Taylor Swift won 5 AMAs, beating out Michael Jackson! Swift, who was rehearsing in London, is the biggest star who doesn’t know she’s a star looking like she was going to pass out every time she accepted an award. Tourmates, Gloriana are hopefully sending Swift all the swag they picked up from the awards since she is clearly the reason why they won the T-Mobile Breakthrough Award. In the meantime, country fans and the like can’t recall one Gloriana song.
In case you missed it, I’ve posted the Adam Lambert and J.Lo performances for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.
