Ok so welcome to part two of my AMA review. This time, I'm going to focus on the performances of the night. From Janet Jackson to Adam Lambert's "grand finale", the night was interesting to say the least. Some performances were much better and much more theatrical than others, some were simple and clean while some were tacky and over the top. It almost felt like watching a variety night. Anyways, on to my thoughts!
Janet Jackson: The girl still has some moves left in her, thats for sure. The dance routines, though awkward, demonstrate that Janet still has some of that star quality left in her... but I dont know how much longer that will last. I think she's seem her prime and it has long past. But the performance was not as terrible as it could have been. A few shaky notes and a little reminiscent of her late brother, she still gave it a decent shot.
Daughtry: Can I just say, I've personally had enough? He does have a great voice, that I cant deny. But I just cant get into the music... I dont feel his passion. I dont know why, I just dont believe him if that makes sense?
Shakira: I had to think for a few moments when she came out because honestly, we were all sitting around going "What? Sharkira? THAT? No, No way... Really?". She has come a long way from her Whenever, Wherever roots of mainstream popularity. She looked great, the performance was orchestrated in a way that was not too flashy or overdone and she sounded alright. Nothing fantastic but it was well done. Nothing memorable about the song itself.
Keith Urban: unable to find a link for this one. Now, I'm not big on country but the guy can definitely sing so I give credit where its due. Good performance, good sound, all around not bad. I'd make more commentary but I'm only able to work off what I can remember and apparently, from his performance, its not much. Sorry K.U fans!
Kelly Clarkson: We already know this girl can sing. Like it or not, her performance was simple, classic and moving. This is why Kelly has maintained stardom after winning American Idol. Its also probably one of the only thing AI has to really show for their many seasons of contest winners... Anyone heard from Ruben Studdard lately? Anyways, she looked great (LIKE A REAL WOMAN NOT A STICK, KUDOS!), she sounded great and her performance was lovely.
Jay-Z/Alicia Keys: I liked it... so sue me! Alicia is incredibly talented both as a singer and instrumentalist. Combine her jazzy R&B vocals with Jay-z's melodic flow and you cant help but have a winning combination. Empire State Of Mind was a great performance choice. Well done.
Black Eyed Peas: Or as I like to call them... Fergie, Will I Am and those other guys. Though I have to say, I'm glad they had a bit bigger of a part in this performance. Anyways, theres no question as to why they do so well on the charts. The music is well produced and creative, the band performs well together as a group and they really understand the music process. The performance was big and intricate, but definitely something to talk about.
Rihanna: Again, I was asking "who is this" for the first minute or so of the performance. The intro to her performance is nearly a minute long video of some kind of sci-fi robot surgery. All in all, I thought she actually looked and sounded pretty good. The outfit, lasers and all, was pretty cool I thought. In fact, my roommate asked if it was bad that she would wear that in public. For all the bad reviews she got for this album, I dont know, because the live performance was pretty decent!
Carrie Underwood: I had to laugh... as soon as she came out on the stage my roommate's first reaction was something along the lines of "whoa, when did Carrie Underwood go all Britney Spears?" And although I have to agree, I do feel like a lot of it had to do with the song itself. It is a little more out there than some of her other songs. I like it though. She has the voice and she's gorgeous. The song and routine were done well enough, I have no complaints but I have no real praise either. It was just... good. Nothing phenomenal, nothing terrible... just plain old good.
Lady Gaga: Honestly, probably one of the better performances of the night. It had it all, theatrics, talent, and intrigue. I'm not going to go into major detail here because the performance speaks for itself... but was anyone else reminded of the movie Alien when they saw her outfit? Because I did!
Mary J Blige: Is she really still singing? I do like her voice but I just feel like she's kind of yesterday's news by this point. Could not find her performance online either. Sorry, youtube takes everything down!
J.LO: Again, this chick is still performing? Didn't she just have a kid? I don't know, I was not very excited about this and it actually took me quite some time to figure out who was even on the stage. Apparently this was supposed to be a comeback deal for her but I just dont see it taking off. No one cares anymore...
Whitney Houston: An incredible voice that's for sure. She's still got it and she proved that the other night. Her performance was not exactly her best, but it was spot on vocally and she looked fantastic.
Alicia Keys: Ok so I personally was a bigger fan of her performance with Jay-Z. The piano and vocals were way more stand out than this one. What was with that outfit, arent the 80s over? The weird superhero intro was also slightly tacky. Dance routines were decent and while her voice was great as always, I found it was lost in the communication due to the bigger stage theatrics.
Eminem/50 Cent: Now I will openly admit, I like Eminem. I think he's a talented artist who has worked hard over the years to get where he is. However, I am not a 50 cent fan and I think that may be half the problem I had with this one. And "Crack A Bottle"... really? Why not something more fun like We Made You or something more serious like Beautiful... something that represents a greater percentage of your work, not the one of maybe five songs you have that belong in a dance club.
Timbaland/Nelly Furtado/So Shy: Kind of enjoyed the zombie/night of the living dead theme of this performance. The vocals were good, and the dancers were entertaining. Nelly and Soshy looked great. I have to admit, never heard of Soshy before but she has a pretty nice voice. I think we've all come to expect good work from Timbaland and he didnt disappoint in my opinion.
Green Day: A very simple take for these guys. After the more energized performances of Know Your Enemy and East Jesus Nowhere that they have been playing at awards shows, I was surprised to see them take it down with a lovely live version of 21 Guns. From start to finish, it was three minutes of soft rock with Billie Joe crooning along. Not their best work for sure, but simple and classic... no big theatrics, its all about the voice.
Adam Lambert: Ok... this is something he NEVER could have gotten away with on American Idol, thats for sure. Here's my issue... I get that he's gay and proud, I do. Congrats bud, but is it absolutely necessary to try and use that as shock value and shove our faces in it? I mean, simulating sex on stage is probably not that acceptable for anyone but Madonna and even she, a heterosexual white female, gets in trouble for it. Be gay, be proud, I support you 100% but please refrain from theatrics like this. It did NOTHING for your voice which was supposed to be the whole point of a live performance.
So that about sums up my views of the night's performances. I know some of them are short and not into details, but thats probably because I didnt get to really watch it... my roommate was having a party so there were other things going on in the room that distracted from the tv and it was frequently muted by people trying to put on some music... I'm sorry, I fought for the awards show to do this post, I really did. But I didnt always succeed in my battles haha. Anyways, what did you think of the performances? Favorites? Ones you could have gone without? Let me know!
Rock On,
- Girl At The Rock Show
Song of the Day: Empire State Of Mind by Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys... I like this song, especially after seeing it performed live. It was well done at the awards. Kudos!
So that about sums up my views of the night's performances. I know some of them are short and not into details, but thats probably because I didnt get to really watch it... my roommate was having a party so there were other things going on in the room that distracted from the tv and it was frequently muted by people trying to put on some music... I'm sorry, I fought for the awards show to do this post, I really did. But I didnt always succeed in my battles haha. Anyways, what did you think of the performances? Favorites? Ones you could have gone without? Let me know!
Rock On,
- Girl At The Rock Show
Song of the Day: Empire State Of Mind by Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys... I like this song, especially after seeing it performed live. It was well done at the awards. Kudos!
I agree with a lot of your reviews, Lady Gaga stole the night! Especially with the piano, that was pretty cool. A lot of pop stars aren't seen as real performers but she's breaking those barriers! I loved it!
ReplyDeleteOh, and did you notice how Jennifer Lopez fell during her performance? It was subtle but it was totally there!
I thought Kelly Clarkson did the best job... her performance was all back to basics! She's beautiful and her voice matches. It was awesome. I know that my friends are always on my case about the fact that I'm into punk and I like her stuff. Its good pop music and at least she has talent unlike some of these people. Although like the person above said, Lady Gaga is also breaking through those preconceptions.
ReplyDeleteKelly Clarkson is one of the most underrated singers of our time. Fact.
ReplyDeleteI definitely have to agree, while Gaga was impressive... she's hot stuff right now. Kelly gets on the charts but I feel like people forget her too fast. She's proven time and time again that she has an incredible voice but sadly for some people its not enough.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I saw J.LO fall. She recovered well but it was still kind of entertaining ahaha.
Hahaa! Ya, Lady Gaga's outfit WAS over the top but I admire her shameless courage. It takes serious guts to go out in public like that!
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree Jess, I think Adam Lambert's performance was amazingly gay and wonderful. Like he said in an interview, performers have been doing provocative performances forever, yet as soon as a gay male does it everyone sees it as unnecessary and over the top. I remember when Madonna and Britney Spears had that little make-out a few years ago, everyone was applauding it, yet when a gay man makes-out with one of his band members it's seen as a bad thing and shouldn't be done again. I give kudos to Adam Lambert for having the balls to do that and think he should never feel inhibited from doing it in the future as well.
ReplyDeleteOk, thats a valid point. But see... ok, trying to keep this PG for my class as required haha... but he simulated something WAY beyond a little kiss and it was fairly blatant. I could care less about the kissing the male guitarist or the general choreography. I get that there is a double standard, and girls get away with a lot more, as do heterosexuals... but that was just too much. It was put there to be shocking and it successfully angered a lot of people. I just thought it should be more about music and less about shock value. People arent talking about his new single, they're talking about his performance... and not really in a good way. I saw him play on the Early Show this week and it was actually really great (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX3soXsMAow&feature=player_embedded) I just wish, with the release of an album, that he had focused more on having people remember his talent, not his shock. Anyways, Madonna pulled a similar kiss stunt back in 1993 and she got a lot of backlash for it even though she's a straight white female. There are certainly double standards, but its not the kissing I have an issue with, its the other little piece of planned choreography that I disagree with. It is supposed to be relatively family material (like PG13ish) after all.
ReplyDelete