Emotional Highs and Lows of the 2015 AMAs: J.Lo's Minaj Homage, Celine's Paris Tribute & More
(photo: AP)
It was a night of emotional high and lows at the 43rd annual American Music Awards, held Sunday at Los Angeles’s Microsoft Theater. While multi-tasking hostess with the mostess Jennifer Lopez set the night’s overall celebratory tone with a sexy medley that had everyone on the floor, so to speak, it was another performance on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum – a heartstring-tugging, tear-jerking tribute by French-Canadian diva Celine Dion to last week’s Paris terrorist attack victims – that truly gave the three-hour broadcast its heart.
Related: 2015 American Music Awards Show Photos
These were the most memorable moments, for varying reasons, of the 2015 AMAs:
1. (tie) Jennifer Lopez Did It Well
J.Lo told the audience, “Tonight is not about me” – and then, of course, proceeded to basically own the AMAs with a white-hot, dancetastic performance of other artists’ hits that probably made ticket sales for her upcoming Las Vegas residency immediately skyrocket. When Lopez shook her own famous backside to Nicki Minaj’s bootylicious smash “Anaconda,” Her Minajesty looked so unamused that we almost expected her to ask J.Lo, “What’s good?” But Little Big Town seemed to get a kick out of a PG-Sapphic moment between Lopez and a female dancer during a snippet of “Girl Crush,” and Justin Bieber even did the Robot to “Where Are Ü Now” – a sure sign that he approved of J.Lo’s homage.
1. (tie) Celine Dion Helped Our Hearts Go On
Celine Dion doesn’t have much in common with Eagles of Death Metal, the boogie-rock band that played Le Bataclan the night of the horrific Paris attacks. She doesn’t even have that much in common with the millennial pop stars that dominated this year’s AMAs. But her exquisite performance of French chanteuse Edith Piaf’s “Hymme a L'Amour” – dedicated to the Paris victims, and solemnly introduced by rocker/actor Jared Leto, whose Thirty Seconds to Mars played Le Bataclan only seven months ago – was heartening proof that music can unite and heal people of all generations and all walks of life. Her most powerful moment actually came when she stopped singing, turned around mid-song, and faced the video screen behind her. As Dion surveyed scenes of the tragedy, the audience watched with her, and there wasn’t a dry eye inside the theater.
2. Macklemore Teamed With Leon Bridges for a Sobering New Song
Another uncharacteristically somber AMAs moment came when Macklemore and Ryan Lewis – last seen on the awards-show circuit performing the ridiculously over-the-top motorbike anthem “Downtown” – joined forces with rising soul sensation Leon Bridges for “Kevin,” a new single about prescription pill abuse. Macklemore, himself a recovering addict, delivered a passionate and clearly very personal performance, backed by a gospel choir. But it was superstar-in-the-making Bridges who really stole the show as he belted, “Doctor please, give me a dose of the American dream/Put down the pen and look at my eyes/We’re in the waiting room and something ain’t right/All this on you, we’re overprescribed.” It was chilling, and it was brilliant.
3. The Force Was With Pentatonix
A cappella was having a moment Sunday. Not only did Pitch Perfect 2 win for Favorite Soundtrack, but The Sing-Off champions Pentatonix delivered possibly the best televised musical salute to Star Wars since Bill Murray was still on Saturday Night Live. Dressed in full George Lucas-inspired attire (Kirstie Maldonado’s Princess Leia buns were especially on fleek), introduced by Harrison “Han Solo” Ford, and backed by a cinematic orchestra, PTX offered a pitch-perfect tribute to film composer John Williams. Someone give these kids an Oscar to put on the mantel alongside their Grammy, please.
4. Coldplay Monkeyed Around
After their depressing 2014 divorce album, Ghost Stories, it was great to see these Brits having some fun again, performing their most upbeat (and possibly best) single in years, “Adventure of a Lifetime” – complete with ‘90s rave graphics, confetti showers, bouncing beachballs, and, most excitingly, dancing monkeys. This felt more like a Flaming Lips show than a Coldplay concert, and we mean that as a total compliment.
(photo: AP)
5. Alanis and Demi Were Extremely Confident
There were two real torch-passing moments at this year’s AMAs. One came early in the night, when surprise presenter Prince handed the Favorite Soul/R&B Album trophy to the Weeknd. The other came later when Alanis Morissette, the voice of Generation X, joined “Confident” millennial star Demi Lovato for a fierce duet of Morissette’s iconic, 20-year-old bad-breakup anthem, “You Oughta Know.” Ex-Disney sensation Lovato – who slayed earlier in the evening in her own burlesque-style solo number – totally kept up with Morissette (herself a former teen TV star). Really, this was the most rockin’ moment of the entire awards ceremony. And isn’t that ironic?
6. Justin Bieber Made Us Beliebers Again
Continuing his apology tour/redemption story arc, the Biebs – who just racked up the biggest first-week sales of 2015, at least until Adele’s 25 total is tallied – closed the show with a glowstick-waving hits medley that included one of his catchiest singles to date, “Sorry.” But it was a truly humble moment, when Bieber let his partners Skrillex and Diplo give the acceptance speech for their Favorite Collaboration award while he sweetly stood on the sidelines, that actually had us liking the kid again.
(photo: Rolling Stone)
7. Charlie Puth Was All About That Bass
A publicist for Meghan Trainor insisted to Yahoo Music that Trainor and her 2015 AMAs duet partner, Charlie Puth, are “just friends.” But these friends were definitely enjoying some benefits onstage Sunday, when they ended their otherwise subdued performance with a full-on makeout session, with Puth even grabbing a handful of “that boom boom that all the boys chase.” Their AMA PDA continued even after the show cut to commercial, which seemed to greatly amuse Luke Bryan. We have to wonder if, after this, Charlie will ask Meghan, “Can I see you again?”
8. The Weekend Brought the Fire, Literally
The electrosoul star, who also won an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Male, fell into a burning ring of fire; he went down, down, down, and the flames went higher. His performance of “The Hills” was hot in more ways than one, and he received quite a warm welcome from the audience – no pun intended.
(photo: AP)
9. Gwen Stefani Was TMI at the AMAs
Perhaps it was a good thing that Blake Shelton couldn’t attend the AMAs this year. Surely it would have been super-awkward for him to watch his new ladyfriend deliver what was basically “Don’t Speak 2.0” – another weepy, heart-on-L.A.M.B.-sleeve breakup anthem, this one obviously dedicated to her allegedly nanny-chasing ex-husband, Gavin Rossdale. This number should have been, or at least could have been, a raw emotional moment ranking up there with Macklemore’s performance, but instead it just flatlined and felt icky and weird. The closeup images of an overacting Stefani on the video screen didn’t help matters. Alanis and Demi did the woman-scorned thing so much better at this year’s AMAs.
10. Walk the Moon Had a Graphic Display
Sure, Walk the Moon may be a one-hit wonder. But man, what a great hit “Shut Up and Dance” was this year. We’re still not tired of the triple-platinum, totally-'80s track, especially when the band performs it on a stage designed to look like a limited-edition Lisa Frank Trapper-Keeper. The band had just lost the Favorite New Artist award to Sam Hunt, literally only minutes before this performance, but they still came out winners.
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