American Music Awards Performances

Janet Jackson Medley

It's crazy how a LIP-SYNCHED performance can outshine almost every single performance of the night. Janet is so old but still looks AMAZING and moves like she's in her teens. Beyoyo, grab a Post-it and a Sharpie. She opened the VMAs with a killer performance and did her thing again. Make sure you cop her "Number Ones" album in stores now.

Rihanna - Wait Your Turn/Hard

Miss Fenty performed a medley of "Wait Your Turn" and "Hard," off her album, "Rated R," in stores tomorrow. So I was surprised she chose to perform "Wait Your Turn" and "Hard." I expected a performance of "Russian Roulette," she hasn't performed her first single yet right? Rihanna looked the best tonight, loved her outfit. She was pretty well in-tuned during the performance and the crowd seemed to be having a good time as well. I can't stress how much I want RiRi to incorporate some choreography, nothing too OTT but just a little visual something. Especially for her up-tempos like "Wait Your Turn" and "Hard," it would add another level of intensity to her performances. Check out Melody Thorton of the Pussycat Dolls applauding at the end of the performance as well. Hey Melody, where was Nicole at? lol.

Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway/Boom Boom Pow Medley

The Peas performed a medley of "Meet Me Halfway" and "Boom Boom Pow." Apl.De.Ap's opening verse on "Meet Me Halfway" is so dry, it's always hard to get into the song at first. The whole change up of the song was also irrating for me but Fergie did her thing. Stacy and Will.I.Am both really did their thing though and this was actually one of the more hyped performances of the night.

Jay-Z & Alicia Keys - Empire State Of Mind

This one was one of my favorites of the night. Jay and Alicia have great chemistry together, it's only right that there be a "Empire State Of Mind 2." I'm also glad that this song hit #1 on the Hot 100, it is very deserving. It will be interesting to see what song will follow this as the next single. Jay has many options off "The Blueprint 3," "Off That" would be a very solid and SAFE choice but my gut feeling is saying he'll go with "On To The Next One" or "Forever Young." "The Blueprint 3" in stores now.

Shakira - Give It Up To Me

Here's Shakira performing, "Give It Up To Me." It seems that this song could very well prove me wrong and become a hit. It has been playing all day on Y100 and is steadily climbing the Hot 100. But I hope it FLOPS for the simple fact that "Did It Again" should have been released as the 2nd single instead. As for the performance, I definitely gave it a thumbs up, it wasn't anything that we haven't seen before really (from the music video or other performances of the single) but Shakira did her thing. Her album "She Wolf" has currently sold 1.5 million albums worldwide already and is set to be released in the U.S. tomorrow!

Kelly Clarkson - Already Gone

I didn't want Kelly to perform this song but this performance was very on point. Kelly has such great vocal technique && this is probably my favorite performance of "Already Gone." The song has peaked at #17 on the Hot 100 and I wonder if a fourth single will follow from her fourth album, "All I Ever Wanted."

P.S. >> I thought Kelly looked like Adele tonight, wouldn't you agree?

Carrie Underwood - Cowboy Casanova

This was actually the first performance I got to watch live so this was kinda the AMA opener for me. :) Carrie seemed to struggle vocally at times but overall it was solid. We all know that Carrie is not a dancer but I appreciate the movement during the performance. That's what I'm talking about with Rihanna, I know she can get a team to make it at least seem like she together choreography wise as apposed to just walking back and forth. #imjustsaying. "Cowboy Casanova" is a great song but I was secretly wishing she'd bust out "Before He Cheats." I love to see her perform "Undo It." I think that song is money and she performs it well. Hopefully that's the next release from, "Play On," currently in stores now.

Lady GaGa - Bad Romance/Speechless

Lady GaGa did her thing performing her singles, "Bad Romance" and "Speechless." It served as one of my favs of the night, if not my favorite. The crowd seemed to be really excited to see GaGa when she came on, they instantly stood up. She looked like a deer from Mars in her outfit and I loved it. The choreo for the "Bad Romance" performance was the same as the choreography music video, as I had hoped and the set for the "Speechless" performance was cool. But I must admit, I'm not a fan of "Speechless." It's just okay to me. I get the fact that she wrote it with her dad in mind, etc. but to serve as "The Fame: Monster"'s ballad, it doesn't have that WOW factor. I do look forward to hearing more tracks like "Speechless," "Brown Eyes," "Again Again," and "Let Love Down," because they show a different side of her musically.

Jennifer Lopez - Louboutins

It's great to see Miss J. Lo back on the music scene. She has had some amazing records and a highly successful music career but I'm not too sure if I'm sold with this brand new record so far. I have to spin it a few times. As far as the performance it had it's ups and downs. There were moments where it was off the chain (the breakdown at 2:45) and moments where it wasn't so off the chain the lip-synching & when she fell flat on her ass (2:19). But I thought she handled the fall well, she got back up real fast and I honestly didn't notice it until I saw the gazillion posts about it on Twitter.

Alicia Keys - Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart

Alicia gave a VERY solid showing performing her 2nd single, "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart." Alicia sang well, danced a bit and showcased her talents on the keys. I don't like it when people call Alicia's music boring, there is so much within her records, the various layers, the instruments, the vibe, you totally have to get into her songs. It's especially true on this record and I think this performance does a great job of showcasing that. 'Sleeping' can be a gritty hip hop record, it can be an R&B record, it can be rock, it can sound classical, while still staying true to Alicia's sound. Hopefully it does better on the charts than 'Doesn't Mean Anything' and I can't wait to hear "The Element Of Freedom" dropping December 14th.

Mary J. Blige - I Am

Miss Hip Hop and Soul performed her brand new single, "I Am." Mary looked real tip top tonight and put a lot of soul into the track. I don't connect with this song on a high level yet. The music is beautiful but it doesn't let Mary kick into full throttle. But Mary was able to add a few ad-libs at the end and it gave the performance a bit of an emotional boost. Her album, "Stronger With Each Tear," is set for a December 22nd release.

Whitney Houston - I Didn't Know My Own Strength

I was skeptical when I heard that Whitney was performing. But Whitney gave a good performance of "I Didn't Know My Own Strength." This was her most solid live vocal this whole era. While we all know 1992 Whitney is going to suddenly reappear, she delivered a heartfelt performance full of emotion and that's ALL we can ask of her. Not to mention she can still blow MANY out of the water on a normal day. I wonder what's going on with her next singles though, are they going to keep releasing singles from "I Look To You?" I know 'Bill' and 'Look' didn't do too well on the charts but they can still release at least 2 more vids for the fans.

Green Day - 21 Guns

Green Day performed their second single and my fav from their album, "21st Century Breakdon," "21 Guns." It was a bit of a bore throughout except for the end where Billie and the rest of the band gave us a small bit of insanity. Lol at the stan at 5:03.

Eminem & 50 Cent - Crack A Bottle/Forever

Eminem gave a performance of his hit single, "Crack A Bottle," and spat his verse off the Top 20 hit, "Forever." Em's energy throughout the performance was real good, he definitely always brings good energy to all his performances and his flow was killer. I'm actually really looking forward to hearing what "Relapse 2" offers, Em's currently in the studio polishing that album. It's crazy though how 50 Cent has a brand new album out and a new single, "Baby By Me," which is actually starting to do well on various charts, and the only way he gets to perform is a short verse during Eminem's performance. Wasn't 50 once the one opening shows and shit?

Timbaland, SoShy & Nelly Furtado - Morning After Dark

Timbo came on right after Eminem's performance and at first I was like, hell naw, you can't go from Eminem's flow to Timbaland. But I actually got into the performance, the song itself got bonus points and I think it's very clever trying to cash in on the whole vampire craze. Tim Man's voice was killing me throughout but in a good way and it was amazing how everyone kept dissing him on Twitter and talking about his weight. Like #sitdown because half the shit on y'all iPods are most likely produced by him. Nelly looked amazing, she has the ability to rock so many different looks so well but I always like seeing her with black straight hair. SoShy, I like you girl, but what you had on was NOT cutting it. It really looked like something out of my grandma's closet.

Adam Lambert - For Your Entertainment

American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert closed out the night with his brand new single. This performance was major OTT and I felt like Adam was just trying too hard to make a statement. The effort to make it a show can be appreciated but this came off just as corny and messy. Thumbs up to him for being bold and not giving a f%&k but I would've just rather the focus be on his voice and not all the other shenanigans.