2016 American Music Awards Performances!

Well, the 2016 American Music Awards were this past weekend. This awards show usually happens late in the year and they honor the music of the year in various awards. While this isn't as big a deal as the Grammys, the AMAs are still an important time to remember what we've had in our year. As always, we had several performances, some of which were fun, others not as much. Let's check them out, shall we?

Opening act: 24K Magic by Bruno Mars

My thoughts: A beautifully done opening performance, as Bruno Mars has always been capable of. I may be a little biased loving the song and all, but Bruno and his guys definitely have moves. The blue lighting definitely made it livelier. And they did a little dubstep breakdown before the bridge, which, as much as I love the song, didn't feel like it really added much to the performance. However, much like his Saturday Night Live performance, I wonder why they cut the first chorus out. Also, I'm surprised they didn't censor "bad bitches and your ugly ass friends" but didn't say the word "shit" in "spend your money like money ain't shit". Either way, still a solid performance and a great way to kick things off.

My rating: 9/10

This Town by Niall Horan

My thoughts: While the song isn't stellar on its own, I do like the way he was able to perform it. He sounded good enough, and the drums in the background were a nice extra touch, and so was the piano, and the way everything else cut out right before that last chorus. Cute performance.

My rating: 7.5/10

That's My Girl by Fifth Harmony

My thoughts: I hate this song, which is already a peg against the performance there. I'll give it a little credit for two things, though: one, Camilla actually sounded a little better than normal. Two, the setting, because I watched the video and recall that's supposed to be a parody of the Syrian war. Something like that. Even though I'm not sure what that has to do with the song. And what was with the breakdown right before the last chorus? Either way, yeah, I really didn't care here. Sorry.

My rating: 3.5/10

Closer by The Chainsmokers and Halsey featuring Travis Barker

My thoughts: I've been getting tired of this song. Halsey didn't sound very appealing, but then out of nowhere, Travis Barker took the helm in that build-up before the last chorus, then things got a bit more interesting. Not enough to save the song for me, but that last bit was cool at least.

My rating: 6.5/10

Let It Go by James Bay

My thoughts: Another watered-down live performance. Feel like he got off a few times here, like on that "and I'll be me" at the end of the second chorus. It didn't help that his guitar didn't have much presence. While the song itself is decent, I feel like I would've liked more if he had played the faster version (the one that was played by Hits 1 while it was here).

My rating: 5/10

Medley of Treat You Better and Mercy by Shawn Mendes

My thoughts: Though I still couldn't stand Treat You Better at that time, I think the backdrop was a nice touch and the guitar playing and singing was a lot more lively than in the studio version. This will be an unpopular opinion, but I thought this performance sounded pretty nice. I will say, I like how there were a few moments of the song stopping for him to make his lines more dramatic. So I will say this did breathe a little more life into Treat You Better right now, but then then he stepped on the piano for Mercy, and the backdrop was still there and he sounded pretty good. However, that one was way too short and they cut out too much.

My rating: 8/10

Starboy by The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk

My thoughts: That crystalline hallway that The Weeknd resided in while performing was pretty cool. He's definitely capable of a good live performance, and I like how during the bridge everything just went totally blue. Kinda funny how he's saying "look what you've done" to the people in the crowd, given what the song is supposed to be about. Great performance though.

My rating: 9/10

Side To Side by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj

My thoughts: I'm not sure what a jungle background has to do with the song, and there were a few times where she let the song talk for her. The background was kinda cool, but there were a few off-key moments that Ariana had. Even with all of that, I have to say I liked this performance better than the VMAs performance.

My rating: 7.5/10

Love Me Now by John Legend

My thoughts: That backdrop with people loving each other did give the song a nice touch, and so did that choir in the last chorus. The song has definitely been growing on me, and this surely made me like it more. He definitely put his talent to good use here.

My rating: 8.5/10

Medley of Heathens and Stressed Out by Twenty-one Pilots

My thoughts: While they definitely sounded kinda off-key here, that animation during the bridge of Heathens made it pretty neat. And when it went into Stressed Out things got nice. After being hammered in by this song most of the year, it was nice to see one last time for it. Things got really trippy at the end of Stressed Out but it was cool, sure enough. Definitely a performance I liked, even if they were off-key at points. I do understand what people hated here, though.

My rating: 7/10

Let Me Love You by DJ Snake with Justin Bieber

My thoughts: As a song among my favorite things that Bieber has done, this performance left a little to be desired. He did sound good, but not sure if it was as good as the studio version. Also, he started off the second verse saying "I used to believe, at the wheel we got a million miles ahead of us". He may have been out of it before this. Very cool spatial backdrop, though.

My rating: 7.5/10

Million Reasons by Lady Gaga

My thoughts: I do like this song, even if I'm not THE biggest fan of it. She was off a few times, but the guitar was a good fit. I guess there was just something missing here, although the background was pretty at least.

My rating: 7/10

Bang Bang by Green Day

My thoughts: I haven't paid as much attention to Green Day's new album, but they were able to pull of this new song well. They were pretty on-key and on-rhythm, and they had a lot of energy to it. And it was bold of them to have that "no Trump" interlude, haha. And once again I am not going to have any political discussion here. But I liked this one. Now I'm curious for their new album.

My rating: 8/10

A medley of Sting's biggest hits

My thoughts: Honestly, this far in I was tired (and distracted as I was multitasking, guess doing what) to really care or pay attention. But Sting has usually not sounded that great live, and it wasn't that engaging. Sure, it was nice to see some of their older songs, but this wasn't anything I cared for.

My rating: 5/10

Do You Mind? by DJ Khaled featuring Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Future, Rick Ross and August Alsina

My thoughts: I actually like the song on its own quite a bit, though I'm not totally sure if this is a song meant to be performed at a live awards show like this. That being said, the acts all sounded pretty good, though I wasn't wild about Khaled constantly shouting random things, including "Miami" when they were in Los Angeles. Who are you, Pitbull? Not to mention "#1 album in the country" when that time is long since past. But this was something I could enjoy, even if it was flawed. And I hope that Future enjoyed getting to perform on his birthday.

My rating: 7/10

Don't Wanna Know by Maroon 5 featuring Kendrick Lamar

My thoughts: I don't like this song, and it's appropriate that the worst performance was the last one. Adam Levine definitely sounded pretty off here, especially in the pre-chorus parts. And I still wonder what Kendrick adds to the song. Really nothing to say about this beyond that. A very weak closing performance. Ah well.

My rating: 2.5/10

And while I'm here, may as well list the awards and their winners. These are only the awards that were presented on TV, not the ones that were listed online. I think these are enough for me to go through, so sorry for that.

Favorite Pop Rock Duo Or Group: Twenty-one Pilots

Favorite R&B/Hip-Hop Album: Views by Drake

Favorite Electronic Dance Music Artist: The Chainsmokers

Favorite Collaboration Of The Year: Work From Home by Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla $ign

Favorite Country Song: Humble and Kind by Tim McGraw

New Artist Unleashed: Zayn Malik

Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist: Drake

Favorite Soundtrack: Purple Rain

Favorite Country Duo/Group: Florida Georgia Line

Favorite Alternative Rock Artist: Twenty-one Pilots

Favorite Pop Rock Female: Selena Gomez

Artist Of The Year: Ariana Grande

And that was this year's American Music Awards! I'm not going to bother listing my top/bottom 5 performances because there were some I liked and others that I didn't. And while the Artist of the Year was a surprise, I'm definitely happy for it, as I've always enjoyed Ariana Grande and her music so this was quite something for her to acquire. And sorry if this post feels rushed, once again I haven't had as much time as I would like to really perfect it.

And with that, thanks for reading, everybody!