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The American Music Awards, hosted by Jennifer Lopez, took place on Monday, May 26 at Fontainebleau Las Vegas on May 26, presenting a mix of fan-voted awards, icons taking the stage and moments that got social media buzzing.
From Lopez’s high-intensity hosting gig that included everything from dancer makeouts to multiple wardrobe changes, to the return of a hairstyle you might have thought was left in the past, the AMAs gave us plenty to talk about during the show and well into tomorrow.
Read on for the best, worst and most “oops!” moments of the show.
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Jennifer Lopez is absolutely never going to half-ass anything, which was evident (once again) as she opened the show with a dance medley consisting of 23 of the night’s songs condensed into six minutes. That meant everything from a line dance to “Tipsy (a Bar Song)” to kisses with both her male and female backup dancers to “Lose Control” to some serious hair-ography to “They Not Like Us” — all while wearing (what else?) a nude-illusion sparkling catsuit. Then she walked out mere seconds later — still out of breath! — to begin her host monologue in a plunging silver Miss Sohee gown with teal opera coat. After all, she had her own similarly over-the-top 2015 AMAs hosting gig to beat!
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“SZA’s pasties are a vibe,” one of our editors declared in our AMAs Slack channel, and that was accurate. After years of tedious sheer black gowns over bras and undies, we have to give it up for a dress that thoughtfully frames some sparkly pasties and puts the wearer’s butt on a shelf. Slight deduction for how hard it was for her get to the mic to accept Favorite Female R&B Artist, but she laughed it off as she hopped as gracefully as she could up the stairs.
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Benson Boone’s bold, sparkly purple suit was destined to be worn for the whole performance of “Mystical Magical,” much to the disappointment of a highly-prepared Nikki Glaser and Heidi Klum, who had previously torn off his tux to reveal a jumpsuit at the Grammys.
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Instead of B-A-N-A-N-A-S, Gwen Stefani could have changed the lyrics to P-O-T-A-T-O-E-S, because in her majorette jacket worn for the “Hollaback Girl” portion of her medley, she was giving sexy Thanksgiving mascot.
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Janet Jackson showed up to accept her ICON award and gave fans a sneak peek of what to expect at her just-kicked-off Las Vegas residency, complete with some of the choreography she’s so famous for set to a few of her decades of hits (including, of course, the Tik Tok-hot “Someone to Call My Lover”). Looking like no time had passed since she first set foot on the AMAs stage as a performer in 1989, the star sang a few hits, showed off a few dance moves, then accepted the award.
“I don’t consider myself an icon, my family, myself; our dream wasn’t ever to be famous,” she said of her siblings, including superstar Michael Jackson. “We always had a special love for music, dancing and singing and fame came with the result of hard work and dedication.”
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From Gwen Stefani to Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson to Gloria Estefan (during whose medley Lopez couldn’t stop herself from dancing along), the female performers had decades (and in Jackson’s case, a full half-century) of experience under their belts — and were still as showstopping as they’d ever been. Nikki Glaser did joke that the secret to longevity as an artist is to never age, and these women are the living (and dancing) proof.
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You are looking at half of Jennifer Lopez’s high-fashion host ensembles, which, in a show than ran a tight two hours, is roughly one look every 15 minutes. No one will ever accuse Jennifer Lopez of being uncommitted to the bit.
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In a night that was all about legacy acts, no ’80s icon had a better night than the mullet, the business-in-front-party-in-back staple of many a retro music video. Benson Boone, Rod Stewart (who has never let the mullet go out of style), Jason Tartick and Dan Smyers all made their individual — but equally impassioned — case for the return of the hairstyle.
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Considering how long Rod Stewart’s been famous, it may surprise some to find out that there’s anything left to learn about him — but his daughter Ruby (joined by four more of his eight kids) revealing her siblings’ nickname for him was a damn delight.
“Tonight we are here as the biggest and most loving fans of our father, Sir Rod Stewart, or as we all know him, Papa Stew,” she said while presenting him with the Lifetime Achievement Award, as Kimberly, Renee, Sean and Liam smiled alongside her.
