Memorable Performances at the 37th American Music Awards

Sunday night, November 22nd, Los Angeles was packed with stars that took home a lots of awards and left behind the memory of their great performances. Pop, rock, R&B, hip-hop, and country converged at the NOKIA Theatre for a three-hour live show in which Rihanna, Shakira, Black Eyed Peas, Toni Braxton, Carrie Underwood, Drake, 50 Cent, Eminem, Ne-Yo, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Leona Lewis, Snoop Dogg, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Lopez, Green Day, Adam Lambert and more brought the audience to its feet.

One of the most memorable performances of the night was Lady Gaga. She danced, strutted, smashed and very nearly suffered third-degree burns to her lower extremities. She started things off with “Bad Romance,” wearing a glittering, H.R. Geiger-inspired headpiece and a nude bodysuit, looking like a creature from “Pan’s Labyrinth,” flanked by six dancers. She then smashed open a glass enclosure housing a piano. She climbed up, sat down and played “Speechless” while flames enveloped the wooden instrument and she smashed empty liquor bottles against the keys.

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance / Speechles Live Performance

In addition, Shakira interpreted her recent single “Give It Up to Me,” and turned in a performance worthy of Broadway’s “STOMP.” It was a little militant and aggressive. Just minutes before, Daughtry played “Life After You,” a slow-burning single, Leave This Town. Green Day contributed one of the night’s hardest rocking performances with “21 Guns,” while performing in a sort of science-fiction junkyard, Rihanna appeared on onstage in what could have been a torture device. She gave snippets of two songs from “Rated R” — “Wait Your Turn” and “Hard” and she sounded sharp and metallic.
Alicia Keys began with “New York, New York,” as Jay stood by her piano in a white tuxedo. Dressed all spiffy in their finest formal wear, Keys and Jay-Z performed their pandering “Empire State of Mind.” Then, she performed alone “Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart.”

Shakira - Give It Up To Me Live Performance

Eminem and 50 Cent sang versions of “Crack a Bottle” and “Forever.” With crazy wigs and stereo futuristic outfits, the Black Eyed Peas put on a laser light-assisted show including “Meet Me Halfway” and “Boom Boom Pow.” Mary J. Blige performed “I Am,” Kelly Clarkson sang a stripped-down version of “Already Gone” and Jennifer Lopez enlisted a boxing ring announcer for her new song “Louboutins,” complete with actual boxing ring, championship belt and dancers dressed as fighters. In a floor-length white dress, Whitney Huston sang “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” and she received standing ovations. Taking the stage with numerous backing dancers who turned into his personal love slaves, Adam Lambert performed his new single For Your Entertainment. Chains, vulgar grinding and kissing were all apart of Adam’s debut performance.
Janet Jackson also hit the stage and sang “Control,” “Miss You Much,” “If,” “Together Again” and her new single, “Make Me.”