The American Music Awards are especially fun because many of us are home early for Thanksgiving—so watching the show with our parents provided some colorful commentary. I saw a lot of chatter about it on Twitter—myself included. But that's not the only reason this show was awesome: We had major performances like Taylor Swift's, big wins for Iggy Azalea and Sam Smith, and more can't-miss moments. These were the best and worst of the night....
Best Moment: Taylor Swift Serves Crazy-but-Gorgeous Realness. T.Swift opened the night with a performance of "Blank Space," and the AMAs couldn't have made a better choice. If you were a fan of her insane faces in the music video, then tonight did not disappoint either—and, just like the video, her dress was SO ON POINT. Also, a thousand gold stars to the set designer: It was beautiful, and I loved the bit where Taylor lit a rose on fire. My mom even declared this her favorite performance of the night, even though she pointed out several times that she thought Taylor was lip-synching.
At least Taylor gave us a heads-up about her cray faces:
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Best Moment: Ansel Elgort Introduced Charli XCX for "Boom Clap." So that's officially my favorite pairing of the evening. I enjoyed how her performance went from sweet prom-y to bad-girl leather, but I don't think my mom cared for it because she said "Who's this chick?" and then sighed and left the room. #Shade
Worst Moment: Magic! Lackluster Performance. This felt like it was dragging to me. Anyone else? Also, why did Wyclef spend half the time with his jacket just sort of dangling there? He looked like he wanted to take it off but wasn't fully committed to it. Awkward. Maybe I'm just being picky because according to Mom, this performance was very good.
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Eh Moment: 5 Seconds of Summer Were There. I never have much to say about them, but I was glad to see that the guy with red hair (OK, his name is Michael Clifford and why do I know that?) was wearing a Weezer T-shirt that I had in eighth grade—until I realized that's probably "vintage" to him and I am so old oh my God.
Best Moment: Sam Smith! Sam Smith! Sam Smith! Not only did he win, but he gave a lovely performance. Sam's voice is what I want to hear as a lullaby every night before bed. Is it normal/acceptable to burst into tears every time he sings?
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Worst Moment: Iggy Azalea's Song Choice. She started her performance with "Fancy," which was awesome, then transitioned into her new song "Beg for It." It's a good song, but nobody really knows it yet—at least not on a "Fancy" level—so it's not as engaging. Still, props to her for giving us oh-so-hot buff dancers to watch.
Best Moment: Luke Bryan. He's a very attractive man, so I'm just excited to see him at any and every awards show. That's all.
Best Moment: Lorde's Teen Angst. Her dancing reminded me of myself at 17 dancing around my bedroom (which is to say that I loved it). And how cute was it that Taylor Swift was FREAKING out and dancing during the performance? Cool girls being best friends and supporting each other is what I'm all about.
Best Moment: Ariana Grande Has Grown Up, Y'all. She has never looked more mature, more confident, or more beautiful than tonight. Her voice was chill-inducing, and she really gave the most self-assured performance we've seen from her yet. (PS: The shot of her brother dancing in the audience was adorbs!)
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Best Moment: Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift's BFF Bond. We all know Selena's song was about Justin Bieber, so it was no surprise that she started to tear up during her performance. But then the camera cut to Taylor—and it looked like she was crying too! Sweet.
Best Moment: "Bang Bang" = Best Performance of the Night. Thumbs-up to whatever smart person decided the "Bang Bang" performance should start with Jessie J in the audience because it gave us Lorde, Karlie Kloss, Taylor, and Sam Smith all dancing along. And, oh my God, Frankie Grande (Ariana's bro) waving from the audience was everything. But, most important, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, and Jessie J all delivered a high-energy show, their singing was on point, and the gold outfits were super hot. Now that's how you do a performance.
[HD] Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj... by IdolxMuzic
Overall, it was a fun night with very few off moments—the nonstop performances certainly helped with that. What were your favorite or not-so-favorite moments of the night?