Watch Full SHow https://goo.gl/BmMrGg AMAs 2016 | Best and Worst Moments of the American Music Awards 2016
All the best and worst moments of the American Music Awards 2016
anti-Trump sentiment peppers pop's timid party
With performances from Niall Horan, Maroon 5, Kendrick Lamar, Fifth Harmony, Lady Gaga, Green Day and more
The American Music Awards are not your average awards show. The awards are entirely fan-voted, which puts the power in the listeners’ hands ensuring that the most popular artist or song wins, and as host model Gigi Hadid noted, “There’s no electoral college tonight.”
In addition to showing who fans love the most, the show also featured performances by Niall Horan, Maroon 5 and Kendrick Lamar, James Bay, Fifth Harmony, Lady Gaga, Green Day, DJ Khaled, John Legend, Bruno Mars, Shawn Mendes, Twenty One Pilots, The Weeknd and Justin Bieber (sort of), special duets from The Chainsmokers and Halsey, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj. Plus, Robert Downey, Jr., stopped by the show to give Sting the honor of the American Music Award of Merit.
The show was hosted Hadid, whose boyfriend Zayn Malik was nominated for best new artist, and former Saturday Night Live star and master impressionist Jay Pharoah, who did so many impressions it was like Donald Trump, Kanye West and Drake were all co-hosting the show, too.
Here are the best and worst moments of the 2016 American Music Awards:
The ’90s Are Back: Everything old is new again and the AMAs were in full ’90s nostalgia mode. Hadid noted that “Jenny McCarthy is here,” and Pharoah added: “Green Day is performing, and a White guy is President. It’s the ’90s all over again!”
The Best Time Gigi Hadid Went Political: Hadid not only joked about the ongoing beef between Drake and Meek Mill, but she also went sharply (and surprisingly) political, not only delivering an electoral college zinger, but turning out a decent Melania Trump impression. After pulling what she considered to be a Trump face and saying: “I love my husband, President Barack Obama, and our children Sacha and Malia,” an apparant reference to the fact that Trump’s Republican Convention speech may have been cribbed from one of Michelle Obama’s.
Best Bruno Mars Compliment: Bruno Mars opened the show with a performance of “24K Magic” dressed like an extra from The Sopranos in athletic gear, pristine Nikes and a gold chain. At the end of the performance, Pharoah offered up his best Donald Trump performance to compliment the singer. “I love Bruno Mars,” said Pharoah as Trump. “I don’t know what color he is so I can’t deport him.” He continued the impression, earning belly laughs from the audience by saying, as Trump, “I’m going to funk this country up bigly.”
The Worst Technical Difficulties: Over the course of the award ceremony, the show’s video displays kept preempting the announcers. When Hidden Figures stars Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae and Octavia Spencer tried to announce that Twenty One Pilots won the Favorite Duo or Group—Pop/Rock award, the band’s picture was plastered on the video displays before the announcers could get their words out. Same when Miss America and Florida Georgia Line tried to announce that Fifth Harmony and Ty Dolla $ign won best collaboration for “Work From Home”. The band’s photo went up before the winner was named and the crowd just sat confused. This doesn’t happen at the VMAs
The Best Time That Niall Horan Serenaded 10,000 Girls Simultaneously: The former One Directioner delivered a stripped down set with just an acoustic guitar and a bare bones backing band for his rendition of “This Town”. While Horan is new to a solo career, he is a wizened pro and managed to make it feel like he was singing directly to each and every teen girl in the world.
Fifth Harmony Dropped By: Fifth Harmony dropped in to the AMAs, literally. They descended from the ceiling to perform their hit “That’s My Girl” while the crowd roared and
Drake’s Best Throwback: Drake competed against himself in the Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album category, so it wasn’t a surprise that he managed to win his first award. When he took the stage, he used his time to announce that he and Vampire Diaries star and award presenter Nina Dobrev used to be on Degrassi Junior High together.
Speaking of the ’90s: Hadid and Pharoah warned us that the ’90s were in the house, and sure enough Blink-182’s drummer Travis Barker made a surprise appearance on stage alongside The Chainsmokers who performed their hit “Closer” with Halsey. Also referencing the ’90s was James Bay’s fed
The Crowd Pleasers: One of the best parts of the AMAs is watching favorite artists geek out to performances by their favorite artists. Whether it’s watching Fifth Harmony dance to Shawn Mendes’ medley of “Treat you better” and “Mercy”, Lady Gaga busting a move to Bruno Mars, The Chainsmokers singing every word to Twenty One Pilots, Twenty One Pilots headbanging to Green Day, or Drake singing along to The Weeknd.
No Stickers to Show