LOS ANGELES─I will admit, I was going to skip the 2019 American Music Awards, but I’m glad I tuned in. Why? It was a pretty damn entertaining ceremony, as least for the first 2 hours, that last hour dragged a bit, but the closing number involving Shania Twain totally made up for it.
The ceremony kicked off with Selena Gomez performing her newest single, before passing the torch to hostess Ciara who entertained with her new hit “Chocolate.” I must say that song was pretty catchy, but beyond that Ciara didn’t do much as host, it seemed it was a who’s who or performers taking to the stage.
It was a busy night of music with performances by Lizzo, Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes, Billie Eilish, Green Day, Toni Braxton, The Jonas Bros., Dua Lipa, Post Malone, Ozzy Osburne, Thomas Rhett, Christina Aguilera, Kesha and Travis Scott to name a few. There were also the highly anticipated performance by Taylor Swift who was honored with the Artist of the Decade prize by songwriter Carole King. The only issue I had was I expected a lot more hits to be performed by Taylor. She only sang like 5 or 6 hits, and they weren’t some of her biggest of all-time. It was entertaining, but not memorable if you ask me.
Swift was a big winner of the night taking home Favorite Pop/Rock Album for “Lover” and winning for Favorite Female Artist of the Year. Many were wondering if the musician would address the ongoing battle she has trending all over social media with Scooter Braun and Big Machine. She hinted how tough a year she has had, but did not address the issue directly.
The big award of the night for Artist of the Year went to Taylor Swift, not a surprise America, this is a fan voted awards show. Has there ever been a year where this woman was nominated for the big prize that she did not win? Um, that’s a no.
I will admit the final moments of the show were the best because we got to see country legend Shania Twain hit the stage and perform some of her greatest hits. I mean Twain has sang some incredible hits throughout her lengthy career as a musician. Wow, it’s been 16 years since Shania last took the AMA stage? I love that she put her own twang on some of the biggest hits of the year.
Musicians walking away with trophies included Halsey, Carrie Underwood, Post Malone, Dan + Shay, Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello and Billie Eilish. All I can say when it comes to the American Music Awards you know who the winners are based on who shows up to the ceremony. The 2019 show was a bit more entertaining in 2019 versus 2018, so that is indeed a plus.
