In honor of the Billboard Awards tonight, I've compiled a list of my top 8 performances from award show season (The Grammys, The Video Music Awards and the American Music Awards). This list is very biased towards my personal taste. There were many other stellar performances, but these are just the few that I found to be the most memorable and compelling. I've linked most of the performances with video clips of the corresponding song, if not then it's not posted on VEVO and I don't want those problems. But if you look them up on YouTube, they're not hard to find! Top 8 Performances after the jump!
08. KATY PERRY & SKIP MARLEY - Chained to the Rhythm (GRAMMYs)
To be quite honest, I still don't know what "Chained to the Rhythm" is supposed to be about (But I think I have a bit of a grasp? We are all stuck in the cycle society traps us in? So we're chained?). What I do know is that I've been chained to this song since it came out. Katy Perry has never been someone you look to for stellar vocals but her performances are typically standouts and this one was no different. This was, without a doubt, the most visually stunning performance of the night it originally aired. The lighting was distorted the whole way through, the house came apart and each dancer had a piece of the house. It was certainly something. Thank you to KatyPerryVEVO for the video!
07. BRUNO MARS - His slot in the Prince tribute (GRAMMYs)
The whole tribute was great, but Bruno Mars really caught my eye with this one. Very few people have what it takes to give even half of what the late, great Prince would when he performed. There's no question Bruno Mars is one of those few. His energy and his vocals were nearly unstoppable. Thank you to Rolling Stone for the image!
06. RIHANNA - Stay/Love On the Brain/Diamonds (VMAs)
Understandably, at the peak of her career right now, Rihanna was honored with the Michael Jackson Vanguard award this year. Throughout the night she performed a bunch of her hits and she didn't disappoint. While there were some glitches, the good far outweighed the bad. From the large group she had on stage for her up tempo dance infused records, to her more personal records, the night was blessed with a touch of Rihanna. She never misses a beat with "Love on the Brain", man. The way she has started feeling her music lately has just been infectious and it really showed that night. It also led into one of the funniest moments of the year. Drake presenting her award, going in for a kiss and her swivel of the face so he kissed her on the cheek. Thank you to RihannaVEVO for the video!
05. BEYONCE - Love Drought/Sandcastles (GRAMMYs)
We all rushed to the television when that chair decided to defy gravity, right? Not that any of you would know this, but considering she had just announced her pregnancy, I told my friends that all Beyonce had to do to fill me up was sit in a chair and sing "Sandcastles" to me and what did she do? Just that. The visuals were stunning, her voice was stunning, her dancers were glorious. There's not really much else to say. Thank you to Rap Radar for the image!
04. LADY GAGA - Million Reasons (AMAs)
Possibly her most intimate song, probably the most simple performance she's put on for an awards show. This was Lady Gaga at her most vulnerable and it was beautiful to watch the song absolutely consume her. She's the type of performer to put her entire soul into a song and I, personally, feel like she's never been so connected to the music she's putting out as she is now and it showed. Thank you to LadyGageVEVO for the video!
03. ARIANA GRANDE & NICKI MINAJ - Side to Side (AMAs)
After an excruciatingly underwhelming ho at performing "Side to Side" live on the VMAs, Ariana really didn't have anything to lose when she and Nicki Minaj took this song to broadcast on the AMAs. After some heavy retooling (no bikes!!! yay!!!!), they turned this into one of the best performances of the year. The set was extravagantly over the top, set in the tropics as was the choreography (the humping during the pre-chorus was glorious). And Miss Ariana's attitude, in addition to her vocals, were on rare form that night. There were several moments I had to sit back and admire the little changes she made from the studio to the AMAs. Speaking of attitude, Nicki Minaj's delivery of her verse had me in the good kind of fear. Thank you to Billboard for the image!
02. BRUNO MARS - That's What I Like (GRAMMYs)
Me after this performance: breathless, speechless, sweating from all the dancing. Bruno Mars is arguably one of the best performers of this generation. Put aside his stellar vocal ability, there's something about his confident delivery on stage that makes for pitch perfect performance almost always. This performance of "That's What I Like" had all of the elements that drove the song to #1 on Billboard (yay!) and then some. The latin instrumental used in one of the verses and when that breakdown after the song when he started interacting with the audience. "Some of y'all still got the tags on, but that's alright. You want options" was probably the best line of the night. And the harmonies that he and his background singers were schooling us with at the end? Come on, brother! Thank you to VEVO for the video!
01. BEYONCE - Lemonade Medley (VMAs)
Listening to "Lemonade" is something in itself, but the visuals are integral to the story. This medley of performances was as close as it got to recreating the story and watching it was just a treat. I got up on my feet, I hopped around the room, I sat back trying to catch my breath, everything about this was Beyonce on 120%. Much like the Grammys, the visuals were stunning, her vocals were absolutely out of this world (especially during "Don't Hurt Yourself" and she broke the camera. She broke the camera. Do you remember when she broke the camera? The way she can move her body without being affected vocally is absolutely ridiculous. Unmatched. Thank you to Rolling Stone for the image!
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