The 2018 American Music Awards aired live on ABC for an extremely entertaining night. Hosted by Tracee Ellis Ross on Oct. 9, the night was filled with performances from the most popular artists of the moment, awards, speeches and more.
In between the variety of performances throughout the night, there were plenty of awards administered. Cabello and Swift each took home four awards, having the most wins out of everyone nominated. Not only did Swift win big by being awarded Artist of the Year, but she now has 23 AMAs, beating a record that was previously held by Whitney Houston. XXXTentacion was posthumously awarded best soul/R&B album for his album “17.” His mother, Cleopatra Bernard, graciously received the award on behalf of her son. Post Malone won best Rap/Hip-Hop album for “Beerbongs and Bentleys,” as well as best Pop/Rock male artist. Khalid won best Soul/R&B male artist and Daddy Yankee was awarded best Latin artist. Many other artists also received recognition, and all of the awards were given to deserving recipients.
Incredible performances were given by artists of all different genres. Jennifer Lopez performed her new single, “Limitless,” from her upcoming film, “Second Act,” which will hit theaters in December. Taylor Swift gave a riveting performance of the song “I Did Something Bad” from her latest album, “Reputation.” Later, Camila Cabello stunned viewers with a moving performance of her song “Consequences,” followed by an equally moving performance from Carrie Underwood singing “Spinning Bottles,” one of her latest songs. Just months after giving birth to her first child, Cardi B. made a colorful, high-energy performance of her hit song “I Like It” look easy, performing alongside Bad Bunny and J Balvin.
All of the performances from the night deserve praise, but two of my personal favorites were delivered by Dua Lipa and Panic! at the Disco. Dua performed her latest hits “One Kiss” (ft. Calvin Harris) and “Electricity” with Silk City (ft. Diplo, Mark Ronson). The British-Albanian beauty had amazing vocals and displayed killer dance moves throughout her entire performance. While performing “Electricity,” Dua and her dancers glowed in the dark from a vibrant splatter paint that appeared on their bodies when the stage lights dimmed. It was definitely a very up-beat and exciting performance.
Panic! at the Disco also left an impression by pulling off an extremely captivating performance. The American rock band performed their own rendition of the classic hit song from Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The song is roughly six minutes long and changes pace from very slow to very fast throughout the entire six minutes, thus making it a very difficult song to perform. The band definitely did “Bohemian Rhapsody” justice; each member truly poured their heart into this extremely spirited and passionate performance.
The night ended with an endearing tribute to the late Aretha Franklin. A film was played that described her upbringing and her many contributions to the music industry. Many soul singers gathered to perform in honor of Franklin’s life, and one of the most notable was none other than Gladys Knight performing “Amazing Grace,” which moved many fellow artists to tears. Overall, it was an extremely successful night of celebration for the music industry.
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