Bieber Wins Big but P!nk Steals the Show at the American Music Awards

Teen sensation Justin Bieber may have been the big winner at last night’s American Music Awards taking home 3 trophies, but the true victor from the show was P!nk with an astounding performance of her new single “Try”. In fact, pretty much everything from the show was a bit forgettable when compared with P!nk’s gorgeous moving and intense performance. With that said, take a look at my rankings of all the performances below. And can we please stop with all the lip synching? It was an atrocious lip synched mess for like 70% of the “singers” last night! .. As for the winners, a rather annoying Bieber took home Artist of the Year, Male Artist and Pop Album and he really needs to learn how to make an acceptance speech and get a sense of humor. A sense of humor would also help Taylor Swift, a winner for Country female, whose fake humility and incredibly irritating persona is grating on mine and a lot of other people’s nerves (and don’t get me started on that horrible performance)… Other big winners included Nicki Minaj with two awards and one apiece for Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, Adele, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Usher, Beyonce and Best New Artist Carly Rae Jepsen… For more on my take on the show and the winners, check out my twitter feed from last night here. (Yes, I live twatted the whole show!)…. And take a gander at all the winners below.

2012 American Music Award Winners:

Artist of the year: Justin Bieber
New artist of the year: Carly Rae Jepsen
Pop/rock female artist: Katy Perry
Pop/rock male artist: Justin Bieber
Pop/rock band, duo or group: Maroon 5
Pop/rock album: Justin Bieber, Believe
Country female artist: Taylor Swift
Country male artist: Luke Bryan
Country band, duo or group: Lady Antebellum
Country album: Carrie Underwood, Blown Away
Rap/hip-hop artist: Nicki Minaj
Rap/hip-hop album: Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
Soul/R&B female artist: Beyonce
Soul/R&B male artist: Usher
Soul/R&B album: Rihanna, Talk That Talk
Alternative rock artist: Linkin Park
Adult contemporary artist: Adele
Latin artist: Shakira
Contemporary inspirational artist: tobyMac
Electronic dance music artist: David Guetta

Ranking the AMA Performances~

1. P!nk “Try”: this performance was simply stunning as P!nk married lyrical contemporary choreography and gorgeous emotional vocals to perfection in a duo with dancer Colt Prattes. It really defies words. Take a look below. Amazing. Grade: A+
2. Kelly Clarkson “Miss Independent/Since U Been Gone/Stronger/Catch My Breath”: with arguably the best vocal of the night, Clarkson paid homage to her American Idol roots and gave a flawless and fantastically fun performance. Now, that is how you sing LIVE people! Grade: A
3. Stevie Wonder “Dick Clark Tribute”: there’s a reason he’s a legend people and he proved it again… and he werrrrrked some serious purple to boot! Grade: A-
4. Linkin Park “Burn It Down”: giving you early 2000′s realness and a rocking good time, Linkin Park brought intense energy and precision to their industrial rap rock fusion hit. Grade: A-
5. No Doubt “Looking Hot”: they’ve still go it! Gwen is definitely still hot. Adrian is still crazy and Tony still looks stoned. Grade: B+
6. Carrie Underwood “Two Black Cadillacs”: despite a little pitchy start, Underwood nailed the rest of her delightfully dark and dramatic single. Grade: B+
7. Psy with Hammer “Gangnam Style/2 Legit 2 Quit”: there is no escaping the Korean Macarena and you know you loved it when Hammer showed up for a mashup of these dance hits… However, billing Hammer as an “international superstar” was a big much AMA’s… It’s not 1991. I’m just saying…. Grade: B
8. Justin Bieber “As Long As You Love Me”: I don’t know about you but I was shocked at how good and surprisingly authentic this acoustic performance was. It was easily the best thing I’ve ever seen him do. Grade: B
9. The Wanted “I Found You”: the hotter British boy band (sorry One Direction) actually sang live for most of the song and I’m kinda sucker for their rocking Ibiza dance party vibe. Grade: B
10. Christina Aguilera “Lotus/Army of Me/Let There Be Love”: Ok, the lip synched “Lotus” beginning was bad, but the let your freak fly positivity message was great. Plus she can wail like no other. It was just a bit of too much overall though. Grade: B-
11. Pitbull “Don’t Stop the Party: Ptibull is a fantastic performer and this generic but incredibly infectious song got everyone on their feet. However, did you really need to lip synch too Pit? Um, you’re rapping! Automatic point deduction. Grade: C+
12. Usher “Numb/Cant Stop Wont Stop/Medley”: it was a half sung/half lip synched vogueing laser show with a treadmill! He literally threw in everything but the kitchen sink. Grade: C+
13. Ke$ha “Die Young”: It was Game of Thrones meets Day of the Dead with a touch of Stomp at a gay circuit party. Oh, and another lip synched, but it was fun. Grade: C
14. Carly Rae Jepsen “This Kiss/Call Me Maybe”: it was fun but forgetful and this girl really needs to learn how to lip synch for her life. Grade: C-
15. Justin Bieber w/Nicki Minaj “Beauty and a Beat”: it was a second-rate wannabe NSYNC number, that was lip synced to boot. And Bieber looked rather tired. He is no JT people! Grade: C-
16. Nicki Minaj “Freedom”: here’s something I never thought I’d say about a Nicki Minaj performance~ that was BORING. Seriously boring and lip synched to boot. I had more fun staring at her Staypuff Marshmellow man meets Mariah Carey Christmas costume outfit. Grade: D+
17. Taylor Swift “I Knew You Were Trouble”: this was atrocious! It was a lip synched crapfest that stole from everyone including Madonna (“Vogue” at the VMAs), the Backstreet Boys (the “Everybody” video), Annie Lennox (the “Walking on Broken Glass” video) not to mention Gaga and Rihanna and more. Just belch. And Taylor would you please admit you’re not a country artist for once? That song is total pop meets dub step. Grade: D-
18. Swiss Beatz/douchebag Chris Brown/Ludacris performance: in a word, AWFUL. Grade: F

To end on a positive note, here are my two favorite performances. Enjoy the astounding P!nk and the fabulous Kelly Clarkson.

P!nk “Try” live at the AMA’s

Kelly Clarkson Medley live at the AMA‘s

Linkin Park and Carly Rae Jepsen make Fireworks on the 4th of July Charts

Yesterday was a national holiday as we celebrated the anniversary of our country’s independence on the 4th of July, and two music artists were certainly celebrating as Linkin Park and Carly Rae Jepsen ruled the charts….
On the Billboard 200 Album charts, Linkin Park nabbed their 3rd #1 album with Living Things debuting on top and holding off the latest from Maroon 5, Overexposed, by a very slim 1000 copies. Also debuting in the top ten were new releases from R. Kelly and the Maybach Music Group (whatever that is, lol)… Meanwhile, last week’s leader, Justin Bieber, took a big hit in his second week with a 69% drop. For more on the album charts, head to Billboard here and take a look at the new top ten below.

Top Ten Albums on the Billboard 200:
1. Living Things- Linkin Park (debut)
2. Overexposed- Maroon 5 (debut)
3. Believe- Justin Bieber (last week~ 1)
4. Maybach Music Group Presents- Various Artists (debut)
5. Write Me Back- R. Kelly (debut)
6. Welcome to the Fishbowl- Kenny Chesney (lw~ 2)
7. 21- Adele (lw~ 7)
8. Up All Night- One Direction (lw~8)
9. Looking 4 Myself- Usher (lw~ 6)
10. Rock of Ages Soundtrack- Various Artists (lw~ 5)

Over on the Hot 100, Carly Rae Jepsen makes it 4 in a row on top with “Call Me Maybe”. The rest of the top ten is completely stagnant except for David Guetta and Sia charging in at # 9 with their awesome new hit “Titanium”. Perhaps they can stop Carly’s reign on top… Or maybe, it will be Carly herself as her new single with Owl City, “Good Time” makes a giant debut at # 20 on the Hot 100. We will see… For more on all the singles charts, head here and take a look at the new top ten below.

Top Ten Singles on the Billboard Hot 100
1. “Call Me Maybe”- Carly Rae Jepsen (last week~ 1)
2. “Payphone”- Maroon 5 w/ Wiz Khalifa (lw~ 2)
3. “Somebody that I Used to Know”- Gotye w/ Kimbra ( lw~ 3)
4. “Wide Awake”- Katy Perry (lw~ 4)
5. “Where Have You Been?”- Rihanna (lw~ 5)
6. “Lights”- Ellie Goulding (lw~ 6)
7. “We Are Young”- fun. w/Janelle Monae (lw~ 7)
8. “Starships”- Nicki Minaj (lw~8)
9. “Titanium”- David Guetta w/ Sia (lw~ 12)
10. “Scream”- Usher (lw~ 10)

And here’s Carly Rae Jepsen’s new single with Owl City, “Good Time”… Do you think it could hit the top?

The Women of “Idol” wow at the Billboard Awards

Last night’s Billboard Awards aired on ABC, but there was a whole lot of Fox going on as three previous winners of American Idol stole the show. Those three women Grammy winners Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood and Grammy nominee Jordin Sparks all gave astounding performances that made everyone else look pretty silly. Kelly did her amazing new single “Dark Side” and it was simply a gorgeous vocal (and she looked wonderful too) while Carrie threw down the gauntlet with a soaring version of her next single “Blown Away”. However, I actually think the best performance of the night belonged to Sparks who tackled the late great Whitney Houston‘s “I Will Always Love You” in a special tribute to her. It was beautiful, powerful and emotional and a fitting tribute to this brilliant lost singer who Sparks will costar with in her final film this summer, Sparkle.
There were other performances of course and I will rank them below, but the night was also about awards as Billboard handed out trophies for the biggest hits, albums and artists of the past year. Adele (who was conspicuously absent and thus all of her wins were off camera) was the big winner with 12 awards including Artist and Album of the Year. LMFAO grabbed 6 awards while Coldplay nabbed 4. For more on the awards show which also featured tributes to Stevie Wonder and the recently passed Queen of Disco Donna Summer and all the winners, head to Billboard here. And check out all the winners below.

2012 Billboard Music Award Winners~
ARTIST AWARDS

Top Artist: Adele
Top New Artist: Wiz Khalifa
Top Male Artist: Lil Wayne
Top Female Artist: Adele
Top Duo/Group: – LMFAO
Top Billboard 200 Artist: Adele
Top Hot 100 Artist: Adele
Top Digital Songs Artist: – Adele
Top Radio Songs Artist: – Adele
Top Touring Artist – U2
Top Social Artist: – Justin Bieber
Top Streaming Artist: – Rihanna
Top Digital Media Artist – Adele
Top Pop Artist: – Adele
Top R&B Artist: – Chris Brown
Top Rap Artist: – Lil Wayne
Top Country Artist: – Lady Antebellum
Top Rock Artist: – Coldplay
Top Alternative Artist: – Coldplay
Top Latin Artist – Shakira
Top Dance Artist – Lady Gaga
Top Christian Artist – Casting Crowns

ALBUMS AWARDS:

Top Billboard 200 Album: – Adele “21”
Top Pop Album – Adele “21”
Top R&B Album – Beyonce “4”
Top Rap Album: – Lil Wayne “Tha Carter IV”
Top Country Album: – Jason Aldean “My Kinda Party”
Top Rock Album: – Coldplay “Mylo Xyloto”
Top Alternative Album: – Coldplay “Mylo Xyloto”
Top Latin Album: -Romeo Santos “Formula: Vol. 1″
Top Dance Album: – Lady Gaga “Born This Way”
Top Christian Album: – Casting Crowns “Come To The Well”

SONG AWARDS:

Top Hot 100 Song: – LMFAO Feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock “Party Rock Anthem”
Top Digital Song : – LMFAO Feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock “Party Rock Anthem”
Top Radio Song: – Pitbull Feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer “Give Me Everything”
Top Streaming Song (Audio): – Adele “Rolling in the Deep”
Top Streaming Song (Video): – Nicki Minaj “Super Bass”
Top Pop Song: – LMFAO Feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock “Party Rock Anthem”
Top R&B Song: – Kelly Rowland Feat. Lil Wayne “Motivation”
Top Rap Song: – LMFAO Feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock “Party Rock Anthem”
Top Country Song: – Jason Aldean “Dirt Road Anthem”
Top Rock Song: – Foster The People “Pumped Up Kicks”
Top Alternative Song: – Adele “Rolling In The Deep”
Top Latin Song: – Don Omar & Lucenzo “Danza Kuduro”
Top Dance Song: – LMFAO Feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock “Party Rock Anthem”
Top Christian Song: – Laura Story “Blessings”

Ranking the 2012 Billboard Award Performances:
~ the great
1. Jordin Sparks- “I Will Always Love You”: brilliant and heartbreaking

2. Carrie Underwood- “Blown Away”: FANtastic… literally!

3. Kelly Clarkson- “Dark Side”: all hail Ms. Clarkson!

~the good
4. John Legend- “Greatest Love of All”: lovely
5. CeeLo Green & Goodie Mob- “Fight to Win/Fight for Your Right to Party”: awesome and that one-legged dancer was incredible!
~ the pretty good
6. Usher- “Scream”
7. Stevie Wonder & Alicia Keyes medley
8. The Wanted- “Chasing the Sun/Glad You Came”: um, yes, they’re hot and I think they were on key!
9. Carly Rae Jepsen- “Call Me Maybe”: well, that was surprisingly delightful!
10. Natasha Bedingfield- “Last Dance”: it felt a bit off vocally at times, but it was a nice sentiment to the late Ms. Summer
~ the decent
11. LMFAO- “Party Rock Anthem/Sexy and I Know It”: it was a hot mess, but a really fun one
12. Linkin Park- “Building it Up”
~ the BAD
13. Katy Perry- “Wide Awake”: um, Pink did that at the Grammys a million times better than you girl
14. Justin Bieber- “Boyfriend”: boyfriend sure likes to lip sync for his life!
15. Nelly Furtado- “Big Hoops”: has her voice always been this awful, nasal and annoying? And um, that song kinda sucks.
16. Chris Brown- “Turn Up the Radio: Um, everything he does is awful. He is a hateful talentless lip syncing turd.

Linkin Park & Bruno Mars top the Charts

In a busy week on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, Linkin Park barely grabs the top spot over Trey Songz while Bruno Mars nabs his first solo # 1 on the Hot 100. Looking at the albums tally, rock rap hybrid Linkin Park sold 241,000 copies of their latest A Thousand Suns to debut on top just ahead of Trey Songz new album, Passion Pain & Pleasure which sold 240,000 copies. They lead a total of 6 new releases in the top ten including the latest from country singer Jamey Johnson, rock legend Robert Plant,  rockers Weezer and The Killer’s front man Brandon Flowers with his solo debut. Also of note, last week’s top album Sara Bareilles’ Kaleidoscope Heart takes a big fall from # 1 down to # 12 while Florence + the Machine’s Lungs takes a giant leap from # 44 to # 14. That move is spurred by their performance of the single “Dog Days are Over” at the MTV Video Music Awards last week and also propels the single to a giant move from 93 -21 on the Hot 100. Leading that singles tally for the first time by himself is newcomer Bruno Mars with “Just the Way You Are” which displaces Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”. Mars previously hit the top spot as a featured artist on B.o.B’s “Nothing on You” earlier this year and the top 5 accompanying Travis McCoy on his hit “Billionaire”. For more info on all the charts, head to Billboard here. And check out this week’s top singles and albums below.

Billboard Top Ten Albums
1. Linkin Park- A Thousand Suns (debut)
2. Trey Songz- Passion, Pain & Pleasure (debut)
3. Eminem- Recovery (last week~2)
4. Jamey Johnson- The Guitar Song (debut)
5. Robert Plant- Band of Joy (debut)
6. Weezer- Hurley (debut)
7. Now 35 Compilation (lw~ 3)
8. Brandon Flowers- Flamingo (debut)
9. Katy Perry- Teenage Dream (lw~ 4)
10. Justin Bieber- My World 2.0 (lw~8)

Top 10 Songs
1. “Just the Way You Are”- Bruno Mars (lw~ 3)
2. “Love the Way You Lie”- Eminem with Rihanna (lw~ 2)
3. “Only Girl in the World”- Rihanna (lw~ 75)
4. “Teenage Dream”- Katy Perry (lw~ 1)
5. “DJ Got us Falling In Love”- Usher w/Pitbull (lw~ 6)
6. “Dynamite”- Taio Cruz (lw~ 4)
7. “I Like It”- Enrique Iglesias w/Pitbull (lw~ 5)
8. “Just a Dream”- Nelly (lw~ 7)
9. “Club Can’t Handle Me”- FloRida w/David Guetta (lw~ 9)
10. “Like a G6”- Far East Movement (lw~ 16)