Talk about “No Boundaries”: Adam Lambert made his first big post-Idol splash tonight, closing the American Music Awards with a performance of his debut single “For Your Entertainment” that — to my surprise and disappointment — emphasized shock-and-awe imagery over his standard-operating vocal excellence. To be fair, the entire telecast was racked with sound-mix issues that left even seasoned pros (except for maybe Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, and Jay-Z) sounding distant and tinny, but as someone who saw Adam’s Idols Live tour set twice this summer, the one thing I didn’t expect from the season 8 runner-up was intermittent pitch problems.
Alas, we got those, and a lot more than I’d hoped/bargained for: READ FULL STORY »
The latest stop on Rihanna’s publicity tour just took her to the American Music Awards stage. She began her performance strapped to an uncomfortable-looking gurney in front of a pile of staticky TVs, going on to perform a medley of “Wait Your Turn” and “Hard,” both from her new album, Rated R (out tomorrow).
Was it the kind of outstanding performance that will have viewers buzzing at the water cooler tomorrow morning? Not quite, I’d say. Rihanna was in decent vocal shape, but those two songs just aren’t necessarily the strongest selections from Rated R, for one thing. Still, awards show performances are all about spectacle, and she had the eye-catching factor nailed — from the aforementioned gurney set, to the “RATED R” tattoo-like writing on her chest, to the fake-gun-toting backup dancers. Overall it felt like another well-played step in her promotional plan, if not a resounding triumph.
Or do you disagree? What did you think of Rihanna’s performance? The comments section awaits below.
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has denied reports that the band is eyeing Venezuela-based singer Paul Gillman as a potential replacement for frontman Steven Tyler. “If somebody was coming in, I think one of the other guys in the band would have at least texted me his name,” Perry quipped to EW when asked about the rumors on the American Music Awards red carpet. The Boston Globe cited “word out of South America” yesterday suggesting that Aerosmith plans to audition Gillman. –Reporting by Whitney Pastorek
The window hasn’t completely shut on Lady Gaga’s chances for a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist, Grammy president Neil Portnow revealed to EW on the American Music Awards red carpet tonight. While Variety reported last week that Gaga is ineligible for the prize because her hit “Just Dance” was already nominated for Best Dance Recording last year, we asked Portnow if the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences might consider a rule change to let the year’s biggest breakout act compete for the prestigious prize. “Yes,” Portnow said. “The awards and nominations committee meets to review the rules every year. We change the rules frequently. We recognize that situation is not perfect, and we are looking at ways to figure it out.”
This is not a picture of Lady Gaga rehearsing for the American Music Awards. Her rehearsal was closed to the public, and EW.com was allowed to remain and report on the proceedings only after much pleading and cajoling, and also some hiding. But at this point — after the Where-The-Wild-Flaming-Boob-Things-Are headtrip of her “Bad Romance” video — do you really need photographic evidence of the Lady’s abilities to know you should probably tune in? Ever since she first whacked us over the head with a disco stick, it seems even the most pop-averse among us are unable to resist her weirdo charms. At least she’s never boring. (And for the record? If even I think she deserves that Best New Artist Grammy, she probably deserves it. I’m cynical about everything.)
Childless Upper West Siders bewildered by the giant “Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! SOLD OUT” marquee in their posh Manhattan neighborhood quite likely grew even more confused this morning as swarms of toddlers dressed in furry green monster outfits and pink flower-bulb she-beast t-shirts descended upon the Beacon Theater for three consecutive sold-out performances. For those who still don’t know, Yo Gabba Gabba!, the brainchild of Scott Schultz (of the band Majestic) and Christian Jacobs (of The Aquabats), is a kids’ show on Nickelodeon, featuring a skinny DJ in an orange jumpsuit (DJ Lance Rock) and five monsters (well, four and a magic robot) he carries around his boombox. The music- and dance-heavy program teaches kids, in equal measure, about manners, trying new things, and 808 bass. READ FULL STORY »
After Thursday’s Glambert explosion on the American Music Awards rehearsal stage — you can read my interviews with the Idol star here — Friday’s run-throughs were going to have a lot of catching up to do. Turned out to be just your average day of superstars showing up to soundcheck their massive hits: Carrie Underwood kicked off the morning with a hot-pants-free, chair-intensive take on “Cowboy Casanova,” followed by Janet Jackson in a closed rehearsal that observers called pretty damn awesome — look for Ms. If-You’re-Nasty to open the show with one new song and a medley of old favorites. (When I asked if “Miss You Much” would be included in said medley, reps for the show didn’t say yes… but they didn’t say no. OMG OMG OMG.)
Editor’s note: What a night! The live blog has ended, but you can relive every spiky shoulderpadded moment of this year’s AMAs by clicking PLAY in the widget below (careful, West Coasters, spoilers abound!). Want more AMA coverage? Check back in a few hours to see photo galleries of the night’s best and worst performances and red carpet fashions.
One doesn’t so much watch the American Music Awards to see who wins. Instead, we watch to drown our sorrows in the vast spectacle of everything that’s hot in popular music coming together on one giant light-up stage, reminding us that life is in fact worth living, so long as we are moving our hips like yeah. (Our thoughts are with you and your touring family, Miley. xoxo)
Janet Jackson will be opening the show and, most likely, picking up several of her late brother’s awards over the course of the night (he’s up for five Stabby Trophies of Death™). Adam Lambert, who many people seem to enjoy, will be closing things out (for your entertainment). And we’re here for the duration, blogging on it all live, in conjunction with our pals at PeopleStyleWatch.com.
Your live blog hosts: Michele Romero and Chad Schlegel of EW and Melissa Liebling-Goldberg of PeopleStyleWatch.com are riffing on the telecast, and they’ll be joined by Whitney Pastorek of EW from backstage at the Nokia Theater in L.A. It’s so on; let’s go!
Rehearsals for this weekend’s American Music Awards are underway in Los Angeles, and the Music Mix is on the scene to bring you as much of the action as we’re allowed to see. Sadly, so far, that hasn’t been much, as yesterday’s rehearsals — Adam Lambert and Jennifer Lopez, who coincidentally leaked a song called “Louboutins” today — were closed to media.
The LA Times’s Margaret Wappler was luckier than we: she managed to sneak a guerilla peek at Lambert’s rehearsal (before being booted), and reported back that “dancers sashayed across the floor in spangly harem pants, leotards with torn tights and in one particular eye-catching costume, leather pants topped off with a few leather suspender-straps and silvery chains on an otherwise bare-chested male dancer.” We can certainly report that the bass beat of “For Your Entertainment” pounding through the closed doors of the Nokia was hella catchy, and that yes, Lambert’s high notes do carry.
There’s no dearth of quality New York bands these days as recent spirit squads have pointed out, but few have developed their sound into such a unified front of deliberate weirdness as Brooklyn’s Dirty Projectors, who played a sold-out show at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg last night. This six-person experimental band’s approach to music and live performance brings to mind influences like David Byrne, Laurie Anderson and Philip Glass, but the complex soundscapes they’ve created seems to spring from nothing other than their collective creative quirks.
The Dirty Projectors are blessed with a fantastic mix of complementary vocalists. Lead singer and guitarist Dave Longstreth sounds somewhat like Antony Hegarty + testosterone, and he shares the voice-time equally with three female backup vocalists who also take turns singing lead. Check out Amber Coffman fronting the avant tinkerers on “the hit,” the synth-inflected “Stillness is the Move”:
Throughout their set, the DPs brought their hooks and melodies in staccato bursts — spindly, angular guitar riffs phase in and out while choral voices exploded with the force of a geyser, then disappeared just as suddenly.
The highlight of the night was “Useful Chamber,” which touched on a variety of weirdo rockers without ever sounding derivative. The wailing, cathartic background vocals brought to mind the Residents’ God In Three Persons album, while the stomping drums and Television-meets-Troggs guitar work made the audience shimmy and shake as much as is conceivable for music this esoteric.
Which isn’t to say you can’t move your body to their music, it’s simply that the band doesn’t invite the audience to let go. Dirty Projectors are about premeditated artistic expression, and their medium just happens to be music—unlike their borough brethren Animal Collective, who seem music lovers first and artists second. At the end of the night, it was easy to be impressed by this band, but hard to fall in love with them.
Are they too difficult? Too challenging? Nah. They could just use a friendly reminder of why they got into rock & roll in the first place.
Talk about “No Boundaries”: Adam Lambert made his first big post-Idol splash tonight, closing the American Music Awards with a performance of his debut single “For Your Entertainment” that — to my surprise and disappointment — emphasized shock-and-awe imagery over his standard-operating vocal excellence. To be fair, the entire telecast was racked with sound-mix issues that left even seasoned pros (except for maybe Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, and Jay-Z) sounding distant and tinny, but as someone who saw Adam’s Idols Live tour set twice this summer, the one thing I didn’t expect from the season 8 runner-up was intermittent pitch problems.
This is not a picture of 
After Thursday’s Glambert explosion on the 
Rehearsals for this weekend’s 
