Monday, May 05, 2014

MaroonMay Awards Reviews: iHeartRadio Music Awards 2014


Well...another awards ceremony. And I wouldn't mind the many awards ceremonies I want to cover if I get paid for this, like the editors at BuzzFeed get paid for the crappy lists and quizzes they write on their site.
The iHeartRadio Music Awards is just like the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards, the MuchMusic Video Awards, the BET Awards, and even the Radio Disney Music Awards; it has a bunch a categories with metal statuettes to be given away at a ceremony, and celebrities show up. There will also be performances by whoever is popular at the moment and the networks try to secure musicians for the show and hope to stay to maybe grab an award. Understand?

Anyway, the first show aired last Thursday on NBC. There was no host trying too hard to be funny and it seemed very good. No awkward crap; Just performances and awards being given. I guess The producers know what's important here. I enjoyed much of what I saw. The performances were really good, if not great, and the award categories do kinda make sense, even if the songs nominated were released last year.

I didn't see the entire thing, so here are some highlights
--Pitbull kicked off the show by performing two songs, one I don't know the title of, and the other "Timber". I honestly didn't care for both, and his props (boat and women) look like they came one of his music videos. I was a little surprised Ke$ha didn't show up (and surprised that I'm surprised about her not showing up.)
--Bastille performed their first US hit "Pompeii". I actually liked it when they sang it live, much more than they recorded it.
--Ed Sheeran performed "A-Team" and "Don't" in a taped bit from somewhere else in LA. It was really good.
--Ariana Grande sang her smash hit "The Way" and her new hit "Problem". She sounded really great, and the new song is really good. I see an awesome career ahead of her. By the way, her dancing during the chorus was dorky and really funny. No wonder Rihanna laughed when they cutaway to her.
--The show later gave us a wonderful tribute to the legendary Michael Jackson. Usher, joined by a troupe of fantastic dancers who did a really good job, danced to a legitimate brand-new MJ hit, "Love Never Felt So Good". This is one of the best performances of the show.
--Thirty Seconds to Mars performed "City of Angels". It's a powerful song about life and happiness in a new city, to make a better life for you and your family. I loved it; I also like the taped commentaries of musicians and legendary street performers talking about lives in their hometowns and how happy they are in their new lives out west. So sweet and heartwarming.
--Kendrick Lamar gave a fantastic rendition to 2Pac's iconic love letter to the Golden State, "California Love" and his really great song "mAAd city". Really folks, he's just. that. GOOD.

Between performances, some recording artists taped "confessionals" or whatever about their lives and times in Los Angeles, and they were kinda cool, yet a little boring. Some were good to watch like Macklemore's, which had a funny story about extras vomiting on a pirate ship during filming for his (and Ryan Lewis') video for "Can't Hold Us". That was hilarious.

And now the WINNERS:
Best new Artist: Lorde
Hip-Hop/R&B Song of the Year: Rihanna-Pour It Up
EDM Song: Avicii & Aloe Blacc, “Wake Me Up”
Country Song: Blake Shelton, “Boys ‘Round Here”
Alternative Rock Song: Imagine Dragons, “Demons”
Collaboration: Pitbull featuring Ke$ha-Timber
Lyrics: Wrecking Ball
Fan Army (yes, this exists): Rihanna Navy – Rihanna
Instagram Award (yeah, that too): Austin Mahone
Young Influencer: Ariana Grande
iHeart Innovator Award: Pharrell Williams

Also I wanna mention that Rihanna looks like a glamorous version of Crazy Eyes from Orange is the New Black. I've noticed that from the first time I saw her, and probably you did too.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the review as much as you have the show. It was actually really good, I enjoyed all I saw and the performances were absolutely fantastic. I can't wait for next year, at least after the company goes through this lawsuit thrown against them.

Oh well, see you next time.

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