At The Fountainebleau Hotel – Las Vegas
By THT Staffer
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 5/27/25 – Opening to the theme “welcome to the multiverse” J-Lo kick started The 2025 American Music Awards show by giving us an adult portion of dance hits. I say dance because she sang about a minute and half to open, then went Vegas 2.0 with a midnight show medley replete with thrusting hips, pansexuality and Jacksonesque’ crotch grabbery. With a supporting troop twice the size of any other performer, we can firmly conclude that as a dancer, J-Lo is a great singer.
Top Story: Billie Eilish elbowed aside Taylor Swift as fan favorite with a huge haul of 7 awards. Sweeping all the major categories (including Artist of The Year). Taylor was shut out this year, no doubt to the delight of at least one.
After SZA nabbed her first AMA for the song Saturn, Country music’s reigning alpha dog Blake Shelton brought us back to our planet with real gee-tars and an American flag backdrop in tribute to our Veterans on this Memorial Day.
New Artist Gracie Abrams phoned in her speech.
(Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Lainy Wilson’s performance was easy on the eyes and ears; a vision in white cowgirl drag with billowing clouds and blue-sky background. A refreshing pivot from the hormonal bombast that preceded.
Best Female RB went SZA – 2 for 2 so far.
Gwen Stefani ditched her punk roots as she lip synced her biggest pop hits.
Kendrick Lamar only hit pay dirt once out of his 10 noms. That for fan favorite hip-hop song.
An absentee Beyoncé nabbed favorite female country Artist and country album “Cowboy Carter”, signaling a seismic shift in the Nashville business model.
Janet Jackson went low key in baggy denims with white bomber jacket, tank top and sneakers. JJ had nothing to prove and made it look easy. And yes, she received the Icon Award; A lifetime achievement award specifically created to make us all feel old. Las Vegas regular Rod Stewart was also honored and closed the show with a poignant Forever Young.
In the main, this year’s AMA was your standard ranch stash awards show. Glitzier than most, with a procession of this year’s shiny new things; some of whom will stick, and some who’ll get their allotted 15 minutes and fade away. With the fan vote, “The Biz” does get to finger the pulse of the public; and the public decided Billie Eilish is the ‘it’ girl for 2025.
The AMAs started back in 1974 when the fan favorites were Helen Reddy and Jim Croce. To quote an artist (Bob Dylan) who never won an AMA, “…Things Have Changed”.
