Notes on the American Music Awards

Highlight: The Jay-Z and Alicia Keys duet “Empire State of Mind”. Each a powerhouse in their own right, this performance was a great showcase for the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

Lowlight: Everybody’s rooting for Whitney Houston after the hellish lows she’s experienced in the past several years, including me. I was hoping that amazing voice would knock my socks off but not only did she not flex her considerable vocal muscle on “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength”, but it’s got to be one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard. And the backup orchestra and choir – oh-so-tired cliches.

A close second was the performance right before Whitney’s, J-Lo’s “Louboutins”. Ugh.

The show itself pits artists against each other for the award in various categories, but the unmentioned category clearly was the competition between artists’ production designers for most theatrical performance. Higher production value will not be found in any Broadway show. Of note: Adam Lambert’s ode to S&M, J-Lo’s boxing ring theme, and Lady Gaga’s smashing of a glass enclosure to gain entry to the flaming piano inside.

One exception to the above was Mary J. Blige, who needs nothing more than a microphone to rock the house, which is exactly what she did.

Unfortunately about 75% of this show seemed like it might have been a repeat from last year, or even five years ago, with an obvious dearth of new talent performing. Not that one should expect to discover new acts from a nationally televised awards show, especially for these particular awards which are based solely on radio airplay and retail sales, but when the majority of performers are acts that have been stars for several years one wonders what the point is. Thankfully there are plenty of places for a music lover to turn to find great new music like Combo Platter favorites KEXP-FM and Pitchfork.

From a marketing standpoint, the opportunity to get creative was lost on most marketers. T-Mobile was the sole integrated sponsor with their Breakthrough Artist of the Year (winner: Gloriana), but they might have been too overt for many. Also noticed: absolutely no commercials for music artists. Sure, there were spots for iPod and Beatles Rock Band, but no spots to promote a new release or tour. Labels typically don’t do TV spots, but you’d think some might consider an exception for a music-focused show.

UPDATE 11/25/09: There has much ado about Lambert’s controversial performance, resulting in ABC’s cancellation of his performance this morning, which was quickly replaced by an offer from CBS. (Full story here). Three things to note about this: (1) Lambert correctly asserts that he is an entertainer, not a babysitter; (2) In recent years televised awards shows have intentionally pushed the boundaries of what is shocking-yet-acceptable, probably in attempt to bolster continually sagging ratings; and (3) Those attempts might be backfiring in Middle America, contributing to the low ratings, which further fires up the “how do we top last year?” mentality.

But the bottom line is there’s always other programming to watch and other music to listen to.