The boy band, BTS, leads this reporter’s rankings of performances from this year’s American Music Awards. PHOTO CREDIT: vulture.com
I was really excited for the 2021 American Music Awards, held on Nov. 21, because amongst numerous performances by talented musicians, BTS was going to be performing the remix to their hit single, “Butter,” with featured artist Megan Thee Stallion. Unfortunately, due to personal reasons, she could not attend. I still watched the performances, and I will be talking mainly about my favorites and ranking them.
- “Butter” by BTS
While I was sad that Megan Thee Stallion couldn’t perform with them, the performance was still amazing. The changing colors of the lights from yellow to purple was cool and created a happy feel and made it so fun to watch the performance. This performance gets a 10/10 for me, mainly because BTS is one of my favorite bands of all time.
- “My Universe” by BTS and Coldplay
This performance was so chill and so much fun to watch; it made me feel so happy that we’re actually getting back to having live concerts, and I want to make sure that I can see BTS, and many others, in concert one day. This performance also gets a 10/10, for how awesome and cool it was.
- “Heartbreak Anniversary” by Giveon
I might get hate for this, but when I heard this I immediately said in my head “Oh my god, this is the TikTok song!” I had no idea who the original singer was, but I found out by watching this performance and I was blown away by his voice and his stage presence. Like the Silk Sonic performance, it gave off 1970s jazz vibes, but this was a lot better in my opinion. His vocal control was absolutely amazing, and the way he presented himself on stage showed off his confidence and chill attitude.
One thing I love about the AMAs is that the performers are actually singing, so you get to hear their real voices and no autotune. This performance gets a 9/10 for me; just the initial shock and amazement of his singing voice made me love it so much.
- “Have Mercy,” by Chlöe
This was one of the best performances of the night, and it went by really fast. Chlöe’s voice was so amazing, and her breath control was so solid, even though she was dancing the entire time. She even had a dance break, which is something I always love in a performance. This performance gets a 9/10; it was really good and she did so amazing.
- “Beggin,” by Måneskin
I really enjoyed the rock vibe of this song, and I love the use of instruments as well. This wasn’t my favorite performance, mainly because the camera kept flashing back and forth to the drummer, the guitarist and the singer. However, I really liked the song, and the main singer’s voice fit it perfectly. I’ll give this performance a 7/10; the song was good, but I think I just didn’t like the constant flashing back and forth to each of the performers.
- “Smokin’ Out The Window,” by Silk Sonic
I actually loved this song and this performance, because it reminded me of a 1970s jazz club performance, like Giveon’s had. I have heard this song before, but I never listened to it because I’m not really into Bruno Mars, and I’ve never heard of Anderson .Paak before. However, the performance and the song, despite the lyrics and message behind it, was really good and very enjoyable to listen to and watch. It wasn’t my absolute favorite performance, so it’s at the bottom of my list. 5/10.