2006 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS
Yet another ego-stroking award show has come and gone. Last night's American Music Awards started with but a whimper - Beyonce, whose niche is big sound, big moves and big hair, turned out a lackluster performance (though she looked damn good doing it.) Things didn't improve much after that.
Once upon a time, award shows had a trace of spontaneity. Sean Penn would show up drunk. Cybil Sheppard would rock a men's three-piece suit in pumpkin orange. Nowadays, however, everyone is a professional celebrity. Perfect outfits, perfect hair and perfect thank you speeches -- yet they don't know how to read from a teleprompter without coming off like an automated messaging service. Everyone from Britney Spears to the cast of 'Grey’s Anatomy' recited their lines with the charisma of a cob of corn.
Luckily, there were lots of performances to break up the robotic monotony. Unluckily, most of them were a bore.
The night's big winners were Rascal Flatts, the Black Eyed Peas and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Rascal Flatts took home two key awards (Top Country Group and Artist of the Year.) The Black Eyed Peas nabbed three (Favourite Rap/Hip-Hop Group, Favourite Soul/R & B Group and Favourite Rap/Hip-Hop Album). The Peppers won two as the year’s Best Rock Artist and Alternative Artist.
Other than that, the AMAs seemed to spread the wealth between newcomers and oldtimers, hard-edged and pop-infused. Some of the major awards went to Carrie Underwood (Breakthrough Artist), Eminem (Male Rap Artist), Nickleback's 'All the Right Reasons' (Best Rock Album) and Mary J. Blige's 'The Breakthrough' (Best Female Soul/R & B album.)
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