On Memorial Day Monday, the 2025 American Music Awards kicked off dwell from the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, marking the awards current’s first look as a result of the 2022 AMAs and its first ever on CBS.

It has been even longer since Jennifer Lopez helmed the revealed, with the multi-hyphenate set to host for the first time since 2015. She has, in any case, prolonged been a staple on the current as a performer and various winner.

For Monday’s current, Lopez kicked off the night time time with a rousing effectivity of “Dance As soon as extra.” Moreover performing had been ICON Award recipient Janet Jackson and lifelong achievement recipient Rod Stewart. Further performers embody Benson Boone, Reneé Rapp, Gloria Estefan, Lainey Wilson, Blake Shelton, and Gwen Stefani.

Among the many many stars up this 12 months for AMAs — which are voted totally by the followers — are Kendrick Lamar, who has a primary 10 nominations, Publish Malone, who’s nominated in eight lessons, along with Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, and Shaboozey, who’re all shut behind with seven nods.

Within the meantime, Taylor Swift — who has most likely probably the most wins in AMAs historic previous at 40 — is searching for to elongate her file with six nominations tonight, along with Artist of the 12 months, Favorite Touring Artist, and Album of the 12 months for The Tortured Poets Division.

Possibly her most spectacular feat on the night time time was fully dominating the net dialog with out saying a phrase, performing, and even exhibiting on the current …. it doesn’t matter what was occurring,

Swift dominated the dialog as followers anticipated an look and, perhaps additional importantly to the Swifties, an announcement. The singer is well-known for using award reveals to announce albums, excursions, and the like. She drops hints like she drops hits, and followers have already been seeing 26 (todays’ date) everywhere.

It’s a testament to her power as a pop star correct now that she would be the dominant viral second of the night time time for an event she wasn’t even at!

Study on to try the complete must-see viral moments — and Taylor obsession!

An identical to she did 10 years up to now, J.Lo kicked off the current with a quick vocal effectivity sooner than breaking proper into a chronic dance to a medley of the 12 months’s largest hits. There was a number of technical snafu alongside the way in which by which, every involving lifts. She missed an extended hand totally early on, after which had an ungainly off-center flip.

We get it, it’s dwell television, and full props to Lopez for with the flexibility to create a whole second based totally on how she first made it large — as a dancer. This wasn’t about celebrating J.Lo as a musician, nevertheless about J.Lo the dancer celebrating everyone else’s music.

And all of us need we are going to nonetheless switch like that for as a couple of years as she’s been doing this. Nevertheless there have been a great deal of people sort of wishing she hadn’t carried out any of this, confused by her kicking off the current by celebrating all the totally different musicians.

In 2015, she made a comment that the night time time was about everyone’s music and by no means her, organising that seven-minute effectivity. We obtained no such clarification this time, so that you just primarily wanted to keep in mind what she acknowledged a decade up to now for this selection to make sense.

Many on-line are nonetheless scratching their heads trying to make sense of it. And within the occasion that they weren’t ready for this dance montage, they positively weren’t ready for closeups of Lopez smacking lips with various dancers of various genders.

Even Tiffany Haddish, who was the first presenter after this opener, had one factor to say about it. “How cool is it to have entire celeb like J.Lo web internet hosting the AMAs? Or as I identify it, the JMAs,” she quipped.

“Our host has merely danced to 23 hits in 6 minutes,” she continued. “Merely from that opening amount alone, Jenny from the block has obtained all her steps in for the day and obtained all her kisses in. Keep away from losing dancers for me, rattling! You ain’t the one one out proper right here single.”

After which there have been these on-line who had been nonetheless trying to find out if Taylor Swift was going to be there — after which all the sudden right here is J.Lo going off. And totally exhausting herself, based totally on the heavy respiratory when she acquired right here out to talk.

As followers spent the complete night time time obsessing additional about Taylor Swift — is she there, is she asserting Reputation (Taylor’s Model) — than what was occurring on the show display, one second from the aforementioned look by Tiffany Haddish quickly stood out.

When quipping about J.Lo hitting 23 tracks in six minutes, Haddish appeared to slip up and say 26 — or practically say it. The twenty sixth, in any case, is the date of the AMAs themselves, with many followers anticipating an announcement tonight (notably after a re-recorded monitor debuted on the latest episode of The Handmaid’s Story).

Whether or not or not it was an intentional slip, or part of Swift’s well-known love of teasing and dropping hints and clues everywhere on this planet for all of her large bulletins remained to be seen, nevertheless the Swifities had been all through social media scrutinizing every second, syllable, and slip-up.

And it was all for nought, as a result of the current ended with out an look, a win, or an announcement.

If there’s one issue we are going to all rely on it’s that if Benson Boone reveals as a lot as perform, he will do a flip. It’s transform as rather a lot a signature of the New Artist nominee as his mustache. So in any case, social media appeared to easily be prepared for it to happen.

To his credit score rating, this was merely one of many essential spectacular flips seen all through his various television appearances as he launched himself totally down the steps with out missing a beat or a discover.

Oh, and did we level on the market was quickly a throughline for the night time time. It doesn’t matter what was occurring on the stage, who was performing — or making jokes, or presenting awards — so many people on-line had been nonetheless questioning the equivalent issue…

“J.Lo, my dream is to play your mom in a movie sooner or later,” Nikki Glaser quipped as she took the stage to present the award for New Artist of the 12 months, which went to Gracie Abrams.

She acknowledged she was honored to present such an very important award because of “it exemplifies one of many essential very important qualities the commerce seems to be like for in an artist: newness.”

“As any individual who merely turned 35 in March — 2019, my warning to the complete nominees tonight is, don’t age,” she continued. “The commerce hates that.”

“Nevertheless, luckily you all now have the important thing recipe for not rising older,” she concluded, “Money.”

She wanted to do all of that after getting fully dismissed and unnoticed by Benson Boone all through his effectivity, too, which didn’t go unnoticed!

Even that transient glimpse was adequate to remind everyone why Glaser has transform an awards current darling after her stellar web internet hosting stint on the Golden Globes … though not everybody appears to be a fan.

It’s exhausting to tug off longevity as a pop star, nevertheless it helps in case you could have crossover enchantment, timeless music, and experience for days. Janet Jackson is that this 12 months’s ICON Award recipient, and he or she proved why she’s an icon with an epic medley effectivity of just a few of her smashes.

After J.Lo heaped reward on her for giving her a chance as a youthful dancer, Jackson acquired right here out and easily owned the second, the stage, and the night time time with an unbelievable vocal and rather more unbelievable strikes.

Higher than 40 years after “Youthful Love” grew to turn into her first charting single, Jackson proved she is a timeless legend and an inspiration now to various generations of artists — whereas proving she’s going to be capable to maintain with every single thought-about one in every of them alongside along with her first televised effectivity in seven years.

Expressing how honored and grateful she was, Jackson acknowledged, “No disrespect in any method, nevertheless I don’t ponder myself an icon. My family, myself, our dream, it wasn’t ever to be well-known. We weren’t raised like that. We on a regular basis had a specific love for music, dancing, and singing.”

She credited exhausting work and dedication for his or her fame, calling her family’s story a uniquely American one. “The one issue I hope for is that I’ve been an inspiration,” she acknowledged,” to artists to watch their needs and succeed.”

To the followers, she acknowledged, “As a result of you and God I’m standing proper right here.” And folks followers had been lighting up social media with their reward of her as an artist, and the instantly iconic effectivity she merely gave.

After they weren’t talking about Taylor Swift, who wasn’t there anyway, viewers on social media had been talking about everyone else who wasn’t there. Don’t get us mistaken, there have been undoubtedly some giant names present, nevertheless it felt additional like a select few than a smorgasbord of experience.

For an awards current that’s been absent for 3 years, you might want anticipated a hall full of the best of music all through all genres. As a substitute, we had what accounted additional to a highlights precise of some of the biggest and best.

All in all, after three years of anticipation regarding the current’s return, followers aren’t constructive we truly needed it, in any case. Is this what now we have been missing, they questioned?

Youthful followers can acknowledge a couple of of the legends like Janet Jackson, Rod Stewart, and Gloria Estefan, nevertheless moreover they need any individual who can come out and serve to their period. One in every of many largest voices of now belongs to Reneé Rapp, and he or she took full advantage of her second.

It’s a daunting course of for anyone to watch a residing legend like Janet Jackson, nevertheless Rapp proved fearless in taking the stage and exhibiting off her signature mannequin, and the effectivity energy and dwell vocals that she hopes will propel her into 4 a few years of success, herself.

If the net chatter is any indication, she’s positively obtained legions of followers correct now who’re ready and eager to journey with mother until the wheels fall off.

It wasn’t Drake or Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the Creator or Future. No, it was Eminem who took dwelling Male Hip-Hop Artist, offering up a trustworthy video of appreciation because of he (in any case) wasn’t there. Hopefully, he isn’t on-line, each, as followers have some concepts about what many would ponder an upset win.

Moreover they took discover of some of the shocked reactions occurring dwell throughout the room to Em’s win, along with the seems to be like on the faces of Nikki Glaser and Heidi Klum — not-so-fresh off of getting dissed themselves by Benson Boone (see above). After which there’s Kai Cenat, who was a whole response reel all by himself.

Certain, Eminem is an icon of the commerce who’s left an indelible stamp on hip-hop, nevertheless it’s exhausting to try these totally different 4 artists and assume that he’s evolving the game at current the way in which by which they’re. Not lower than, that’s what social media wanted to say — amongst numerous totally different suggestions.