MUSIC: American Music Awards' performances

There were a few surprising performances at the American Music Awards last night--and I'm not just talking about the Sugarland and Beyonce duet of "Irreplaceable." Chris Brown's robot break dancing was cool, but I was more shocked by Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas' performance of a track off his new album, Songs about Girls. I wasn't a fan of any of the tracks until I watched him perform "Heartbreaker." The song is really catchy, watch for yourself below:

Alicia Keys chose to mix it up, melding her "No One" single with surprise appearances from a few Reggae and Dancehall masters, Beanie Man ("Girls Dem Sugar"), Junior Reid (“One Blood"), and Chakademus and the Pliers ("Murder She Wrote"). Sean Kingston and Akon were loving it so much, they jumped up to dance in front of their seats. Watch below:


Mary J. Blige also got a standing ovation when she sang her new single "Just Fine." There were no tricks or gimmicks. Just Mary singing her heart out. Suddenly I realized that she was rocking the Rihanna haircut that has become as famous as The Rachel that Jennifer Anniston had in Friends. But I guess Rihanna didn't mind since she was dancing and singing along to Mary's song. Will.i.am also sang along while sitting next to Fergie, and Nicole Scherzinger gave her a standing-O. And even though American Idol contestants Carrie Underwood and Daughtry were the biggest winners of the night, the Jonas Brothers were the ones who got mauled by preteens who jumped on the stage seconds after their performance was over. I guess they weren't at all stunted by the glass on the stage floor that made Joe Jonas trip and slide down the short ramp.

Rihanna and Neyo's duet was perfectly executed, but I was too busy staring at her beautiful golden flapper dress the whole time:


On other fashion news, Maroon 5's main main Adam Levine sported a shaved head and Ashanti's yellow dress was one of the best of the night.

In spite of the writer's strike, Jimmy Kimmel held his own, making up stuff on the fly. He actually got Kellie Pickler and Jordin Sparks to come up on stage and dance the Superman with him aided by Soulja Boy himself.