Showing posts with label shawn mendes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shawn mendes. Show all posts

Monday, February 11, 2019

What did we learn from the 2019 Grammys?

Welcome to an awards show where I can't scream about Gemma Chan! Luckily there's plenty of other stuff to screech about because the Grammys were ALMOST 4 HOURS LONG.

This year's recap is brought to you by all of these fans not missing an opportunity to snap photos of their faves on the red carpet:
As is my unexplainable routine, I watched the 12 hours of pre-show coverage because I needed to hear a bunch of Z-listers on E! debate potential looks like "I MEAN SHE WORE CLOTHES LAST YEAR, BUT WILL SHE WEAR CLOTHES THIS YEAR?" Riveting.

In a shocking turn of events, Rancic actually looked pretty great. I can't believe I just typed those words because this is the first time in the history of ever that she's looked great. Just a simple hairdo and makeup and a super cute dress!
But don't worry, she was still steadfast in the level of stupid she brought to the Red Carpet. And I'm positive she brought the fashion extra hard because Seacrest, wearing a suit from his own dumbass collection, wore THESE BOBO ASS SHOES:
I could give two farts if these are Versace or Givenchy or K-Mart — they're ugly. You know who wears these? High school boys who think they're hot shit because they're on the 8th string of the football team and just got new puka shells and a Playstation 2 last week.

Best dressed:
We did not see nearly enough of Jorja Smith who was nominated for Best New Artist. A quick summary of Jorja: she's English, has an amazing voice, won the Brits' Critics Choice Awards last year (past winners include Adele and Ellie Goulding) and allegedly dated Drake in 2017 while they worked on some songs together AND HE GOT A TATTOO FOR HER. Or well, Jorja doesn't think that part is true, but he got an "11" tattoo and her birthday is on June 11 and her debut EP was called "Project 11" so I'll let you deduct what you will. Anyway, THIS LOOK SHE IS SERVING:
This is actually the exact face I make when someone finds out I'm Korean and responds with "Oh, my best friend is Chinese" UM OK. So even though Jorja didn't win, she gave us this look and also her boyfriend is pretty hot and she got Drake to tattoo her birthday on his body so all of that combined, I think, is the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award.
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Here's the thing: K-Pop stars dress INFINITELY better than American pop stars. So while we were rolling out Post Malone who I think might just be a dumpster masquerading as a human, these BTS boys were strolling through in fine ass, tailored suits (made by a Korean designer!). And before you start screaming "Omg how old are they" how about you calm the F down because the youngest one is Jungkook (in the middle waving) and he's 21 and we're dating. It's whatever. We share earrings it's great and we are both old enough to buy alcohol so stop asking.

To the show!

Whatever new girl group this is, I'm in
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Alicia Keys opened the show with Gaga, Jada Pinkett-Smith, J.Lo in a bigass hat AND MICHELLE OBAMA. I could barely hear anything over my own screaming.

I am Ariel
Because Shawn Mendes is clearly Prince Eric with those striped pants. He also wore this silk, sleeveless top and his piano was literally imploding because none of us were expecting to see that body'ody. He started the performance singing "In My Blood," which is coincidentally enough the name of his song and also words I've written in letters to him because nothing says normal, non-creepy love like using the word blood.

After his broody piano playing, Miley came out sporting the ol' vest-with-no-shirt-underneath look and they sang together:
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There is nothing I love more than fire during a performance. It's wildly dramatic and also really dangerous and that's the mix I'm interested in. Also want to note that on the red carpet, Seacrest asked Shawn if he and Miley would "be looking at each other" during the performance to which Shawn was like "Um, yes, we'll both be up there singing together so I'm pretty sure we'll make eye contact" and my mind exploded because Seacrest isn't qualified to interview a toucan.

Speaking of the red carpet, Shawn was obviously one of the best dressed men of the night and here he is thirst trapping all of us:

Very excited to be a member of the Church of Janelle
Janelle Monae gave one of the top 2 performances of the night (check it out here), reminding us that in addition to acting, she can write meaningful lyrics, sing and moonwalk across a stage while wearing PVC leather:
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Meanwhile, half of us can barely eat a grilled cheese while watching a Fyre Fest documentary. Here she is dropping the mic at the end of her performance as she realizes how many mortal uggos are surrounding her.
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We stan a multi-talented queen.

CARDI CARDI CARDI
The other top performance of the night was OBVIOUSLY Cardi. Show producers were smart to put her in the last third of this 18-hour show because things had gotten pretty sleepy. But then:
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She performed "Money" and twerked on top of a piano and it was everything we needed. Plus we were all introduced to Chloe Flower, the pianist who opened Cardi's performance. This is the photo I will show my kids when I force, I mean ask, them if they want to take piano lessons:
"DON'T YOU WANT TO BE A BAD ASS BITCH? DON'T YOU? Now go make Mommy proud."

Cardi also became the first solo woman to win the award for Rap Album. Her speech was so freaking cute because she was legitimately surprised and so so gracious about it (unlike fakes we've seen in the past *COUGH TAYLOR SWIFT COUGH*).
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UMMM BUT CAN OFFSET PLEASE SEE HIMSELF OFF STAGE?? And yes, I know she was gripping his hand because she was so nervous, but I will never forgive him for being in her spotlight (or for cheating on her). Y'all when I say I was happy for her, I mean I literally clenched my heart when her name was announced like I'm some proud grandma. "Invasion of Privacy" was OBJECTIVELY (did you hear me, I said OBJECTIVELY) one of the best albums of 2018. It's got bops, it's got sass, it's got bangers, it cleared up my acne and paid off my car. Amazing.

Final Cardi note: She wore this Little Mermaid getup on the red carpet that only permitted her to move around in a sort of shuffle and I loved everything about it including the hat that I think is supposed to be like the pearl inside an oyster?
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But are we far from the Shallow now
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Based on her reaction to winning, you may not know this little known artist. Her name is Lady Gaga and SHE'S ONLY WON LIKE 450 GRAMMYS. Sure, this year's win was for a song from a movie featuring her first starring role, but dear God how many more times will we have to hear how Bradley Cooper apparently Tony Robbins'd her life and completely changed everything. She continues to act like she was Nikki Blonsky working at Coldstone and got plucked from obscurity to be in "Hairspray." When we all know Gaga was swimming in her pool made of melted down Grammys when B.Coop asked her to be in a recycled movie.

Luckily, we got a glimpse of old Gaga during her performance:

Only one more major awards show left for Gaga to be president of the high school drama club. Then can we please return to walking a red carpet inside an egg.

The bigger the hair, the closer to God
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I love how Kacey Musgraves brings out this bump-it for all her major performances. AND THOSE HOOPS! In a dramatic turn of events that surprised me the most, she was the artist I listened to most on Spotify in 2018. Who would've guessed. "The Golden Hour" really is that bitch. But do I think I am the one to thank for Kacey winning album of the year? Yes I am and she did thank me when she said "Thank you to the fans" UM FANS COME FROM ASIA. I AM ASIAN. So the logical connection is there, you see it. Speaking of fans, for all you history buffs, Kacey actually invented fans:
She performed "Rainbow" and all I want to talk about is how MOTHER FRACKING FLAWLESS HER MAKEUP AND BROWS AND LASHES ARE????? SHE DOES NOT HAVE PORES????
I'm hollering. The other thing I like about her is she looks like she could fight? Like she's definitely punched someone in the face before. And if that doesn't make you want to listen to her album, her reaction to winning Album of the Year should:
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Um, also when she won, this guy was onstage with her?
Wearing football pads and combat boots? So I guess some sort of time traveling fashion disaster? Cool.

When your cloning machine actually works
St. Vincent and Dua Lipa performed a collab of "Masseducation" and "One Kiss" and it was a win all around for short bobs. I saw St. Vincent perform at Panorama last year and by "saw" I mean I have a very blurry drunken image of her singing, I think. Was happy to see her perform because she's great! And Dua always delivers so. But how in the hell does she go to the bathroom with those nails. Or type emails. Or like, peel oranges. Mind boggling.

Things I could've done without
1) Whichever one this is from Dan + Shay wearing a shirt that looks like it includes Bluetooth headphones:
2) And then that same dude during their performance of "Tequila" holding that last note for what felt like 14 minutes:
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I don't even remember what the last word was, but I feel like it was something ordinary, like "pencil" and he just held it for an inordinate amount of time like "PEEEEEEEEEEEENCIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLL." We did not ask for this.

3) Everything about the Post Malone + Red Hot Chili Peppers performance. I don't even have a screenshot of it because this was my face the entire time:
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I just kept wondering how the Grammys found the time to gather all of the men I find least attractive and put them on one stage. Like some sort of PSA for birth control and it worked.

4) Everything and I mean EVERYTHING about J.Lo's Motown tribute.
First off, whose idea was it to have J.Lo do the Motown tribute? Secondly, does no one remember that J.Lo doesn't have that great of a voice? Someone was ABSOLUTELY singing behind the scenes for her, Milli Vanilli style. This entire performance was bizarre. Do you think they asked Beyonce first? And after she said no, asked 300 other people who all said no before finally being like "Oh, J.Lo is the last person left to ask"? It is the only explanation.

Things I could've done with more of
1) Maren Morris' hoops

2) Alicia Keys singing every genre of music
She performed a medley of a bunch of hits and some oldies including Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" and if that piano intro doesn't make you involuntarily scream YESSSSS you are tasteless and I hate you.

3) BTS reaction shots
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4) Close-ups of Dua Lipa's brows
It's upsetting that she gets to be that tall and talented with those naturally great brows. Like, I didn't know we were allowed to choose more than one talent from the talent pool so I only chose "able to eat a lot of food but also gain weight." Pissed.

5) H.E.R. wearing sunglasses indoors
And wait actually that woman behind her with the side eye who clearly has no time for this fucking 15-hour show.

6) Degrassi

7) Childish Gambino

"This is America" won Song and Record of the Year, the first rap song to do so! Donald Glover wasn't there though because we were watching from home, but thank you all for the lovely messages we enjoyed reading them while eating our dumplings and watching Marie Kondo's Netflix show.

And that's it! I mean, obviously 800 other things happened because this show was on for 48 hours. If you want to know irrelevant shit like, all of the actual winners, check that out here.

See you tomorrow for Bachelor trash! Til then, find me making friendship bracelets for me and Chrissy Teigen and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez because we're all friends and also on Twitter (@cocoakristis) and Instagram (@kristimac9). 

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

What did we learn from the 2018 American Music Awards?

Before we jump into things, just reminding you that at shows like the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, VMA's, etc., the award literally goes to whoever shows up to this JV pep rally. That's it. Don't let them make you believe there's any sort of "voting."

This year's AMAs recap is brought to you by Taran Killan's reaction to Cardi B's performance:
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As a side note, whenever I see Cobie Smulders I don't think about "How I Met Your Mother" or "The Avengers," instead I immediately think about that Nicholas Sparks movie she was in with Julianne Hough (LOLOLOL) where she played the ghost of Josh Duhamel's wife. And so that's my history with her because I know you were wondering.

I'm skipping over the red carpet because I don't even know where the pre-show aired. I checked my usual dumpster, E!, and it wasn't there so I guess some high school public broadcasting program aired it. Here we gooo!

Still skeptical as hell about this
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Swifty opened the show with her usual dramatics and attempts to dance, but this time with fire! And sass because remember she is in her "badass" phase as is evident in her bangs. I don't actually remember a lot about this because I always find the music and theatrics around her performances pretty amazing while her vocals are meh. It's like having a sandwich made with the most amazing homemade bread while the contents of the sandwich are an old Kraft Singles wrapper. Disappointing and also confusing.
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I don't want to dive into the whole Swifty political sphere except to say yes, it's great and awesome she is using her platform to encourage young people to vote while also pointing out some candidates are literal monsters. But um, girl where was this two years ago? I'm still skeptical as hell of her and I'm pretty sure she has used the line "Do you know who I am?" at CVS when she's forgotten her ExtraCare card.

On the flipside, the entire "1989" album is a bop. So I remain conflicted. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers during this time.

In surprise to no one, she won a bunch of awards because I believe that was in her contract with the AMAs in exchange for her attendance.

Me whenever Mariah is introduced to perform:
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Nothing induces more anxiety than hearing "And now...Mariah Carey!" because you never really know what you're going to get. Will it be like New Year's Eve 2017 Mariah? Or will it magically be 1998 Mariah who can still hit a whistle note? Things ended up okay this time.
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She debuted her new song, which, it's unclear who asked for new Mariah music. I took a poll and we just want her to re-release the "Daydream," "Butterfly," "Rainbow" and "The Emancipation of Mimi" albums over and over again.

When you're casually stretching at the gym and a hot guy walks in
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Cardi, Bad Bunny and J Balvin performed "I Like It," and can y'all believe she had a baby like 3 months ago? For reference, I have had zero babies and the last time I tried to dance or stretch like that I dislocated my uterus.
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Their stage setup was by far, the best. And probably the most entertaining mostly due to Cardi. She proceeded to serve us looks from the audience for the rest of the night while yelling, which, "yells while wearing custom Dolce & Gabbana" is peak what I look for in a role model.
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SECTION WHERE I SCREAM ABOUT FIFTH HARMONY
I'm not going to critique their red carpet looks except to say Camila wins (per usual) because opting for pants that have pockets and allow you to squat and sit with your legs open, always wins. I DON'T MAKE THE RULES. This year, 3/5's of Fifth Harmony showed up, meaning we're gaining one member per year at the AMAs so by 2020 I'm guessing there will be a reunion and they'll perform "Work From Home" and I'll scream. I'm dying at Lauren's facial expression (far right, omg I can't believe I have to point her out to you). She looks like she just saw someone across the room unplug her phone from charging.

Normani and Lauren haven't dropped solo albums yet, so they were both just attendees at the Camila show. And I guess the AMAs forgot their ticket to Petty Town because we got NO reaction shots of either of them when Camila won any of her 50 awards or when she performed. What good are these award shows if not to fuel non-existent drama?

Anyway Camila performed her new song in this bigass gown and some gloves and the biggest question we were all faced with was should I get bangs???
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Okay and again, y'all know I love Camila, but it's like the AMAs thought she was the only attendee. We got approximately 4,568 shots of her during the night.
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Like, can we get some of Constance Wu, who was literally right behind her? Or Cardi? Or one zoomed in on Shawn Mendes' face? Which speaking of...

MY LITTLE CANADIAN BACON
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Shawn Mendes performed "Lost in Japan" because he is obsessed with me (hello - I grew up in Japan and I've been lost many, many times). And if you're wondering how the audience reacted to his entire performance, I'll let Carrie Underwood and this random woman speak for everyone:
It was adorable and my lawyers say I should remind you that he is 20 years old so our relationship is completely legal. Plus, I mean his last name is MENdes not BOYdes because he is a grown man.

Also, he won this award:
ADULT contemporary. An award that can only be won by an ADULT. And sure he can only buy us alcohol in Canada BUT THAT'S FINE.

Spotted: A wild Rami Malek
Speaking of boyfriends. Rami was there to promote his new movie about Queen that he plays Freddie Mercury in. Something about Rami really creeps me out, but also, I think I am in love with him? As the Nobel Laureate Selena Gomez once said, THE HEART WANTS WHAT IT WANTS.

While we're on the topic of my personal life
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I think I'm also a little bit in love with Quavo? This is a new development. Per my interest in Lil' Wayne, maybe it's his face tattoos? I DON'T KNOW, OKAY. And anyway, he's dating Saweetie (which is cute). So that's the reason we can't date. The only reason.

Someone I am definitely not dating
Let me preface this by saying basically all of Post Malone's songs are catchy as hell. But something tells me that's not the only thing you can catch from him. Also, I feel like he probably smells like hot dogs and old socks?

My time machine worked
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And we're in the 90s! Real quick reminder that DUA LIPA SHOULD BE A BIGGER DEAL THAN SHE IS IN THE U.S. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. She gave us major 90s rave party vibes with this performance and where am I? HERE FOR IT. She wore this baggy pants + ho' top situation that I believe Julia Stiles invented back in the day and proceeded to have neon paint splattered all over her, a practice which was invented in "Miss Congeniality" (if you don't remember the paint drumming scene, please see yourself out).

To top it off, she ended the set by having it rain on stage! Which remains an over-the-top thing I'm obsessed with because it's so extra. And look, I am afforded essentially no opportunities to be onstage, but the moment I am given one, you better believe I'm gonna make it rain (literally, not with money).
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Anyway, it was the most fun performance and she sang live the entire time and most importantly she had the best brows of the evening:
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We also got back to the 90s with Halsey and her jeans + Jordans combo during her performance with Khalid and Benny Blanco:
Time travel is great.
   
TWO WORDS: MISS. AYYYYY.
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Missy Elliott came out for a remix of Ciara's "Level Up" and I felt like I was 14 again buying Adidas Superstars so I could dance to "Gossip Folks" (the shoes activate your dancing skills, duh). The "Under Construction" album remains one of the best and I will fight you.

Oh also, reminder that aside from Cardi, Ciara should've been the only one allowed to dance during the show.
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In case you're wondering, Carrie Underwood is a:
Great job, AMAs. This cracked me up for a bit.

Thank goodness, no Madonna
Remember a few months ago when Madonna come out at the end of the VMAs to "pay tribute" to Aretha Franklin and we, as a universe, felt embarrassed and upset and befuddled as to who let Madonna out of her crypt? The AMAs tribute to Aretha was the polar opposite of that. Actually, you can't even compare them. Gladys Knight, Donnie McClurkin, CeCe Winans, Ledisi, and Mary Mary all covered songs from her "Amazing Grace" album and it was unbelievably great. The best way to end the night.

And that's it! This fracking show was THREE HOURS LONG. What do the AMAs think they are? The Oscars? Titanic?

See you all soon! Til then, find me eating trail mix made mostly of chocolate while calling it "healthy food" and also on Twitter (@cocoakristis) and Instagram (@kristimac9).