American Music Awards Bring Hellos, Goodbyes, and Comebacks!

The red carpet may as well have been gold, as twenty-four carat music magnates and A-list recording artists rubbed elbows and swapped cell phone numbers Sunday evening at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. The American Music Awards (TV) were about to get underway, and performers like Shakira, Lady Gaga, Snoop Dog, Keith Urban, Selena Gomez, Alicia Keys, and Green Day, all jumped on the media-go-round in an effort to see and be seen. When Keith Urban, who was set to perform "Kiss a Girl," was asked whether or not he was nervous, he replied "Live T.V. is always a freaky moment." Turns out he was right.

The show opened with Janet Jackson, who performed a righteously energetic medley of songs accompanied by her signature, "I'm Janet, Miss Jackson if your nasty" choreography. The Black Eyed Peas, who beat out Kings of Leon and Nickelback in the Alternative music category, delivered a high voltage, funky-in-a-good-sort-of-way performance of their hits, and got the audience fully charged up for the evening.

Keith Urban avoided freaky as he flirtatiously sang "Kiss a Girl," and picked up an award for best Country Music-Male.

Green Day took the honors for Alternative Rock, and dapper rapper Jay-Z won for Favorite Male-Rap/Hip Hop artist. He glided like silk through his performance of Empire State of Mind, an homage to New York City, with Alicia Keys. Upon accepting his award, he thanked Alicia for her contributions to the song, and added with a wink to the audience, "men lie, women lie, numbers don't lie." The dynamic duo's duet was one of the standout performances of the night.

Lady Gaga's was another.

As she and her fiercely freaky dancers maneuvered through her new single Bad Romance, cheers of triumph escaped from the audience. True to form, Lady Gaga crashed through yet another barrier, this one being a square glass cube containing her piano. After recklessly climbing through shattered glass, she found her seat amongst a fury of flames and delivered the ballad "Speechless," (another song from the new CD). She punctuated the performance by smashing empty liquor bottles across the keyboard in angst, giving us a gratuitous peek at her mad genius.

In stark contrast to Lady Gaga's performance, Whitney Houston walked softly and carried an anthem of redemption, taking the stage for the first time in five years with the lyrics, "I didn't know my own strength" and "I got through the pain." A personal message to her fans, critics, and perhaps herself, that she's back for good this time. Houston was honored with the International Artist of the Year AMA just before her performance.

Rihanna had a bone to pick as she broke out of shackles exclaiming. "I pitch with a grenade," from the song "Wait Your Turn." This fierce reemergence of the young pop star, dressed in a skin tight bandage-style cat suit, spiked shoulder pads, and barbed wire bracelets, was an edgy reminder of darker days past. It was her first live performance since the assault by Chris Brown last February, and she, too, was marking her own comeback with a vengeance.

Fans of American Idol (TV) were just plain happy. Their Idol alumni were well represented with performances by Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Adam Lambert. The night marked Lambert's first awards show appearance, and his AMA debut was anything but subtle. Most fans would call the outrageously risque performance of his new single "For Your Entertainment" a delivery on a promise. Critics and offended onlookers would call it crass, overly choreographed, and self indulgent. However you look at it, Twitter and Facebook will surely be abuzz about the boy-on-boy kiss, the suggestive lyrics, and the quantity-over quality-vocals. As the good vs. evil debate over Lambert rages on amongst his fans and critics,one thing's for sure...Lambert achieved his goal. Buttons have been pushed, and people are talking.

The biggest surprise of the evening was in the Breakthrough Artist of the Year category, with the country group Gloriana taking home the statue, leaving Lady Gaga empty handed.

The not-much-of-a-surprise of the evening was Taylor Swift sweeping her categories, and one-upping Michael Jackson for the top honor of Artist of the Year. She accepted the award from London's Wembley Stadium, where's she's rehearsing for a show. In her speech, she thanked the Jackson family for reaching out to her, and gave a nod to the King of Pop, saying he will be missed.

After a few hellos, a goodbye, and a couple of well-staged comebacks, the AMA show rolled up its red carpet, and called it a night.

A very entertaining one at that.