This year’s American Music Awards (AMAs) were broadcasted on CBS on May 26, and it is safe to say it wasn’t great. Hosted by Jennifer Lopez, it was the first American Music Awards show since 2022, as it has been cancelled for the past two years. For many reasons, the event failed to impress viewers. Most of all, the big names of music, such as Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, and more, weren’t at the event. This can be due to the fact that many popular artists are currently on tour overseas, or because the show took place on Memorial Day. Music charts and On-Demand TV networks reported that there was a significantly less number of viewers than 2022. The report stated there were 99,000 viewers throughout the show, which is a 97% decline from 2022.
Eilish received seven AMA awards, including Artist and Album of the Year, but wasn’t at the event. The show lasted for 2 hours, and only 6 awards were presented. Leaving out Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and multiple big awards under the R&B, Hip-Hop, and Rap categories. The headlining performers, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, did not perform like they were supposed to. Both of their acts were pre-recorded, with neither even attending the event. As the night went on, viewers declined because of this. Despite the AMAs debut of smaller artists such as Reneé Rapp and Benson Boone, the show lacked authenticity and wasn’t anything viewers haven’t seen before.
Lopez started the night with a medley of hits being honored at the show, which she danced to for around 10 minutes. The performance was unexpected and was shamed for being “bland” by viewers. Throughout the night, Lopez didn’t impress audiences, as she didn’t do much other than change into a different dress with every commercial break. According to X users, she has “fallen off” and users are even going as far as saying she can’t sing.
Janet Jackson stood out this year, performing for the first time in seven years, and receiving the Icon Award. Jackson performed a medley of two hits, “Someone to Call My Lover” and “All for You,” followed by a heartfelt speech. The show highlighted classic artists, with Jackson, as well as Gloria Estefan, who hasn’t had a televised performance in over 30 years, and Rod Stewart who hasn’t performed at the AMAs for 20 years.
Overall, the American Music Awards 2025 was not successful. The 2 hour show was packed with disappointing acts, which took up time in which the actual awards should’ve been presented. The headlining artists did not attend the show, with a video to accept the award for most of the awards. Needless to say, the result of the 2025 AMAs goes to show why the event has been cancelled in years past.
