The more I think about Miley Cyrus' performance of "Wrecking Ball" at last night's American Music Awards, the more I dig it (even if reluctantly).
I shuddered with mixed emotions. The power ballad is meh — like my friend Barb Morrison points out, would be a Journey song if you subbed in Steve Perry's voice — but Cyrus' performance of it on the AMAs incorporated a crudely animated "space kitten" lip-synching the words in the background added a unique twist that's somewhat more watchable than her twerkout shenanigans. Cyrus may have been in a tacky Underoo-looking getup again with aging-dancer-style high-cut bottoms — but the fabric print was feline too.
[jump]I was having difficulty processing it all. My brain was about to explode. My cat-lady reality was forever altered.
It was surely a publicity stunt that once again has millions blowing up Google and social networking sites.
Before that elder divas J Lo and Christina Aguilera classed up the night with their numbers — Lopez singing in Spanish and dancing in a stunning tribute to Celia Cruz and Christina Aguilera's touching and pitch-perfect duet with A Great Big World were among the best performances of the night. Another highlight was TLC's reunion performance of "Waterfalls."
Cyrus' number was nowhere near as tacky as Lady Gaga and R Kelly paying homage to Marilyn Monroe and JFK's affair on the 50th anniversary weekend of Kennedy's assassination? Another sacred cow gets slashed, which is always a score in my book (even if I'm a confessed Camelot romantic) — but the choreography was just plain awkward. If you're going to go balls out on the offensive, do it with gusto.
Miley may have once again elicited a giant "Wha?" with "Wrecking Ball," but it showed good-natured humor and sass. So she gets points for both.
"Poor kitten. Probably wasn't even paid," my friend Megan DiTizio chimed in afterward.