Mariah Careyperformed her song “I’m That Chick You Like”. Mariah sounds great but damn could she be any more stiff? I know she has never been a good dancer, but she could at least move around a little bit. Her stiffness is an odd contrast to her hyper active dancers in the back. Anyway…the song is hot and she looked great.
Beyonce performed “At Last” as a tribute to Etta James (who she is playing in a new movie). Beautiful job by Beyonce…it’s obvious that she is taking the task of playing Etta James very seriously and now I’m looking forward to seeing if she delivers on the big screen.
Chris Brown briefly saluted Sam Cooke’s song “Cupid” and then turned to his new song “Forever”. With all the dancing Chris does I forget how nice his voice is. He did a good job with “Cupid” but it was entirely too quick. I’m not a fan of “Forever” and with the voicebox effect he would’ve been better off just lip syncing his performance.
For the Motown tribute, Justin Timberlake paid homage to Marvin Gaye singing “Got To Give It Up”. I would’ve much rather have seen Robin Thicke or Maxwell sing instead, but that’s just my own personal bias. Beyonce joined JT onstage for “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing”. Solid performances, but I wasn’t blown away.