As Kaiser covered yesterday, Selena Gomez performed at the AMAs last Sunday. This marks Selena’s first live performance in a year. It’s been a rather involved year for Selena too. She’s had a roller coaster romantic life, of course, but she also underwent a kidney transplant due to complications with her lupus. Apparently she was so sick, it almost killed her. Needless to say, her performance was highly anticipated by her fans. Last week Selena teased them with this snippet on her practicing for her performance:
So did she perform? Yes. Did she sing? Not by the looks of it. Many people chided her for lip-synching:
Wow. @selenagomez just killed it at the @AMAs with her performance tonight.🔥🔥 #AMAs #AmericanMusicAwards #AMAs2017 #SELENAxAMAs pic.twitter.com/D07qcs8T2u
— OfficialWilly2.0 (@therealwill17) November 20, 2017
According to TMZ, Selena said she was signing with a background track and that it was her live on everything but the chorus. I’m a Selena apologist so I’m not going to knock her for this. I think what happened was she discovered in rehearsals she wasn’t strong enough to punch out the vocals while performing. So she had to choose and she picked the big production they’d put together. I get why it’s causing a stir, though – when you have people like Pink singing live on the side of a building and Demi Lovato belting it out, a manufactured vocal does stand out.
I, however, am really glad she went that direction because I was fascinated as hell with whatever the hell was going on on-stage. I think I’ve figured it out, though: she got into a car accident that left her bloodied and somehow removed her dress leaving her only in a slip and tennis shoes, but the car was not dented or scratched. And as she stumbled around in a daze (or bewildered as to why she’s taken back up with Justin Bieber), she was beset upon by a herd of roving Puritan women zombies. The PurZombies live in the forest with The Mysterious Guitarist and Marshmallow. Instead of eating Selena, the PurZombies mean girl her with one just outright shoving her for singing about Wolves, I guess? And then they all pick her up to sacrifice her to the Put on A Darn Coat It’s Cold Out Here priestess because – and this is where I’m guessing – she keeps flashing her underwear. Here’s what I don’t get – what’s with the stoplight in the middle of the forest?
Fortunately, the only drama I have by way of Jelena from the AMAs is that Justin liked her new blond ‘do photo and then unliked it, like kind of a cyber-wink or something.
Photo credit:WENN Photos and Getty Images
Really? That’s strenuous choreography? Honestly, we were spared her horrible singing so I’m not pressed and she almost never sings live so not sure why it’s a big deal. We know what we’re getting with her.
exactly! YouTube any truly live singing and she can’t carry a tune. she can’t dance like britney used to. she is successful because of notoriety, auto tune, and great producers. I like her songs bc they’re fun and she’s fakeAF, but whatever I don’t take her seriously. it’s cool.
@Go, @kimbers
+1
I like Selena. She’s genuinely very nice and is quite a level headed girl especially considering the industry she’s come up in. She initially became popular because of her cute Disney show and because she’s pretty and stylish. Now mostly, her many fans world wide love her because she’s a really good person as well. She has a pleasant easiness to her that comes across even in the glamorous celebrity sphere. Makes sense to make her a generic pop star for the kiddies. Why waste all that demand.
Still, she just doesn’t got IT. At least Britney, who was not much of a singer, could put on a good show and put more of what ever she did have into her act. As I said, I like Selena, but she has had plenty of opportunity to prove herself, find her niche or improve her skills. Most people, and probably many of her fans, can see this and as you say don’t take her seriously. She’s nice, pretty and safe, and although they’d like more from her, they’re not expecting it. At least she’s not as immature and petty at Swift. I just wish she had a modicum of heart & soul or just plain grit in her showmanship. That would help make up for her marginally adequate talent.
She’s the Annette Funicello of her day.
There was nothing strenuous about that choreography. Walking around in a nightgown pretending to whine about something should not prevent a person from being able to sing a song like this. It wouldn’t even be vocally challenging for a non-professional. If this is what passes for talent these days, consider me baffled. I don’t see the appeal of her as a performer. She doesn’t stand out at all. She has one of those plain faces that I don’t think I’d be able to identify out of a lineup of girls her age. Same with her voice, it just doesn’t have any spark to me.
I agree, she’s a terrible singer. I’m more curious about her reaction at the end of her performance. She shrugged and looked totally uninterested. What was that about?
She’s definitely not the only lip syncing singer
Perhaps not, but she’s the only lip-syncing “singer” who doesn’t have the stage presence, dancing skills or eye-catching performances to warrant it. She’s a snoozefest.
She doesn’t have a great voice so yea she lip synced. It’s not the first time she’s failed to sing live. That’s like saying Taylor can dance (the reactions to her dancing on snl was SO over the top). Just don’t dance if you can’t do both.
Anyways remember that if she thought that was hard that Pink routinely sings while doing trapeze. I don’t want any excuses.
She’s channeling Rita Ora with that look, not sure it works on her. Maybe shorter hair? She’s petite and has a cute face, she could pull off a pixie maybe. I like the dress.
I thought lip syncing was pretty much her standard performance. She’s not very talented.
I saw her in a concert a few years ago (it was at the rodeo and it was a work thing….don’t judge) and she was TERRIBLE, so if her voice sounded ok, she was absolutely lip syncing.
it is so frustrating that in a world with so many talented singers, artists that do not have the chops to back it up live get famous and make millions. Should it not be the lowest common denominator that they can perform live? Why are we asking so little?
Shes lucky autotune exists, it’s unfortunate she can’t even lip sync very well.
I used to like Selena but she’s in a Woody Allen film and has this huge platform to speak about issues millions of people face but instead makes snide comments and pretends to be a huge advocate when she really isn’t one.
I cackled at this write up. That is all. 🙂
Go easy on her. Girl just had a kidney transplant. She’s probably dealing with a lot of emotional issues.
Yeah she’s probably reading CB while doing lines so go easy on her.
Yeah and her life choices since then were dumping her bf The Weeknd who’s a known cokehead/addict for her ex, another known cokehead/addict. She was literally just caught at the beginning of this month with Bieber in a drug-riddled neighbourhood.
Regardless of her health problems, Gomez consistently makes bad life choices that go completely against her image and words of empowerment and ‘class’ for YEARS now. She’s got a new lease on life and she’s still wasting life with Bieber.
Methinks girl is at the same level as Britney circa 2007 but hides it better and plays up this ‘little sweet girl’ shtick because she knows she can look and act that part. It also helps she has a perpetual baby face. Another factor that no doubt helps is having an amazing team, she keeps going to rehab but hasn’t recovered at all and I doubt they care. Despite being minimally talented, she’s making bank.
Media for some reason is also hyping her up (while making negative think pieces of healthy amazing performers like Beyoncé) and ignoring the obvious signs she is not OK and it’s probably the reason why Selena is pushed in the spotlight so much despite her clear non-interest in being a great performer.
The idea she’s not healthy enough to walk back and forth on a stage with minimal effort is a joke considering she’s fine going about her business any other time since the transplant. No insurance would allow that either if she’s in ill-health. Selena always gets a pass and the excuses are aplenty but any other performer would be put down with the ground for such a non-performance. I think if she continues her life like this, she’ll find herself in the same situation as so many celebs before her, complete rock bottom before the age of 30.
You constructed my thoughts in the most eloquent fashion and I am here for it! Nailed it. Girl has had a rough year but I also don’t think she’s doing a lot to ‘live her best life’..
I agree.
What you call going to rehab and not recovering, is most likely undergoing tratment for a chronic illness you cant recover from.
And while she might be fine one week, if she has a flare, she will be back in hospital the next week.
But nice to hear all the predjudices towards people with chronic and incurable illnesses.
@lara:
No she went to rehab because she’s also an addict. Lupus was only half the reason she went but obviously the lupus sells better because that’s out of her control. The drug related reasons are brushed under the carpet, too much bad press. I wouldn’t put her down for a health-related reason, I just don’t like her because of all the other reasons/her general life choices + the fact that she gets praise for not even doing the bare minimum at her job and she doesn’t care 1 iota.
She keeps going back to the same bad friend circle who are also addicts (see her hanging out with Bieber). This has been ongoing for years and is completely separate from her career and health but no doubt it affects those two aspects of her life. Bieber is toxic but one has to wonder why they keep running back to each other, nobody is forcing Selena. On the contrary, they tried so many times to get her away from him due to his reputation. Now there’s also another risk factor, Hillsong, which is more like a cult fronting to be a church. There are so many red flags about her behaviour and I’m not even a fan, it’s things I see from mere headlines. Yet fans/stans who follow her every move are convinced this latest dip is now health-related.
No insurance or even management team would risk her working when she’s not ready. Too much money to lose (yeah that’s the main priority sadly). And I don’t think if it’s to do with her health, they wouldn’t have said something already. But I suppose when people think that performance was ‘OK’, there’s no bad news to squash.
Nah. Artemis. You’re way too judgemental. Just because she’s a young celebrity, with little talent that’s making $ doesn’t mean she’s an out of control coke head. She’s young and has only known other very young celebrities since she was 12 yrs old. Of course she’s going to make mistakes with her love life. She’s still figuring herself out and in the worst profession possible to do so. There’s a lot of pressure on people in the industry. Most young people in show biz probably need to get professional help.
@Cranberry.
Disagree. She’s an addict that went to rehab multiple times, has never stopped attaching herself to famous men with known addiction issues + attaching herself to the cult that is Hillsong. She keeps singing the same (auto)tune and finding all sorts of excuses while never changing yet she’s got this weird hang-up about being ‘classy’. You know what’s classy? Respecting the fact that her bff Francia gave her a damn kidney by not hanging out in drug neighbourhood with POS Justin Bieber and try and work on some craft to justify the reason why she’s getting paid so much. Or just retire as claims she wants to be forgotten (but sets up photo-ops all the time).
Maybe it’s time she’s getting judged harshly, it might give her a reality check. Celebs being coddled is the reason why they NEVER have to grow up. It’s because they never get challenged or have to face consequences when they don’t put in the work. Again, it might save her life. She’s never going to get better continuing the way she’s been doing for her adult life.
Sorry. Not buying the coke addict stuff. Not heard any receipts to go there. Not saying she’s perfect or hasn’t come to try things out, but there’s plenty to explain why she would need professional help even aside from medical illness. She’s never had a “normal” life since she was a child. The famous men she attaches herself to are her peers regardless how much more famous or talented they are.
Imo Selena has always attached herself to men (boys) that need a lot of help, Biebs, Nick and his diabetes. And now Biebs is potentially in danger of cultism. It’s easy to get sucked into someone’s life thinking you’re helping them all the while not realizing that you’re not in a good place either. She’s only 25 and in entertainment. She has a lot to figure out as a young adult. That doesn’t mean she’s some kind of degenerate.
@ Artemis
Do you have any proof that she went to rehab for addiction issues?
No sensible doctor would transplat a kindney into an addict and the side effects of lupus medications are ad enough without other drugs.
I think there’s some truth to this. I’m not judging anyone’s partying preferences, and I think it’s a fairly common drug these days, so I don’t know if she’s a full blown addict, but I don’t understand why people think there’s no way she does this? Look at who she surrounds herself with. I think she gets a pass from a lot of people because she looks like a 12 year old. It’s hard to imagine her partaking in adult activities. I think it’s highly probable that she’s involved in it and has been for a few years now.
She gets a pass from me, especially since she recently underwent surgery.
I couldn’t tell one way or another. I think she did fine.
Whatever the hell is going on onstage looks like they practiced it one time, maybe. They look like they have no idea WTF is going on. Full disclosure I loved fetish and bad liar and that Kygo collaboration, but for me there’s no there there with Wolves, and this performance did not help.
I don’t know if anybody else has noticed, but the poor girl just cannot dance a step. Have seen enough of her to know that she just has no rhythm at all sad to say. So I guess it must be hard to put together a stage show for her that can mask that. As far as her singing, meh, she probably wouldn’t last a month on The Voice or shows like that. But now that she latched back on to Beebs she should be able to stay relevant
At the first whiff of losing sales she should get out of the biz and go to college. It’s not like she seems happy trying to ‘sell it’ anyway.
Another pretty brunette who goes trashy blonde. Hate it.
Whoa now, natural blonde woman here. Not sure why you feel the need to call blonde trashy.
That said, I do like her a lot better as a brunette.
Let’s discuss the more important issue: that is a TERRIBLE song and she should have been embarrassed to be up there performing it.
The performance was awful and so obviously lip synced. Nothing about it was redeeming. Nothing. I can feel bad for her because she’s had health struggles and still think she’s a shi+tty performer.
She can’t sing worth sh*t without auto tune or whispering every word. She’s lucky she’s pretty or chica would have no career.
I didn’t watch the AMAs but I skip this song whenever it comes in while I’m working out.
Here career confuses me. She can’t sing. She can’t dance. She can’t act. At least try to do one of the three somewhat well.
agreed. and for all the people giving her a pass because of her illness, to be fair, she always lip synchs, she has a terrible voice. just saying
She looks like Nicole Richies little sister with that color and cut. Side eye to Justin, i bet he suggested it.
She did… she was terrible at it.
Why do these singers always get sacrificed in these dumb ritual performances that are all the same?
She is a horrible artist but a lovely girl. I like her speaking voice
Well put. Agree an all counts.
I do not understand how anyone can give her a pass. There are so many incredibly talented artists out there waiting for a big break. Meanwhile, this no-talent, below average, basic girl is given this opportunity. Why? She doesn’t standout, can’t even sing a song that would not even be difficult for a mediocre/average singer. The only thing people see in her is that she “seems like a nice girl”. So do a lot of people. Let’s face it. She is being promoted on relationship drama and her connection to Justin.