American Music Awards 2014: The 17 best red carpet and on-stage looks of the night

Date November 24, 2014

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See the American Music Awards 2014 red carpet »

If you weren’t watching last night’s American Music Awards, you’d better have had a good explanation. From the outstanding performances to the drool-worthy red carpet ensembles, this year’s AMAs (hosted by returning presenter Pitbull) were not ones to miss.

Kickstarting the night off with a bang was Taylor Swift who performed “Blank Space.” The performance posed a zany flapper dress-clad Swift against one very wealthy, yet distraught lover in a mansion setting (complete with burning roses in the background). The pop singer was later presented with the Dick Clark Award for Excellence where she was recognized for being the first artist to have three albums debut with more than 1 million sold in their first week. Swift also rocked the red carpet wearing a custom turquoise cutout gown by Michael Kors and brought model bestie Karlie Kloss (who looked equally stunning in a Pamella Roland two piece) along as her date.

The night’s standout performers were Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and Jessie J who belted out “Bang Bang” in matching shimmering gold outfits. While Minaj and Grande came out strong, it was Jessie J, who after taking selfies in the crowd with Swift, proceeded to steal the show with her strong vocal performance that over empowered the other two collaborators. We also felt ourselves getting a little emotional as Selena Gomez performed her new song, “The Heart Wants What it Wants,” written about her former flame Justin Beiber.

Also hitting the stage was Lorde, who performed her new single “Yellow Flicker Beat” from The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part I soundtrack. Rocking her signature curls and dark purple lips the singer the singer started off locked in a deep blue cube-like box and jumping out and moving around in a way that can only be described as “crazy” while her backup dancers stood catatonically still (where’s the sign up sheet for that job?).

While the night seemed to feature about a billion different acts squeezed into three hours, one of our favourite things about the AMAs was the fashion. From Kendall Jenner’s black Yigal Azrouel silk organaza dress to Rita Ora’s bright yellow Zac Posen gown, we rounded up all of the best looks from this years awards. Take a gander and let us know which look or performance was your favourite from last nights American Music Awards.