2021 American Music Awards: The Most Viral Moments

It was hard to tell who was more excited about the “American Music Awards” going live with the unmistakable energy of a live audience, the members of that audience or the 2021 host, Cardi B.

Cardi was having a blast all night long and her energy proved infectious, and persuasive. Not Mama Cardi booking a live appearance by JoJo Siwa for daughter Kulture while hosting an awards show! She even hilariously cut her own acceptance speech short after a big win because, “I’m hosting!”

Olivia Rodrigo came into the night with the biggest number of nominations, with seven total, but it was probably the collaboration between BTS and Coldplay that got the biggest audience reaction even before they started singing!

Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak’s Silk Sonic duo kicked off the star-studded night of musical performances, which included appearances by Rodrigo, Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood, Kane Brown, Tyler the Creator and the boy band showdown of the century with New Edition and New Kids on the Block.

The big winners during the live broadcast were BTS, who performed twice on their way to picking up three awards, including Artist of the Year. Rodrigo capped her incredible year with a powerful performance and the trophy for New Artist of the Year.

Check out the night’s most viral moments below:

Chris Martin & BTS Sound … Malfunction?

Easily one of the most anticipated performances of the night, the audio sounded like an absolute mess as Coldplay’s Chris Martin took the stage to perform alongside mega-sensation BTS.

The result was a high-energy cacophony of noise that sounded like excited people just jumping around and screaming — and we’re talking about the eight singers on the stage. Either the mix was off, or they were, but nothing was working.

By the time the performance ended, it sounded as if it just blended in with the roar of the crowd, who were chanting “BTS.” The live audience probably didn’t care that it was barely recognizable as “My Universe”; they were just excited to be in the presence of the biggest stars on the planet. And Chris Martin.

Luckily for the boys, BTS also closed out the show — after picking up three awards along the way — with a monochromatic take on their smash hit “Butter.” For this one, the audio was much stronger.

Cardi Books JoJo for Kulture

Easily one of the most surreal moments of the night, Cardi took off her host hat for a moment and put on her mom one to take advantage of the unique opportunity in front of her. Giving shout-outs to various stars in the audience, she had a special message for JoJo Siwa.

“My husband, he was trying to get JoJo Siwa, right, for my daughter’s birthday party but she is booked and busy. So JoJo Siwa, could you please come see my daughter for Christmas?” she said, basically calling JoJo out publicly.

Just a few moments later, JoJo herself hit the stage to present an award, and she had an answer for Cardi — making the case for mother of the year with this one. “Cardi, I’m gonna see what I can do,” JoJo promised. “I’m gonna try to make Christmas happen, I promise. Putting it in my phone right now. I take Bitcoin.”

She then gave perhaps the most shameless plug we’ve ever seen on an award show, taking back the Bitcoin joke to instead say she would rather just have votes for Monday night’s “Dancing with the Stars” finale. She went so far as to give the voting times, the number to vote for her and everything.

JoJo is already a front-runner to possibly take home the Mirrorball Trophy this season, but if she does win, there are certain to be some looking to this moment to see if this made a difference at all. We didn’t see any of the other finalists plugging themselves tonight!

J.Lo Kills It Live … Or Is It Memorex?

Jennifer Lopez has been a triple threat for years, but it’s possible that she just gave her best-ever live televised vocal after all these years in the industry. It turns out her incredible physique isn’t the only thing that seems to be improving with age.

Not only is J.Lo making a long-awaited return to the big screen with a romantic comedy — still one of her favorite formats among fans — opposite Owen Wilson for “Marry Me,” but she’s bringing some of the best music of her career along with her.

Like Paul Rudd and Denzel Washington, J.Lo has long looked timeless, but even as her appearance doesn’t seem to change, her vocal ability appears to be getting stronger and stronger.

If that was her singing, that is. Twitter isn’t so sure, with online sleuths debating whether or not this was live or lip synch.

In the Battle of Boston We All Win

Sometimes it’s about more than who won the award. It’s been a long time since these boy bands were a part of the current music scene, but they proved just how timeless they and their music are with an epic “Battle of Boston” where there were no losers.

Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood hit the stage first, proving that they’ve still got all their signature moves that made them the biggest stars on the planet in their day.

They were quickly followed by Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Bobby Brown, Ronnie DeVoe, Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant, who proved they are just as iconic now as they were when New Edition first hit the scene in the late 1970s.

It was like a live Verzuz event with both groups taking turns performing some of their respective biggest hits — and even coming together a few times for a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration experience that fans could not get enough of.