“I’m Real (Murder Remix)” at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards
If you really, really miss the pop landscape of the early 2000s, the all-star lineup of performers who took the stage at the 2001 VMAs is a near-perfect time capsule. Britney Spears, a pre-Bey JAY-Z, Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil' Kim, and many more received accolades or appeared on the red carpet, while J-Lo and Ja Rule, who collaborated nearly constantly in those days, tore it up with a run-through of “I’m Real (Murder Remix).”
“Get Right” at the 2005 NRJ Awards
J-Lo and Usher lit up the stage in 2005 at the Cannes’ NRJ Awards, a festival famous for being France’s answer to the Grammys. Awards were handed out to the likes of Maroon 5 and Avril Lavigne, but it was Lopez's performance of “Get Right,” as a tuxedoed vision in white, that proved to be the most memorable moment of them all.
“Waiting For Tonight/Medley” at the 2015 American Music Awards
Lopez started her 2015 American Music Awards performance on a low-key note, singing a clear-as-a-bell rendition of her 1999 hit “Waiting For Tonight.” But Lopez soon turned up the heat. “Wait, don’t go!” she exclaimed, seemingly in the middle of the song. “Tonight’s not about me. Tonight is about the music! And this year’s music made me want to dance. Do you wanna dance with me?!” Of course, the whole crowd did -- and J-Lo worked the audience into a frenzy with a whiplash medley that included Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood”, Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen,” and Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk”.
“El Anillo” at the 2018 Billboard Latin Music Awards
Jaws dropped at this year’s Billboard Latin Music Awards when Lopez turned up -- much less with a lascivious ode to her boyfriend Alex Rodriguez, sung in Spanish. Translated to English, the lyrics' baseball innuendos aren't subtle: “You treat me like a princess and give me what I ask. You have the bat and the strength I need.” And then there's that chorus -- "El anillo pa cuando?" -- which translates to “Where is the ring?” But the icing on the cake was Lopez’s regal, bejeweled space-alien ensemble.
