Beyonce Uses AMAs to Rope In Country Fans

Country music took center stage at last night's American Music Awards, which was not a big surprise — country fans still actually buy CDs. Somewhat more surprising, however, was the country-R&B crossover that took place about an hour into the show: Platinum-selling duo Sugarland took the stage to perform a hoedown-style version of Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable," a.k.a. "the song that spawned a million Samsung commercials." The Atlanta band had played the chart topper on their summer tour, so it was no great shock that they would attempt the R&B hit for a large TV audience. But then, in one of the night's few truly interesting moments, Beyoncé emerged out of a revolving stage prop and joined in for the second verse. The band didn't waiver from the line-dance stylistics of the performance, however, forcing Beyoncé to do her best Carrie Underwood impression while keeping up with the song's slower-than-usual beat. We don't know what was more awkward; Beyoncé attempting to lasso in some country fans (after angering them with that whole billboard incident), or B and Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles pointing in the wrong direction whenever they sang "To the left, to the left." We'll go with the latter, as the video above proves.

To see photos of Kid Rock, Carrie Underwood, Beyonce, Maroon 5, Daughtry and more shots from the American Music Awards, click here.

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Song Stories

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz | 2008

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."

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