The pop radio station KISS-FM (106.1) once again brought the brightest stars from its playlists to the stage for the annual supersized holiday concert, Jingle Ball, on Tuesday at American Airlines Center. We're talking 10 acts in four hours with tiny breaks between -- Jingle Ball's famed two-sided, spinning stage made for impressively quick transitions.
Tuesday's packed bill in front of a sold-out arena contained everything from earnest acoustic ballads to beat-dropping EDM extravaganzas. But the two words guaranteed to elicit scream choruses throughout? "One" and "Direction." Hosts from the Kidd Kraddick Morning Show took plenty of opportunities between sets to fuel the anticipation for the U.K. boy band, so much so that when the guys took the stage I had to cover my ears for fear of injury.
Having taken in every scream-y moment of Tuesday's big ball, I'll discuss the performers in order from so-so to showstopping. The Jingle Ball ranking:
9. Charlie Puth
The 24-year-old singer admitted from behind his piano that it was his "first arena show ever." But the crowd helped him through some shaky moments by singing along, especially on the sad summer hit, "See You Again." "Marvin Gaye" and "One Call Away" left something to be desired, though -- those vocals seemed a little strained throughout.
8. Shawn Mendes
Although the 17-year-old Canadian possesses a strong singing voice, I was somewhat immune to his charms. His good looks, perfect hair and ooey-gooey acoustic love songs were more than enough for the rest of the crowd -- they screamed at alarming decibels when he took the stage alone to do "Stitches," and they swooned when he invited Fifth Harmony member Camila Cabello out for their duet, "I Know What You Did Last Summer." Sample tweet during his performance: "My mom agrees with me about how beautiful Shawn Mendes is."
7. Zedd/Calvin Harris (tie)
The Russian-German DJ and producer Zedd was dwarfed on stage by huge video screens and a never ending laser light show. There was even some minor pyro programmed to the EDM-pop beats he offered up in radio hits like "Clarity" and "Stay the Night." While the audience obviously appreciated the opportunity to dance off some of that pent-up energy, Zedd himself didn't have to do much other than man the booth and direct the crowd's hand gestures. Same deal for the U.K. hitmaker Harris, who included "Feel So Close," "Summer" and "Blame" in his set. Both their segments were like being temporarily transferred to a Las Vegas nightclub. It's all about those beat drops.
6. Ellie Goulding
The icy-cool-voiced Londoner sang her four biggest hits, including "Burn" and "Love Me Like You Do." Despite sounding studio-perfect, her performance came off as muted compared to some of the others.'
5. DNCE
Joe Jonas and his new band of merry dance-funksters came through Dallas a few weeks ago and played the House of Blues' small Cambridge Room, so American Airlines was quite the upgrade on Tuesday night, even if the budding act was allowed only three songs. Jonas employed some of his old arena-headliner moves, though, and helped win the crowd over by the final tune, "Cake By the Ocean." We'll call this set a Jonas bonus.
4. 5 Seconds of Summer
It was a smart move for organizers to send this Australia foursome out first, ensuring that the arena was packed from the beginning. And the guys proved worthy of the screams, playing live instruments (imagine that) on pop-punk-laced anthems such as "She Looks So Perfect" and "Jet Black Heart." One thing that bugs me: I know the new single "Hey Everybody" credits Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf" for part of its melody, but why didn't they just cover that song in the first place?
3. Tove Lo
The Swedish singer gave us plenty of Stevie Nicks twirls as she and her band (with two drummers) delivered four songs. There's an edge and lyrical wit to tunes such as "Moments" and "High All the Time" that is largely missing from pop radio, so it was refreshing to see her in the Jingle Ball mix.
2. One Direction
Other than the ear-splitting screams that greeted these lads, I actually enjoyed everything else about their extended set (they were given 40 minutes). The group's four co-lead singers are all confident and compelling in their own ways, and they didn't suffer one bit on stage without defected fifth member Zayn Malik. They started with a bunch of songs from the latest album, Made in the A.M., including both its title track and its biggest single, "Drag Me Down." They later kicked things up several notches by revisiting what Liam Payne comically referred to as "the golden oldies" -- earlier hits "What Makes You Beautiful" and "No Control" among them. Since we're in a ranking mood, we'll rank the members of 1D. Harry Styles is No. 1 because of his Samson hair and powerful voice, Niall Horan comes in second because he attempted a Texas accent ("We'd like to thank y'awl for coming out tonight!"), Payne is third for no good reason other than the stylishness of his hat, and Louis Tomlinson is at the bottom thanks to a problematic mustache. Sample Tweet from Tuesday night: "ONE DIRECTION I AM SCREAMING SO LOUD!" Another: "One Direction is giving me heart palpitations!" And so on.
1. Demi Lovato
Gotta give the Jingle Ball grand prize to the evening's final performer, the Colleyville-raised singer Demi Lovato. She's come a long way since jumping around on Barney as a child. Nowadays she's a red-leather-clad pop diva with a range that's enviable among her peers. She took advantage of the range, too, belting her heart out while strutting around during set opener "Confident" and continuing the power notes on "Heart Attack." Playing at American Airlines Center was apparently the realization of a dream for Lovato -- she told a story about how she'd once seen Christina Aguilera there and imagined herself on the stage. Good to see her get that moment, and she'll get another when she returns to the venue with Nick Jonas next September.
1D fans, feel free to disagree with Hunter Hauk on Twitter at @hausofhunter.
