Grab more tissues. Selena Gomez got emotional while performing her new single, “The Heart Wants What It Wants,” at the 2014 American Music Awards at L.A.’s Nokia Theatre on Sunday, Nov. 23.
The “Come and Get It” songstress, 22, took to the stage in a glamorous nude gown by Giorgio Armani with thigh high slits, and her brunette tresses pinned back and styled in long loose waves to show off her facial expressions.
The audio of Gomez’s teary, pre-recorded phone conversation, as previously heard in the music video of the single, played as Gomez closed her eyes in preparation for her solo. “When I was on stage and I was thinking of… I know him though, and I know that I know his heart, and I know what he wouldn’t do to hurt me.”
Gomez then started singing the lyrics to her song, which she emotionally delivered before a star-studded audience consisting of her best friend Taylor Swift, host Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez, and more music industry megastars.
Gomez’s performance was complete with raw hand emotions as she softly crooned lyrics like: “Hand over heart, I’m praying, that I’m gonna make it out alive.” The singer’s dramatic live performance also included equally emotional visuals thanks to a state-of-the-art screen behind her projecting a giant moon, lightning storm, a weeping woman, and wings.
Most telling of all, however, was a video of a concealed shadow of a guy, resting his palms against a clouded glass panel, presumably depicting the subject of the song: Justin Bieber.
As the performance ended, Gomez’s eyes welled up with tears and she began crying. The crowd, meanwhile, appeared stunned to see the singer perform with such raw emotion, but it was something Gomez’s close confidante Swift understood. Cameras flashed to the “Blank Space” singer of her looking sympathetically at her friend from the audience.
Gomez recently admitted On Air with Ryan Seacrest that Bieber was actually a fan of her new single. “He thought it was beautiful. I think it was really hard. I think he was a little jealous of the video guy at first,” she joked. “Honestly, music is an expression, and if you will be that voice for these girls, there are some people that feel this. This is universal.”
Source: US Weekly