Y100's Jingle Ball 2013 Brought Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, Armin Van Buuren to BB&T Center

Y100's Jingle Ball 2013 with Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, Austin Mahone, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Armin Van Buuren, Enrique Iglesias, Fall Out Boy, Flo Rida, Avril Lavigne, Jason Derulo and Fifth Harmony

Saturday, December 20, 2012

With our job, we get to go to a lot of things. Do we always want to? No, but hey, we'll go to any free show for the booze, at the very least.

Last year, we attended the much anticipated Jingle Ball 2012 concert, with the likes of Megan & Liz, Justin Bieber and Austin Mahone. We were waiting for Chris Hanson and his Catch A Predator cameras to show us the transcripts. Don't even get us started on the pressroom where we were held before the show began. Ever been to prison? Us either, but we imagine it was much like that.

See also: Y100 Jingle Ball 2013 at BB&T Center Slideshow

Y100 must have gotten wind of our disappoint because this year, the lineup was quite impressive. Miley Cyrus, Robin Thicke, Enrique Iglesias, oh my! Sure, Austin Mahone, Ariana Grande and Fifth Harmony were also set to hit the stage and yes, they do make us feel like AARP recipients. But hey, no one will argue that they are talented, so were excited to see them. (Sorry we are not sorry for that statement.)

To kick off the evening, Demi Lovato and her bright green hair took the stage. We realized then that we are, in fact, D. Lovato fans. Did we know every word to every song? Yep and so did everyone else in attendance. When the opening act doesn't suck, but is actually enormously talented, you can sit back and expect a pretty good show all around.

When heading to a concert, you don't really expect a high school reunion. Every musical act we loved pre-penetration and getting our driver license was all under one roof Friday night. It began with Avril Lavigne, who gave us the pleasure of reminding us that "Skater Boy" is in existence. Who did she bring along? Her husband, Chad Kroeger, aka the lead singer of Nickelback. Forgot they were an actual band? Us too. Toward the end of the evening, Fall Out Boy in all of their hipster glory came out to kill it for the crowd. Sure, they have had constant success over the last 10 years, but hearing their early 2000 hits brought us right back to our sports bra rocking days. If Sisqo would have come out and serenaded us with "Thong Song," we could have retired right then and there.

After Avril, it was time for South Florida's own Jason Derulo. If you have never seen that man in concert, we suggest you do that. He is insane dancer, brings along back up dancers that are equally as talented, and usually takes his shirt off. That is something we will never complain about. Backstage, we caught up with his longtime girlfriend, Jordan Sparks who was snapping pics in a fangirl-like fashion. It was precious. It's only moments till he actually sings her his song "Marry Me." We are calling it now.

There were a couple of shocking things throughout the evening. One being the amount of alcohol being served to the child-caring adults. How else were they supposed to get through? Then, it was how much we fell back in love with Flo Rida and Robin Thicke. Let's be honest: We can all equally agree that hearing their songs overplayed is a little like Chinese torture at this point. But in a twist, their music is actually very enjoyable when played live. Flo Rida gave a shout out to the late Paul Walker, that was precious. Earlier, Robin Thicke shocked us his piano-playing skills and gave a speech about the joys of being a father. Nice work, guys. Nice work.

There were a few key moments where we didn't feel like everyone's parent. That wasn't the case when anyone with a 1 in the beginning of his or her age performed. Throughout the evening, the teenage crew of Fifth Harmony, Austin Mahone, and Ariana Grande all put on a show. As surprising as it was not to hate every bit of Robin Thicke's performance was the fact that we thoroughly enjoyed all the teen dreams' performances. Fifth Harmony was on point, Austin Mahone had each and every girl on his side, and Ariana Grande is just, well, insanely talented. She has the voice of Mariah Carey and not the attitude. She doesn't yet, at least. She even performed Mariah's "All I want For Christmas Is You." Wonder on a 1 to10 scale how much Mrs. Carey hates how talented she is.

And let's all bow down to all that is Enrique Iglesias and his hotness. OK, that is all.

And then: there was Miley Cyrus. We actually feel bad for everyone that came before her. Which by the way, was every artist we just listed. Sure, they were great, but it was blatantly obvious we were all there to see Cyrus. If not see her perform, at least see what bullshit she would pull this time around. No folks, she did not disappoint. She in fact is still anti-pants and very much pro-little people and twerking on anyone and everything that will allow it. While we could spend the next 10 to 10,000 words talking trash, we wont. Why? Because she made the show. Was it in the same way that no party is complete with out your favorite hot mess? Perhaps, but we will have a very merry Miley Christmas now that we have seen her in person.

Critic's Notebook

The Crowd: Prepubescents, parents and a couple of twenty-somethings doing their best to keep the BB&T Center's liquor license alive.

Highlight: Seeing Miley Cyrus' entourage backstage. Think of any rappers posse you have ever seen. Now, times that by 10. The woman knows how to bring a crowd... literally.

Biggest Disappointment: Really Robin Thicke, you couldn't have recreated the VMAs?

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