Despite the near freezing temperature this years show was a sell out. The energy was there from the beginning, as Why Don’t We took the stage for a short two song set. Julia Michaels who performed next sang an acoustic version of “Sorry” by Justin Bieber, a song she helped write. Camila Cabello brought the crowd to their feet with a powerful “Havana”, one of her newer singles. Fifth Harmony, a favorite for sure, played a medley of hits including “Work From Home” and “Worth It”. One of the biggest songs of the night was Halsey’s acoustic performance of her hit collaboration “Closer”.
I’m between these fine female acts were a few male performances that were just as impressive. Nick Jonas performed his recently Grammy nominated single “Home” from the animated film Ferdinand. Charlie Puth ended his set with a moving stripped down “See You Again” a song he wrote for Furious 7. Puth has probably the largest vocal range of anybody who is performing this year on the Jingle Ball circuit, and will send chills up your spine when hitting those high notes. Logic brought a couple young fans onstage before his final song, even moving one to tears, as he had them create an imaginary basketball hoop for him to shoot an imaginary basketball through.
The final act of the night was Demi Lovato. But first Zedd got everyone real hyped as he played an explosive set of some of his older hits. As Demi Lovato took the stage the horns began to sound for her song “Confident”. However we were really excited to see some of her new hits “Sorry Not Sorry” and “Tell Me You Love Me”.
It was a night of great music and holiday cheer. The Jingle Ball concert series that iHeartRadio puts on is always a great cap to another year of music. It’s a good way to see what each artist has accomplished throughout the last 12 months and beyond. This year $1.00 of each ticket sold was donated to the Ryan Seacrest Foundation – a non-profit organization, which is dedicated to inspiring today’s youth through entertainment and education focused initiatives. It’s always rocking good time and we cannot wait to see what’s in store next year!