What do “American Idol” alum Adam Lambert, country starlet Taylor Swift and singer/actress J. Lo have in common? They all count as most memorable moments for the 2009 American Music Awards (Red carpet photos • Show photos).

• Let’s start with the final act. The eyeliner wearing, glamtastic Lambert brought the show to a screeching halt. Literally. (Read AJC blogger Rodney Ho’s run-down of “Idol” vets including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Paula Abdul and Ryan Seacrest). His dominatrix-like performance, capped by a dancer’s face getting extra cozy with him – below the belt – lit Twitter up. People were shocked and awed by the audaciously “sexy” moves and some parents were reportedly not thrilled with ABC.

• Swift continues her country music ascension, claiming five awards including Entertainer of the Year. Even though she was in London, she accepted the awards via satellite and just as surprised each and every single time.

• In a bit of comic relief, Jennifer Lopez fell flat on that famous derriere of hers (Watch VIDEO). Even sadder, she was singing “Louboutin” about the designer shoes but was wearing bedazzled high-top sneakers to round out her boxing motif. Ugh!

• Janet Jackson opened the show with a high-energy dance routine, dressed in a space-age Pocahontas costume. Best Twitter comment compared her to “Lord of the Rings.”

• Country cutie Keith Urban sang “Kiss a Girl” but we were too distracted by the striking chest tat to hear how good he was.

• Gender bending an age-old double-standard, Twitterverse cracked all kinds of jokes about super producer Timbaland, who frankly looked like a tugboat in a tight leather jacket.  On the other hand, his stage partners Nelly Furtado and new artist SoShy were impeccably beautiful.

• Country band Gloriana (who?!) won the TMobile Breakthrough Artist Award over Lady Gaga (right) – who delivered another mind-boggling performance complete with shattered glass, flaming piano and barely there body suit.

• Maxwell lost to Michael Jackson for Soul/R&B male … and it gave brother Jermaine one of two times to accept awards. He even got the chance to make his son’s name, Jermajesty, a trending topic.

• One of the best performances goes to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys (left), who did “Empire State of Mind.” They threw in a little Sinatra-stylings with Keys on the piano and J in a tux. (Even celeb blogger Perez Hilton and country star Reba McIntire were feeling it.)

• Eminem also had a great performance, punctuated by his verse on Drake’s “Forever.” Surprisingly, even though Drake had earlier presented an award, he was no where in sight for his own song.

Find out how Atlanta/Georgia musical connections did.