Dove Cameron Offers Sizzling, Classy Performance of ‘Boyfriend’ at 2022 AMAs

An elegant black and red-swathed nightclub scene served up the perfect mesh of upscale sexy for Dove Cameron’s performance of her queer anthem “Boyfriend” during Sunday evening’s (Nov. 20) American Music Awards.

As dancers swirled around in black suits, a single female dancer, clad in a sparkling red dress, served as Cameron’s choreographic foil and muse. The singer-songwriter spent the performance pursuing the dancer with her words and moves, while singing the song’s hook, “I could be a better boyfriend than him/ I could do the s–t that he never did.”

At the end of a verse, she kissed the dancer’s hand, and at one point, the two came close to sharing a kiss, before Cameron ended the performance by taking off her own black jacket (fully revealing the red strappy top underneath) and draping it over the shoulders of the female dancer, while lovingly caressing her face.

Earlier in the evening, Cameron picked up her first American Music Awards trophy, winning new artist of the year, and used her acceptance speech to address the tragedy that took place at LGBTQ+ nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday (Nov. 19), while also showing gratitude to the queer community.

“I want to start by saying that every award that I ever win will always first and foremost be dedicated to the queer community at large. You guys have carved out such a space for me to be myself and to write music about it and I’ve never felt safer or more loved or more supported and I hope I can give you some semblance of that same feeling in my music,” Cameron said.

“On the heels of the tragedy that happened at Club Q in Colorado Springs, I want to remind everyone how important queer visibility is, and how important our community is,” Cameron added. “And I want to direct your attention to organizations like GLAAD and The Trevor Project for what you can do right now. I want to remind you that you are made absolutely right, and you are so loved and so held, and I want to thank you for supporting me. Thank you for holding the space – I’m holding it for you, too.”

Dove’s “Boyfriend” reached No. 16 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in June. Earlier this week, Cameron was surprised with an RIAA platinum certification for “Boyfriend.”