If you thought Lorde's song "Royals" would be a 2013 one hit wonder, the New Zealand wunderkind proved you wrong this year. She's continued her music chart and airwave dominance with her ubiquitous single "Team" and she just released the critically acclaimed "Yellow Flicker Beat," the lead single from the soundtrack of one of the biggest movies of the year, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. It's also a soundtrack the younger singer helped curate. While the world awaits her second studio album (which she says is in progress), Lorde's American Music Awards performance blew the audience away with a stellar performance of "Yellow Flicker Beat" Sunday night on ABC.
Mockingjay star Elizabeth Banks introduced the singer to sing the hit movie's theme song, which is Lorde's attempt to get into the head of movie series protagonist Katniss Everdeen. The young singer started out the performance dancing like a madwoman trapped in a box that finally rose off the stage and released her unbridled dance moves to the rest of AMAs. A stage interpretation of Katniss' situation in the Hunger Games series, perhaps? Even if it wasn't, Lorde's stage dominance pleased one big named fan —Taylor Swift. Cameras cut away frequently to show Swift applauding and looking ever so proud.
The 18-year-old singer was up for honors, decided by online votes, in four major AMA categories: Artist of the Year, Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist, Favorite Alternative Artist, and Favorite Pop/Rock Album for her chart-topping debut Pure Heroine. So far, hasn't taken home any trophies yet, but there's still time.
