Whithey Houston got a lifetime achievement tribute at the American Music Awards, and isn’t interesting that when women really want to stand out and have a MOMENT – they wear white? Nothing catches the light on a stage like an all-white dress – and this one was highly dramatic. Houston has been wearing a lot of the brand KaufmanFranco’s looks on her comeback this year, and they are a very good combo of chicness and edge. Plus, their clothes fit her nicely – they are ladylike enough but still a bit edgey. This dress has what the duo call the “Booma Rang” sleeve, which is a very cool detail, and there’s a lot in a name when it comes to fashion. If it wasn’t for that sleeve, it would essentially be a regular Grecian column dress. The detail makes the difference. So does the interesting name.

Armani Prive’ is just not a label you would expect to turn up at a big music awards show – Mr. Armani’s couture collection, shown in Paris, not Milan, is mostly gowns and usually reserved for actresses on the red carpet. But the looks did turn up at the American Music Awards last night – a long strapless and highly slit up the front metallic gown on Fergie (very classy – but she dons the mini’s on stage all the time – and in a short blue encrusted mini on Alicia Keys. Both dresses had a lot of detail and shine, and looked very modern. Edgey for couture – right?

The bigger star, the bigger the designer name, is usually the equation. In this case, it’s true. Both Kate Hudson (who accompanied A Rod) and Shakira (who performed) wore Metaillic Mini’s in their own ways – Kate’s little Grecian little lame MM is by Versace, and cut very cute – not too tight. It has a nice sweetness to it. Shakira did the MM in yellow, with a silver lurex thread in it, also by Versace. Viva la difference – it’s hard to make a Metallic Mini with a difference. Leave it to Versace to pull it out – and pull out the big names.

We did predict that the overwhelming trend of the American Music Awards look would be The Metallic Mini. It’s really the nighttime look of the season for those with good legs and remain, for the most party, under the age of 40. Therefore, it’s perfect for the pop music set. And it does give the suddenly old fashioned looking gown a bit of a spin on its head, which we love. Three stars at the AMA’s wore metallic minis but designers we’ve never heard of – and while most of the big names went for looks by Marchesa, Versace or Armani Prive’ – and you can’t really blame them – these girls wore no-name designers but cute little metallic mini’s. Maybe they aren’t big enough yet to get the big name dresses – or maybe their stylists had dresses made for them by aspiring designers. Either way, they looked cute and also, had enough details in their metallic mini’s to look still individualistic. Selena Gomeg’s silver high necked a line MM is by Runhof; Carrie Underwood’s super shiney peach-gold one shoulder is by Theia; and Kristen Bell’s silvery MM has a cut out under the bodice, and it’s by Christian Coter. And they all look quite cute – and were smart enough to make sure their hair styles were chic and set, because if you do “bedhead” with an MM, you look a little too slutty. They kept it all upbeat and pretty enough to keep the trash at bay.

We don’t often write about the guy looks at awards shows, unless they are really over the top – or just so outstanding that they should be seen as inspirations and fashion role models for other guys. Let’s face it, it’s hard to be a guy’s guy and and really do fashion – Will I Am can get away with it, and Andre 3000, but not that many other guys. Maybe Steven Tyler. And Sam Jackson. But Ne-Yo at the American Music Awards really did a great combo. Instead of throwing on a boring old suit by any one of the good menswear designers – Dior, YSL, Tom Ford, Varvatos – he worked a combo look, and each piece was cool and credible in its own right. For instance, he worked a Gucci shirt with a Paul Smith hat, an Alexander McQueen jacket – and the best part of all – he wore it with Nudie jeans and John Varvatos boots. This is probably how this guy rolls even when he’s not being photographed. The look is authentic, masculine, but fashiony at the same time. This is why Ne-Yo is just plain smouldering. His lady looks pretty chic, too – love that color. She really stands out.

Emilio Pucci is a great European brand, but up until recently, you saw more people sporting vintage Pucci than new pieces. But now that the Italian label has hired ex-Ungaro designer Peter Dundas to dude it up for spring 2010 – and its super pr Karla Otto has opened an L.A. office – expect to see a lot more Pucci on music and movie performers at awards shows. Nelly Furtado sported an Emilio Pucci spring 2010 dress in black, quite short, with a silver snakey stripe of sequins running down its side, serpentine style. That original dress was shown in electric blue on the runway, so it looks like Dundas made a version just for Nelly to wear on stage with Timbaland. That number rocked. Sofia Vergara, the top tv bombshell right now from “Modern Family” on ABC wore a soft peach Pucci spring 2010 gown on the red carpet at the AMA’s – and looking at Dundas’ collection sheet, we can’t locate this exact dress, either. Smart of him to make special dresses for the AMA go-ers – since these dresses won’t turn up anywhere else.

Jennifer Lopez knows how to do dangerous glamour, and Lady Gaga has taken dressing to stand out from the crowd to a whole new level. But one woman has captured the ground in between those two areas – Rihanna. Her style is crazy theatrical, but she doesn’t go as far as Gaga’s avant histrionics in that she maintains feminine glamour and always looks sexy – whereas Gaga pushes the envelope into just plain weird and not attractive. Gaga was recently quoted as saying, “I’d rather look interesting than good.” We applaud the bravery, but we also like to see really beautiful clothes as these shows. Rihanna really handled the task of the American Music Awards well. On the red carpet for arrivals, she chose an amazing strapless full-skirted Marchese dress with a longer dipping hemline in the back, and a fabric stiff enough for cut outs and bunching at the bustline. Her jewelry here is by Neil Lane and her shoes are by Alexandre Vaulthier. This is what you call A LOOK. For performance, she changed into a total white burn-out striped latex catsuit. It’s extreme and theatrical, sure – but she’s got the body for it, and she still looks gorgeous. You’ve got to hand it to this girl. She has fashion in her blood.