Katseye Brings the AMAs’ House Down With Beary Exciting ‘Pinky Up’ Performance, Before Winning Best New Artist

May 25, 2026 7:22pm PT Katseye Brings the AMAs’ House Down With Beary Exciting ‘Pinky Up’ Performance, Before Winning Best New Artist

By Chris Willman

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Chris Willman

Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic

ChrisWillman

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• BTS Wins Artist of the Year at American Music Awards, as Katseye, Sombr, ‘Golden’ Also Score Top Honors: Complete Winners List 1 hour ago
• Katseye Brings the AMAs’ House Down With Beary Exciting ‘Pinky Up’ Performance, Before Winning Best New Artist 2 hours ago
• American Music Awards Photo Gallery: See EJAE, Rei Ami, Katseye, Sombr, Karol G, Teyana Taylor and Other Stars on the Red Carpet and Backstage 4 hours ago

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Teahouses and raves have not often been mentioned in the same breath, but Katseye brought the hyper-pop dance party to a beyond-brightly-colored tearoom set with the quintet’s live rendition of “Pinky Up” on the American Music Awards.

The galvanizing number came shortly before the group won best new artist on the CBS/Paramount+ telecast.

Kateye’s performance was one of the most highly anticipated of the night, given the devotion of the group’s fan base, so it was not a surprise that “Pinky Up,” appearing two-thirds of the way through the three-hour telecast, featured some of the most elaborate production values of the night.

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