From the moment Shania Twain walked on the red carpet at the People’s Choice Awards, the 57-year-old artist, who was the recipient of the Music Icon Award, was dressed in head-to-toe leopard, right out of her 1998 “That Don’t Impress Me Much” video.
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The Rodarte gown, which featured a sheer panel across Twain’s stomach and a hood similar to the one she wore in the original video, was just one outfit in an evening of many looks from the singer during the Dec. 6 awards ceremony, which was held at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.
Debuting a head of pink hair, Twain stepped out in a lengthy pink shiny jacket with a matching cowboy hat to perform a medley of her hits before receiving her Icon award.
Taking it back to her country roots, Twain kicked things off with her 1995 single, “Any Man of Mine,” before revealing her pink chaps underneath for “That Don’t Impress Me Much.” To better fit the ceremony, Twain switched out her Okay, so you’re Brad Pitt lyric and replaced him with actor Ryan Reynolds, who was also in attendance and received The People’s Icon award later that evening.
OK, so you’re Ryan Reynolds, sang Twain, prompting the cameras to cut to the surprised actor, who could be seen mouthing “Oh my God, me?”
Performing for nearly 10 minutes with three on-stage costume changes, Twain slipped in her new song “Waking Up Dreaming” before donning a black top hat and her final, most revealing pale pink body suit for her 1997 hit “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!”
Accepting her award from friend Billy Porter, Twain gave a heartfelt speech, first remembering her late mother and honoring her fans, friends, and crew. “I always miss my mother right now at these moments in life,” shared Twain during her speech. “She would have loved watching her little girl living this moment right now. But my fans, my friends, my team, you are the ones who really fill that space—not my mother’s space, but you’re here with me and you’re celebrating. We’re celebrating together, and you’ve made me feel loved and special my whole working life. And I will always be grateful for that.”
Twain also talked about her iconic fashion choices over the years and how she started out by just piecing random pieces together from budget and department store finds, before talking about her love of songwriting.
“From a very young age, I turned to songwriting as a form of escapism,” said Twain. “This is my go-to place. It never occurred to me how powerful lyrics can become when you’re able to record them and share them with the whole world. It’s a great honor to be respected as a songwriter. But the biggest honor for me is knowing people have found strength and inspiration in what I have to sing, in my work. So thank you, I love you for that.”
Still elated from her Icon honor, Twain shared a special post on social media the day after the awards show, joking that she was a bit winded after her whirlwind performance when it was time to give a speech.
“Wow, was last night a dream [People’s Choice]?” wrote Twain on Instagram on Dec 7. “Thank you for calling me an icon. I have to confess, accepting this straight after running around three different stages performing my hits wasn’t easy. If I had a DeLorean time machine, I would go back and tell young Shania to write more ballads and use less damn words girl.”
Twain added, “But in all seriousness, thank you so much for presenting me with this award, it’s really still so wonderful to feel like you have created a legacy, like your contribution to the world has been meaningful in some way. Thank you.”
Twain is scheduled to kick off a worldwide tour in 2023 and will release her fifth album, Queen of Me, in February, a follow-up to Now in 2017.
Main Photo: Mark Von Holden/E! Entertainment/NBC
