Y100’s Jingle Ball Will Wrap Up a Fine Decade of Pop in Miami

The pop music of the 2010s was unpredictable and frustrating.

The decade began with Lady Gaga at her most shocking and iconic, weaved through dubstep and shuffling, eventually ran dry on material from Rihanna, included the occasional burst of work from Beyoncé, and, all the while, Drake operated in his own lane and reinvented his sound time and time again.

Elsewhere, Taylor Swift showed us her electropop cards and went full Billboard with the help of superstar producer Max Martin, and later collaborated with everyone’s favorite '80s-loving studio whiz, Jack Antonoff. The Fun frontman also spent the decade helping to share Lorde’s sophomore studio album — Melodrama — and Lana Del Rey’s greatest work yet.

As we gear up to say goodbye to 2019 — the year of “Old Town Road” and “Bad Guy” — we’ve been bombarded with lists counting down the highs and lows of both the year and the decade.

But this season is more than just for best-of roundups and seemingly endless plays of Wham’s “Last Christmas”: It’s also time for Y100's Jingle Ball. The pop music concert series is both a farewell to the radio-ready hits that were thrown at our faces and a hello to the fresh faces whose distinct brand of pop might sweep us off our feet in the 2020s.

As the decade comes to a close, it might sound silly to say the best way to spend a December night is with Niall Horan, Ozuna, and the Jonas Brothers. But what else are you doing this holiday season? That's why this year’s Y100 Jingle Ball has Miami written all over it.

Headlined by the Jonas Brothers, the shows sees the return of the singing siblings, who played not one, but two South Florida shows as part of their comeback Happiness Begins tour. That includes their wild opening date at the American Airlines Arena that proved the brothers are strong as ever. The Jonases had a great pop year with their hit singles "Sucker," "Only Human," and summer crossover hit "Runaway," featuring Daddy Yankee, Sebastián Yatra, and Natti Natasha.
Not only will the brothers lead Jingle Ball three days before Christmas, but they will also take over the Fontainebleau for a very Miami New Year’s Eve celebration.

One Direction alum Niall Horan is also on the Jingle Ball lineup. Since the boy band’s hiatus, the Irishman has released folksy-funky, chivalrous, inoffensive pop. His latest single, “Nice to Meet Ya,” checks off all of those descriptors. Horan's slot here is also a reminder of his and his bandmates' importance in marking the decade for a newer generation of poptimists.

Other popular boy bands on the roster include the Latinx sensation CNCO — which had a major moment in 2016 with "Reggaeton Lento" — as well as the L.A. five-piece Why Don't We.
Ozuna, one of the hottest stars of this decade's new wave of reggaeton, will bring his hits "Danzau" and "La Modelo" to this show, which will also include appearances by singer-songwriters Zara Larsson and AJ Mitchell. Hitmaker Khalid, who performed at 2018's Jingle Ball, will return for this year's edition.

Regardless of whether you're dying to see the Jonas Brother and a pack of guests take over South Florida again, Jingle Ball is more than just a concert: It’s a holiday celebration and an encapsulation of the mood of pop music as seen through a variety of genres and styles.

Whether you'll admit it or not, you danced to Top 40 all decade. You might as well do it for one more night while the decade is still here.

Y100's Jingle Ball. With the Jonas Brothers, Niall Horan, Ozuna, and others. 7 p.m. Sunday, December 22, at the BB&T Center, 1 Panther Pkwy., Sunrise, 954-835-8000; thebbtcenter.com. Tickets cost $36 to $501 via ticketmaster.com.