Recording artists Wang Taili (left) and Xiao Yang of the Chopstick Brothers perform at the 2014 American Music Awardsat the Nokia Theater Los Angeles, on Sunday. The pop duo's Little Apple won the International Song Award at the gala. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES /AFP

Still an event worth celebrating

The duo performed the song not during the live broadcast but during the commercials. They also didn't receive their awards onstage and instead got them backstage when they finished performing.

"Even if it's a fill-in performance during the commercials, and even if they did not receive their awards in front of the audience, this is still the first time for Chinese musicians to attend the AMA, and that's exciting," reviewer Liang Huan said.