 Rihanna performed " Hard " live at the 2009 American Music Awards on November 22 , 2009 , at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles , California , as part of a medley with " Wait Your Turn " . Gil Kaufman of MTV wrote that Rihanna was wearing a " skintight white catsuit bisected by cut @-@ out lines that revealed horizontal lines of skin across her body , spiked shoulder pads , white studded cuffs and a barbed @-@ wire bracelet snaking up her right forearm " . The performance started with a science fiction themed video clip , which featured robots performing a surgical operation on Rihanna . After finishing " Wait Your Turn , " Rihanna began singing " Hard " ; red lasers were shone across the stage and audience , and red tracer beams shone from Rihanna 's spiked shoulder pads . On December 5 , 2010 , Rihanna made her Saturday Night Live debut performance , singing " Russian Roulette " and " Hard " , with Jeezy accompanying her performance of the latter . Rihanna also sang " Hard " on BET 's 106 & Park on December 10 , 2009 , and on NBC 's " New Year 's Eve with Carson Daly 2010 " . 
