Here’s a full list of winners including the gongs they didn’t give out on the night. Taylor Swift actually won three, including two biggies – song of the year and album of the year.
Goodnight!
J-Lo thanks everyone for making her dreams come true. She was hardly even on screen in the end. She did a decent job, but on the whole compared to the genuine glitz of the Grammys and the manufactured drama of the MTV awards, this all felt a bit budget.
The Weeknd’s performance was great. Bieber was good too, as was Ariana Grande. Jared Leto’s speech was a real moment as was Celine Dion’s tribute. The snog and the Star Wars debacle were utter nonsense that should have been scraped at the rough draft stage though.
Spare a thought for Michael Cragg who’s been cramped up in a hangar in 90 degree heat while he tries to get glimpses of the stars, many of whom didn’t bother with a press conference. He did get some Cheetos though, so every cloud and all that.
Here are some thoughts from Mr Cragg:
Go to the AMAs they said, rub shoulders with the rich and glamorous I assumed. But no, in a chilly tent me and some other ‘hacks’ sat on the floor with bags of Cheetos watching Jennifer Lopez’s own interpretation of Pan’s People, a weird nod to 1995 featuring Alanis Morissette and Demi Lovato prowling around a stage and an acappella group humming over an orchestra.
It’s hard to get excited about an Ariana Grande performance while a security guard keeps asking you to move aside so a prop can be stored in a cupboard.
Having said that overall it was an enjoyable if slightly unspectacular evening, with pop’s future megastars allowed to showcase their talents without the pesky powerhouses (Rihanna, Beyoncé, Taylor) getting in the way. Mind you, The Weeknd seemed to step up a level, while Justin Bieber did his usual slightly bored teenage routine to three gold-played mega-bangers.
I’d give the whole thing 5/10, and I’m not just bitter because nearly all my predictions were wrong.
Thanks for joining us and thrashing it out in the comments, and for the tweets. Here’s Edith Piaf’s Hymne à L’Amour to close things out in style. Adieu!
Our story about Jared Leto and Celine Dion’s tribute to the victims of the Paris attacks is here.
You'd better Biebe it
Here’s a short video on the making of Where Are U Now. It’s pretty impressive and explains where that weird “dolphin” sound comes from (it wasn’t an actual dolphin btw).
He’s singing Where Are U Now and doing a nice little choreographed bit. Oh, now it’s raining. Someone get that guy an umbrella. Is Rihanna in the house? I need to go home
“Welcome back, Justin Bieber!” shouts Ciara. Did he ever go away? Off we go
Updated
WINNER!
For the second year in a row it’s One Direction. They’re thanking their families and their record label, saying “Obviously we’re going on a little break - we’re going to spend time with our families and it’s going to be amazing.”
Jeremy Renner is out to present the biggie: artist of the year, and then Justin Bieber will close the show
WINNER!
The Weeknd just won best soul/R&B male. It’s been his year - the second AMA he’s scooped of the evening too. He’s dominated the airwaves with Earned it, Can’t Feel My Face and The Hills, and his speech is short and sweet.
Alex Needham’s one-word review: “terrible”. Let’s all move on.
Oh, there’s an orchestra and now they’re just playing the Star Wars theme with Pentatonix singing “lallalalalalalalala” over the top of it.
Ok, this is terrible. Worse than the snog. Worse than if the snog had never finished and that was the only thing my eyes could ever see again. Someone pull the plug
He’s introducing the Star Wars theme - I hope this is good because it has the potential to be garbage
Now a new scene from the Star Wars movie. Finn (John Bodega) runs towards something that blows up. Harrison Ford is here now …
Dion is singing a version of Edith Piaf’s Hymne à L’Amour, a song she sang when she heard of the death of Marcel Cerdan, the middle weight boxer with whom she had a love affair. Here’s a full account:
“[T]he true story of how Piaf heard of Cerdan’s death was even more poignant than the version you gave. Piaf was not in Paris at all, but in New York, fulfilling an engagement at the Versailles night-spot, and awaiting Cerdan’s arrival for his rematch with Jake LaMotta.
She was told the tragic news at the apartment where she was staying. That night, as the last number of a performance curtailed by emotional distress, she sang L’Hymne à l’Amour, and collapsed. They had been each other’s greatest love, and she never fully recovered. (Of course, Cerdan would have won his title back.)
Updated
Jared Leto is out to introduce Celine Dion who is singing a tribute to the victims of the Paris terrorist attack. He’s talking about how his band 30 Seconds to Mars played the Bataclan on their last tour. He calls it a “horrific and senseless tragedy”.
Then he quotes Antoine Leiris, whose wife –Hélène Muyal, was one of 89 people who died in the Bataclan theatre.
This is really heartfelt and moving. “Russia matters, Paris matters, Mali matters … and peace is possible”. He mentions immigrants and the fact Steve Jobs was the son of a Syrian immigrant.
Now here’s Celine … should be special.
Updated
WINNER!
Favourite rap/hip-hop artist is Nicki Minaj. She’s beaten Drake and Fetty Wap, neither of whom are in attendance tonight. Nicki thanks the AMAs for their support and the other artists on the Pinkprint including ‘Queen B’. Minaj graciously shouts out Fetty Wapp for “having this much success so early on the Billboard Hot 100”.
My sister used to belt this one out, still sounds good. Lots of blanking out by ABC who are probably a bit worried about lines like:
You’d hold me until you died
‘Til you died, but you’re still alive
Anna Kendrick is back to introduce Alanis Morrisette singing You Outta Know for NO APPARENT REASON with Demi Lovato
The end of music
Just something to bear in mind
#AMAs pic.twitter.com/qZb9pPxKZI
— common fangirl (@CommonFanGrI) November 23, 2015
WINNER!
Fall Out Boy just won the alternative/rock award. The other two contenders were Walk the Moon and Hozier, so we’re not exactly talking Throbbing Gristle here. They say they’ve been doing this 15 years and started out “the stinky band that played in basements”, and now - “we still stink!” They thank the fans, like everyone.
Updated
Fifth Harmony are here now. Did you know they took over the AMAs Snapchat channel? Nope. Neither did we.
Macklemore, Ryan Lewis and Leon Bridges are here now for some sort of moody collab. Macklemore looks like he should be in a production of Glengarry Glenross
Leon Bridges is providing a nice classy chorus. He looks like he’s biting Raphael Saadiq a little bit.
Luke Bryan and Karen Fairchild are duetting now. They’re singing Home Alone Tonight. Which sounds like a pretty fun way to spend my evening right now …
The trust of the song is that they get off with each other (Trainor style, no doubt) and then send a text to their ex telling them they’re not going to alone tonight. Sounds like a terrible idea or the storyline for a Kardashian reality show
Backstage notes
Ariana came in to do the photo bit but didn’t hang about for interviews.
Michael’s getting all the glamour
WINNER!
Collaboration of the year, presented by P Diddy, goes to Skrillex, Diplo and Justin Bieber for Where Are Ü Now. Skrillex says that he’s just trying to move music forward and that with all the negativity in the world, it’s important to produce something positive. Justin doesn’t say anything. It’s his eighth award.
Updated
Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs is here. He was introduced as a “Multi-talented musician and entrepreneur”. Wonder if he wrote that?
Lots of fire here. Bieber looks scared, maybe he’s a pyrophobia. It looks like the Weeknd is going to join J-Lo in Vegas doing a Copperfield-style magic show. Wiz Khalifa is singing along, Nic Jonas looked like he was going to cry. Perhaps this is everyone’s favourite slow jam. One of the best performances so far.
J-Lo tells us we’ve still got the exclusive Star Wars clip and Justin Bieber. Now we’ve got a performance by the Weeknd.
Backstage notes
Here are a couple of observations from Michael Cragg who is going deep into the heart of the American Dream tonight:
Carrie Underwood and Demi Lovato both ran away from me :/
It’s so weird in this tent. We’re just sat on the floor in front of two screens eating Cheetos. Bands are coming into the press room part now so I’ll try and get stuff from that
Random presenter person: “this is one of the best AMAs. Last year’s was terrible”.
Best reaction to a performance in the tent for One Direction. Three people clapped.
Taylor seems to have won all her nominations so far but none of them have been aired.
A warning announcement has just been aired telling people that beach balls will be used during Coldplay’s performance
WINNER!
It’s the best country female category, won by Carrie Underwood for the third time. Grady’s a fan: he wrote of her hit Smoke Break:
Smoke Break thrives on empathy, not escapism. The characters in Underwood’s song aren’t drinking and smoking out of some cheap desire to prove their country cred or get wasted in a cornfield. They’re doing so in order to ease their minds for a moment, and Underwood sympathizes with them, saying: “I understand if you wanna take a load off.”
She’s not laying back in her shades and getting stoned, she’s not kicking the dust up with a jar full of “clear”, and she’s not waking up the neighbors ’til the whole block hates her. She’s just singing about real life, and sometimes that’s enough.
Coldplay have gone for a kaleidoscopic backdrop, presumably to make this new material seem anything other than the beige middle of the road nonsense that it is.
There are people in monkey suits running around now and Chris Martin is doing that lanky dance he does. STOP THIS. Bring back Prince
Ariana Grande can mention her grandma all she wants. I still remember this …
Fall Out Boy are here to introduce Coldplay
WINNER!
Take that Taylor! Redeemed donut-licker Ariane Grande just won female artist of the year (pop/rock). Her performance of Focus earlier in the evening was a corker. She thanks her family, fans and nona (who is in the audience).
Paula Abdul and Donnie Wahlburg are introducing the best female artist now
“Get on your feet! Here is Walk the Moon with Shut Up and Dance,” says Hailee Steinfeld to no one in particular.
This is starting to feel like a cut-price Grammys now. These fellas were on the warm up show for the Grammys, but here they’re being rolled out as if they’re, well, U2 or summink!
Winner!
J.Lo fluffed the intro to new artist of the year ... and it’s Sam Hunt, who our Grady Smith tipped as a future superstar. Grady said:
Hunt’s party songs feel youthful and effervescent, but not mindless. His hookup songs feel confident and suave, but not manipulative. He may be singing about the same stuff as country’s most famous “bros”, but the fact that Hunt’s music sounds so appealing underlines the reality that bro country’s true downfall is its aggressive and douchey tone, not its lyrical content. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Hunt is classically handsome.
Nick Jonas channeling his inner John Bonham with a drum solo.
Updated
Nick Jonas is here to perform three songs. I’m going to make a cup of tea.
Nicki Minaj just posted this without comment. Meek Mill is having a terrible year
Prince v Star Wars
Honestly just makes me even more excited about Episode VII. pic.twitter.com/d8CV6Pv1o3
— Anil Dash (@anildash) November 23, 2015
Time for some Clueless nostalgia. Alicia Silverstone and Jeremy Sisto are introducing Gwen Stefani who is singing Used To Love You. She’s really giving it some welly …
One Direction are performing. Harry is not wearing the curtain suit. They’re singing live and Alex Needham says that it’s just “Taylor Swift’s Style slightly redone”. Judge for yourself
WINNER!
Nicki Minaj just beat Drake and J Cole to best hip-hop album for The Pinkprint. In a spectacular pink and gold dress, she says that she has the best fans on the planet, and that The Pinkprint was the hardest album she’s ever made and performed. “Find your voice and find your purpose before it’s too late,” she concludes.
Here’s our panel verdict on The Pinkprint.
Updated
Kylie Jenner and Gig Hadid are here to intro the nominees for hip-hop album
Piggy does Adele
Here’s that Muppets ad I was talking about
Relentless posts about snogging and Muppets, don’t say we don’t treat you
We’ve just launched a gallery of the best and worst looks from the evening, including a lot of side boob and a dress that looks like an octopus on Z LaLa.
WINNER!
The award for favourite soundtrack goes to Pitch Perfect 2, beating out Fifty Shades of Grey and Empire. Anna Kendrick accepts it with a flurry of gags including “Don’t tell anyone about that hooker we buried.”
Snog pic!
J-Lo is here to reset the mood after that snog. Who’s on next … Ariana Grande. I wonder who she’ll snog?
She’s gone for a Billie Holliday jazz version of Focus, which is pretty good. Now a curtain drops and reveals a set that looks like the bar scene from Temple of Doom. Remember that? Don’t worry, the internet does.
That snog: part two
They’ve done it before …
Updated
That snog
We don’t have a snap of that snog yet so you’ll have to use your imagination and splice these two pictures together in your mind.
WINNER
It’s the country male award and it goes to ... Luke Bryan! His single Kick the Dust Up was described as “thuddingly dim” by our country critic Grady Smith - oh dear. He thanks his booking agent.
This is quite pedestrian. Charlie Puth is doing his song Marvin Gaye with Trainor and I’m slowly falling asleep.
Oh, they just snogged each other for about five minutes.
Seriously, that was like a Chris Cunningham video. Here’s a list of the winners so far …
Updated
Meghan Trainor is here now doing this little ditty
There’s a really funny Muppets ad that’s riffing on Adele’s video for Hello. Apart from Prince, that was easily the best thing so far. Did we mention Adele had a new album out ...
Selena and the Stair case
Here’s a closer view of that stair case that I mentioned before.
It’s all happening in the press bit.
So honoured to have this unique view of Jennifer Lopez #AMAs pic.twitter.com/ZvcYVFHdBr
— Michael Cragg (@MichaelCragg) November 23, 2015
A gag from our Anne T. Bieber in a Nirvana T-shirt. Wonder what Kurt Cobain would have thought.
When you're at the #AMAs but a little bit sad you're missing The Walking Dead pic.twitter.com/qeExNd3qc6
— Anne T. Donahue (@annetdonahue) November 23, 2015
WINNER!
One Direction just won the favourite duo or group - pop/rock, their sixth such award. They said that they loved their fans and had different outfits on to their suited-up red carpet look, with Harry in a Gucci floral number that made him look like a pair of curtains.
Demi Lovato is here now performing and fighting with her own hair. It’s minimal stuff. There’s no big production, just two backing dancers. It’s pretty good actually.
She’s doing Confident btw
Mixing with the stars
We have a name dropper in our midst people. Johnpourri has been hanging out with Romeo Santos in Santo Domingo no less.
That Romeo Santos is a lovely chap. I met him in Santo Domingo a few years ago and he had them all wild with Aventura. Top night.
Jenny McCarthy is here to introduce Carrie Underwood, the down-to-earth country star who we talked to a couple of years ago.
Nicki Minaj is here to give out the award for best pop/rock group
The glamour of LA
Another dispatch from Michael Cragg now who is watching the show in some sort of huge hangar. He’s got some crisps/chips though, so it’s not the end of the world
This is where I’m watching the awards. I worry it’s some sort of X Files experiment
“The glamour of the press tent catering! Although actually this was all swiped from the artists’ and dancers’ bit which might explain the stern looks”
And you can see J-Lo’s booty-tastic performance miming to a bunch of other people’s hits - albeit in a very spectacular style - right here.
She’s doing Same Old Love, and it’s a pretty sultry smokey number replete with mysterious choreography with dancers wearing all black.
Selena Gomez is on now, running up a stair case
Five Seconds of Summer are performing now, I thought it was 30 Seconds to Mars for a second. They’re playing Hey Everybody, which is a pleasant bit of pop-punk. Instantly forgettable and a bit dull but perfectly pleasant still
That was a pretty impressive intro (minus the J-Lo Las Vegas promo section). Prince comes on looking like an alien emperor and the Weeknd sounds like a humble dude.
Now J-Lo is talking about listening to Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. This is a dream come true for her apparently.
This is what Prince looks like tonight
WINNER! The Weeknd
The Weeknd winning isn’t much of a surprise he’s had a huge year. He ditched his outsider R&B and figured out if he embraced some pop sensibilities he could sell a load of records and get a song about doing cocaine to number 1. Got to hand it to him, really.
Updated
PRINCE IS DISHING OUT THE FIRST AWARD! It’s for Soul, and R&B album
The most awkward thing about this is seeing the faces of the non-plussed artists who are in the audience watching one of their childhood heroes interpret their songs in an odd dance routine. Bieber responded by doing a robot dance
And … we're off
“It’s the star-studded show of the year,” we’re told. They’re just running through the ridiculously long list of performers. This is going to fly by …
Here’s J-Lo doing a terrible ballad version of Waiting For Tonight. This is a pretty boring promo for her forthcoming Las Vegas residency. The original was a lot better
“Tonight’s not about me,” she says. I know, it’s about putting bums on seats in Las Vegas for the next 6 months. The less said about the costumes the better.
Women: weird ‘Skin I live In’ style body suits; Men: lashings of fur. She’s now doing a medley of the year’s biggest songs.
Who is up for what then?
The awards are decided by fan votes and in some cases “editorially” by the people over at Billboard. Because of those two factors I think Taylor Swift is going to pretty much win everything. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
Artist of the year
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor
The Weeknd
One Direction
Luke Bryan
Ariana Grande
Maroon 5
Nicki Minaj
Ed Sheeran
Prediction: my money is on Sam Smith, but if he’s not successful it’s surely between Taylor Swift and The Weeknd
Song of the Year
“See You Again”
“Uptown Funk”
“Thinking Out Loud”
“Blank Space”
“Can’t Feel My Face”
Prediction: my heart says I Can’t Feel My Face, which is slightly worrying, my head says Uptown Funk
New Artist of the Year
Fetty Wap
Sam Hunt
ToveLo
Walk The Moon
The Weeknd
Prediction: The Weeknd or Fetty Wap should walk this, although Sam Hunt is an outside bet
Favorite male artist: Pop/Rock
Nick Jonas
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Prediction: Sam Smith or I’ll eat even more of this pizza we’ve ordered to help us get through the live blog
Favorite female artist: Pop/Rock
Ariana Grande
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor
Prediction: Taylor Swift
Favorite Pop/Rock Album
X: Ed Sheeran
In the Lonely Hour: Sam Smith
1989: Taylor Swift
Prediction: Taylor Swift
Favorite Duo/Group: Pop/Rock
Maroon 5
One Direction
Walk the Moon
Prediction: One Direction
Favorite EDM Album
Calvin Harris
David Guetta
Zedd
Prediction: Zedd (for a laugh)
Favorite Female Country Artist
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Carrie Underwood
Prediction: Miranda Lambert
Favorite Male Country Artist
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Sam Hunt
Prediction: Sam Hunt
Favorite Country Duo/Group
Zac Brown Band
Florida Georgia Line
Little Big Town
Prediction: (Because I read Grady Smith’s excellent country column) I’m going with Florida Georgia Line
Favorite Country Album
Old Boots, New DirtL: Jason Aldean
Anything Goes: Florida Georgia Line
Montevallo: Sam Hunt
Prediction: Montevallo - Sam Hunt
Favorite Artist: Adult Contemporary
Ed Sheeran
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor
Prediction: Taylor Swift
Favorite Artist: Soul/R&B
Beyonce
Mary J. Blige
Rihanna
Prediction: Rihanna
Favorite Soul/R&B Album
X: Chris Brown
Black Messiah: D’Angelo
Beauty Behind The Madness: The Weeknd
Prediction: Beauty Behind The Madness: The Weeknd
Favorite Artist: Rap/Hip-Hop
Drake
Fetty Wap
Nicki Minaj
Prediction: Drake
Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album
2014 Forest Hill Drive: J. Cole
If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late: Drake
The Pinkprint: Nicki Minaj
Prediction: If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late: Drake
Favorite Soundtrack
Fifty Shades of Grey
Empire
Pitch Perfect 2
Prediction: Empire
Collaboration of the Year (by T-Mobile)
Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth - See You Again
Rihanna, Kanye West ft Paul McCartney -FourFiveSeconds
Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk!
Skrillex & Diplo Featuring Justin Bieber - Where Are Ü Now
Taylor Swift ft Kendrick Lamar - Bad Blood
Prediction: Skrillex & Diplo Featuring Justin Bieber - Where Are Ü Now
Favorite Artist: Latin
Enrique Iglesias
Ricky Martin
Romeo Santos
Prediction: Romeo Santos
Favorite Artist: Contemporary Inspirational
Casting Crowns
Hillsong United
MercyMe
Prediction: My favourite MLS side Hillsong United
Our man in LA
Michael Cragg is at the epicentre of the action (sandwiched between Radio Disney and the Mail Online no less!), while suffering in the 90 degree heat he managed to fire off this dispatch:
“More relaxed than the Grammys and less thirsty when it comes to controversy than the MTV Video Music awards, this year’s American Music Awards - now in their 43rd year - are hosted by ageless actress, perfumier and occasional pop star Jennifer Lopez.
Not only will she be reading awkwardly from an autocue but she’ll also be using her performance as a teaser for her forthcoming Las Vegas residency so expect subtly, minimalism and raw emotion. Other performances to keep an eye on will be Justin Bieber’s medley of his two emotionally passive aggressive singles What Do You Mean? and Sorry, which will likely involve a few cut away shots of sometime girlfriend Selena Gomez (she’s also performing at some point). While the award show mainstays such as The Weeknd, Coldplay, Gwen Stefani and Ariana Grande will no doubt feature some lovely lasers and such like, the real intrigue comes from the slightly more unexpected; for reasons no one’s quite fathomed out yet, Demi Lovato will be joined by Alanis Morissette for a run through of the latter’s 1995 lullaby You Oughta Know, while acapella nightmare Pentatonix will perform a version of the Star Wars theme. Seriously.
Awards-wise it will likely be dominated, as all recent awards shows have been, by Taylor Swift who has six nominations. If she wins all six she’ll pass Whitney Houston as the most decorated artists in the AMA’s history. Given his recent feat of knocking himself off the top of the US singles chart with successive singles, I imagine The Weeknd will also do quite well (he has five nominations), as will pop’s Mr Nice Guy, Ed Sheeran. Also, fingers crossed MercyMe win the coveted Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist, but obviously that’s all down to divine intervention.”
For those who enjoy stats here are some of the least remarkable from the LA Times: the AMAs by the numbers:
13
cameras will capture Sunday’s show
7
show producers
20
custom emojis created for Twitter
100
show tickets given away through contests
650
walkie talkies to be used during production
4.6 pounds
weight of one American Music Award
Ok, so the amount of walkie talkies is quite interesting
What are we in store for?
Tonight is one of the biggest award shows in the US. It’s not at the level of the Grammys but a look at the list of the people they’ve got performing shows you this isn’t the Smash Hit awards:
Alessia Cara
Shawn Mendes
Gabi Wilson
Francesco Yates
Jennifer Lopez
5 Seconds Of Summer
One Direction
Selena Gomez
Nick Jonas
Demi Lovato
Alanis Morissette
Carrie Underwood
Walk the Moon
Meghan Trainor
Charlie Puth
Pentatonix
Gwen Stefani
Coldplay
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Ariana Grande
The Weeknd
Celine Dion
Leon Bridges
Justin Bieber
Luke Bryan
Karen Fairchild
Over at Forbes Brittany Hodak broke down just how important the show is:
“ABC is betting big on its American Music Awards broadcast tonight. Last year’s live show gave ABC its strongest primetime entertainment ratings since the Academy Awards eight months earlier, attracting 11.6 million viewers. Social numbers are also strong: Last year, 5.65 million tweets were sent during the broadcast. The AMAs have been pushing social engagement - announcing nominees via Snapchat, allowing fan voting on Twitter and Facebook and sharing exclusive content across multiple platforms – so it’s likely this year’s Twitter tally will be even higher.”
The inclusion of the word Snapchat let’s you know who this is aimed at, yep, some people called Millennials. Spare a thought for Celine Dion who is probably wondering what the hell she is even doing there. Actually scratch that, she’s there to sing Edith Liaf’s “Hymne à L’Amour” in honour of the victims of the 13 November terror attacks in Paris.
In case you want more long lists to read, here’s one made up of all the presenters:
Kelsea Ballerini
Ashley Benson
Betty Cantrell
Ciara
Terry Crews
Hannah Davis
DNCE
Florida Georgia Line
Tyrese Gibson
Ellie Goulding
Gigi Hadid
Fifth Harmony
Julianne Hough
Kylie Jenner
Wiz Khalifa
Taylor Lautner
Little Big Town
Tove Lo
Jenny McCarthy
Shawn Mendes
Chloe Grace Moretz
Kevin O’Leary
Norman Reedus
Jeremy Renner
Nick Robinson
Alicia Silverstone
Jeremy Sisto
Hailee Steinfeld
Wilmer Valderrama
Donnie Wahlberg
Zendaya
E! Decided to make a point of highlighting which presenters are single as if this is some sort of horrific celeb dating show:
“While Kylie Jenner and Tyga’s split remains a serious question mark after one viral Snapchat, we can confirm that the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star will be a presenter at Sunday’s telecast. In addition, newly single Gigi Hadid and Joe Jonas are also expected to present separate awards during the show. We have a lot to keep up with tonight.”
Get ready for three hours of Blind Date
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the American Music Awards liveblog, where we’ll be keeping up with all the action from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Along with Alex Needham, I’ll be frantically typing about the antics from New York and we’ll have some input from Michael Cragg who is on the ground in LA with all the stars.
Feel free to AMA in the comment section, or tweet me @Lanre_Bakare
Jennifer Lopez is hosting and the guys at the AMAs have been having fun creating promo vids with J-Lo spliced between shocking pink graphics pronouncing things like OMG and HOT.
We can’t wait for this either.
The American Music awards first took place in 1974, the year I (Alex Needham) was born. Bing Crosby won the award of merit, Tony Orlando and Dawn got favourite pop single for Tie a Yellow Ribbon and, perhaps more excitingly, Stevie Wonder won best soul/R&B single for Superstition. Here he is doing it.
There is no music anymore.
It's all lip syncing done with a dance routine.