Sunday
BRUNO MARS was the big winner at last night’s 45th annual AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS, taking home a total of seven honors, including Artist Of The Year. The annual event was staged SUNDAY night (11/20) at MICROSOFT THEATER in LOS ANGELES, produced by DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS for ABC.
Performance highlights included PINK scaling the side of a building, CHRISTINA AGUILERA’s heartfelt tribute to WHITNEY HOUSTON and “The Bodyguard,” and DIANA ROSS belting out a medley of her hits, while K-Pop sensations BTS wowed the crowd (and their fan army) with some dazzling choreography.
The show began with a duet between PINK and KELLY CLARKSON on R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts,” set to a backdrop montage of the year’s natural disasters and human tragedies. After the emotional performance, the pop divas embraced on-stage as the crowd roared.
Among the evening’s big winners, KEITH URBAN took home three AMAs, including Favorite Male Performer — Country, while ONE DIRECTION’s NIALL HORAN was named T-MOBILE’s New Artist Of The Year and performed a rockabilly take on his hit, “Slow Hands.” LUIS FONSI and DADDY YANKEE featuring JUSTIN BIEBER’s “song of the summer,” “Despacito,” earned the trio two awards, including Collaboration Of The Year and Favorite Song — Pop/Rock.
PINK’s return for a dizzying aerial display in which she literally climbed the side of the J.W. MARRIOTT HOTEL adjacent to the theater for her take on “Beautiful Trauma” left audience jaws dropping and social media buzzing. Other notable performance included CHRISTINA AGUILERA’s much-anticipated tribute to the “Bodyguard” soundtrack on its 25th anniversary, an homage to the late WHITNEY HOUSTON; DEMI LOVATO’s fevered rendition of “Sorry Not Sorry”; Favorite Duo or Group — Pop/Rock winners IMAGINE DRAGONS’ mash-up with KHALID of their “Thunder” and his “Young Dumb & Broke”; SELENA GOMEZ and MARSHMELLO’s blood-soaked fairy-tale take on “Wolves”; and Favorite Male Artist — Adult Contemporary winner SHAWN MENDES’ guitar-strumming “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back”; KELLY CLARKSON with a throwback medley that also included her current “Love So Soft”; K-Pop boy band BTS’ spirited performance; and PORTUGAL. THE MAN offering their breakout hit “Feel It Still.”
The evening’s winner for Favorite Female Artist — Pop/Rock, LADY GAGA, was piped in via satellite from a live performance on the “Joanne” tour from CAPITAL ONE ARENA in WASHINGTON; She performed her latest single, “The Cure,” and accepted the award with a dedication to her “Little Monsters.”
Host TRACEE ELLIS ROSS (“Black-ish”), whose mother DIANA ROSS was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award (including a congratulatory video from BARACK and MICHELLE OBAMA), closed the show amidst MOTOWN luminaties like BERRY GORDY and SMOKEY ROBINSON, saying, “This is all about love, and I feel humbled by it.”
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Other winners included:
- Tour Of The Year: U2
- Video Of The Year: BRUNO MARS, “That’s What I Like”
- Favorite Male Artist — Pop/Rock: BRUNO MARS
- Favorite Album — Pop/Rock: BRUNO MARS’ “24K Magic”
- Favorite Song — Pop/Rock: LUIS FONSI & DADDY YANKEE w/JUSTIN BIEBER, “Despacito”
- Favorite Female Artist — Country: CARRIE UNDERWOOD
- Favorite Duo or Group — Country: ;LITTLE BIG TOWN
- Favorite Artist — Rap/Hip-Hop: DRAKE
- Favorite Album — Rap/Hip-Hop: KENDRICK LAMAR “Damn”
- Favorite Song — Rap/Hip-Hop: DJ KHALED,f/JUSTIN BIEBER, QUAVO, CHANCE THE RAPPER & LIL WAYNE, “i’m The One”
- Favorite Male Artist — Soul/R&B: BRUNO MARS
- Favorite Female Artist — Soul/R&B: BEYONCE
- Favorite Album — Soul/R&B: BRUNO MARS, “24K Magic”
- Favorite Song — Soul/R&B: BRUNO MARS, “That’s What I Like”
- Favorite Artist — Alternative Rock: LINKIN PARK
- Favorite Artist — Electronic Dance Music: THE CHAINSMOKERS
- Favorite Artist — Latin: SHAKIRA
- Favorite Artist — Contemporary Inspirational: LAUREN DAIGLE
- Favorite Soundtrack: “Moana”
This Article Was Originally Posted at www.allaccess.com
https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/171673/bruno-mars-wins-7-at-american-music-awards