Pop music’s biggest artists were honored last night at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, including One Direction, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, all of whom scored big awards last night.
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Yet too many other acts seemed deflated by the pressure to deliver something noteworthy, none more than the usually effervescent Gwen Stefani, who looked miserable – more miserable than she meant to, that is – in “Used to Love You”, her gloomy new ballad about her breakup with her husband, Gavin Rossdale. She collected the award from singer Paula Abdul, who won the same award in 1990.
Jennifer Lopez blew the audience away with an unbelievable opening number to kick off the 2015 American Music Awards.
Another jaw-dropping moment came when Meghan Trainor and Charlie Puth performed “Marvin Gaye” and made out afterwards while still on the stage.
In the midst of all the fun and frolics, Dion, 47, gave the audience a reminder of the Paris attacks, which claimed the lives of 130 people on 13 November.
A few of her gowns concealed her shoes, but at the after-party, Lopez went for a Zuhair Murad mini dress paired with sparkly pumps for a night of celebrating.
This marked Bieber’s eighth win at the American Music Awards, after having taken home Artist of the Year in both 2010 and 2012. She’s also choreographed for Janet Jackson, Nicki Minaj, Korean pop stars Taeyang and CL, and directed, produced and choreographed the video for Justin Bieber’s song “Sorry’, which has racked up 167 million views on YouTube”.
One Direction, who performed ideal during the show, also won favorite duo or group – pop/rock for the third year in a row.
To present the award for Best New Artist to country singer Sam Hunt, Jlo flashed her beige bra in a black sheer lace outfit and cinched her waist with silver belt. TAYLOR SWIFT was the other leader on the board, earning a field-leading three AMA statues (out of a high six nominations), including Song Of The Year for “Blank Space“. Coldplay took the AMAs stage for the first time in seven years for a live rendition of “Adventure of a Lifetime“.
The night really took off when Demi Lovato took the stage to not only perform “Confident“, but later welcomed Alanis Morissette to join her for a duet of the 1995 smash hit “You Oughta Know” to celebrate the song’s 20th anniversary.
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The 21-year-old brought the house when he closed the show with a medley of his recent hit songs. One of the stars from the franchise, actor Harrison Ford, appeared onstage following the scene showing. Jared Leto gave an emotional speech on behalf of the AMAs, remembering victims of terrorist attacks around the world as he called for peace.
