The other big victor of the night was British boyband One Direction, which received the trophy for Artist of the Year and the Favourite Duo or Group – Pop/Rock.
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REUTERS/David McNew LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 22: Rainey Qualley attends the 2015 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.
Seriously, you need to watch J. Lo get down and dirty to almost every hit from the past calendar year.
Actor-musician Jared Leto made a moving tribute to the 130 victims of the deadly November 13 attacks across Paris, specifically the 89 who died at the Bataclan concert hall, where he said he and his band, 30 Seconds to Mars, had performed “a attractive, peaceful” show earlier this year.
“Make a few noise for Prince, ladies and gentlemen”, the singer said after picking up favourite album-soul/R&B for “Beauty Behind the Madness“.
Addressing the packed theatre, Niall Horan said: “Wow, to say that we have won this award for three years on the bounce is a pretty incredible thing to say and we wouldn’t be able to do it without our fans and all the things they have done for us”. She won song of the year for “Blank Space“, favourite album- pop/rock for “1989” and favourite artist-adult contemporary.
The show began promisingly, with Jennifer Lopez doing several bars of her tune “Waiting for Tonight“, afterward quitting the music to pronounce having a not-quite-straight face, “Tonight’s not about me”.
Ariana Grande was the surprise victor of best female, beating Taylor Swift.
The show was hosted by all-round star talent Jennifer Lopez, who kicked off the night with an impressive dance routine.
They may have been singing Marvin Gaye but nobody expected Puth and Trainor to take the legendary singer’s line “let’s get it on”, literally.
Minaj scored the Best Rap/Hip-Hop Female title and her Pinkprint won for Best Album Rap/Hip-Hop. Next, the show switched gears when Carrie Underwood performed a very romantic version of her song “Heartbeat“, while wearing a very sleek red dress. “She goes, ‘Ariana, I went on the computer, I voted, so I think you’ll win, ‘” Grande said in an Italian accent. The performance comes ahead of next month’s highly-anticipated new “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” film.
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The evening ended with a three-song medley by comeback kid Justin Bieber, riding high on the success of his new album, Purpose, which topped the U.S. charts last week.
