Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake win top honours at the AMAs
MUMBAI: The American Music Awards churned out a number of winners in several catagories. However, it was country/pop artiste, Taylor Swift who bagged the most gongs on the night. The 23 year old singer/ songwriter won awards for Favourite Female Pop/Rock Artist, Favourite Female Country Artist and Favourite Country Album for ‘Red’. The ‘You Belong with Me’ singer also took home the most coveted prize of the night- Artist of the Year.
Another big winner on the night was popstar Justin Timberlake whose 2013 album ‘The 20/20 Experience’ brought him some big wins including Favourite Male Soul/ R&B Artist, Favourite Male Pop/Rock Artist and Favourite Soul/ R&B Album.
Other winners included Rihanna who bagged the award for Favourite Female Soul/ R&B Artist. The ‘Diamonds’ singer was also honoured for her career accomplishments when she was presented with the AMAs Icon Award by her mother- Monica Braithwaite. It was a rather memorable moment for the 25 year old pop star who said, “Just about 20 years ago is when I really started making your life a living hell with my annoying little husky man voice, you would call it. And I mean just disrupting the entire neighbourhood. Westbury Road, Barbados, they could tell you that’s the truth. I annoyed every one of my neighbours."
U.K boy band, One Direction, won two awards for Favourite Pop/ Rock Album for its second album ‘Take Me Home’ and also won the Favourite Pop/Rock Group Award. It was the first time the group was nominated for the AMAs.
Favourite Rap/ Hip-Hop Album went to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, who accepted the honour via live satellite. The duo who has addressed social issues previously took the opportunity to condemn racial profiling. Rapper Macklemore said, “Due to the fact that we are in Florida tonight accepting this award I want to acknowledge Trayvon Martin and the hundreds and hundreds of kids each year that are dying due to racial profiling and the violence that follows it. This is really happening. These are our friends, our neighbors, our peers and our fans, and it's time that we look out for the youth and fight against racism and the laws that protect it."
The night was also a big one for new comer Ariana Grande, who not only won the Best New Artist award but also performed at the event. Other performers included Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cyrus, Imagine Dragons, One Direction, Lady Gaga and R. Kelly, to name a few.