Ladies’ night at the American Music Awards

Taylor Swift, Adele, Beyoncé and Lopez win big at the AMAs.

LOS ANGELES: Country music songstress Taylor Swift was the big winner on Sunday (November 20) at the American Music Awards (AMAs), walking away with three prizes including Artist of the Year.

British soul diva Adele also picked up notable wins, while Canadian teen sensation Justin Bieber left the awards empty handed. The winners were voted for by fans and announced at a star-studded show in Los Angeles. Bieber, who was last year’s big winner at the AMAs, sang a tune from his Christmas-themed album Under the Mistletoe, but failed to win in the only category in which he was shortlisted — Best Pop/Rock Male Artist.

Other winners included Katy Perry, Beyonce and Nicki Minaj, who won both rap/hip-hop gongs up for grabs. Adele won in three of the four categories in which she was nominated — but did not attend the show, in Los Angeles Nokia Theatre, as she is out of action after undergoing throat surgery.

However, the big news of the night was Swift, who took all three prizes for which she was nominated — Artist of the Year, as well as Best Female Artist and Best Album for Speak Now in the country music category.

Swift, who was named entertainer of the year at the Country Music Awards a few weeks ago, called her AMAs triumph “one of the most amazing things that have ever happened to me”. The 21-year-old has won four Grammys, including album of the year in 2010 for her second record Fearless.

Sharing success in the AMAs country music category were fellow serial award winners Lady Antebellum, who won the prize last year and went on to become the big winners at this year’s Grammys. In the soul/R&B category, best female artist went to Beyonce — who sent her thanks by video message from New York while Usher won best male artist. Rihanna, who also sent her regards by message, won soul/R&B best album for Loud.

Nicki Minaj meanwhile beat Lil Wayne and Kanye West to win best rap/hip-hop artist, her first AMAs — and then quickly won her second, for best rap/hip-hop album for Pink Friday. Best new artist went to Hot Chelle Rae, who have already had a hit with “Tonight Tonight”.

On the Latin front, Jennifer Lopez took the top prize against a shortlist which also included Pitbull and Enrique Iglesias. “I’m grateful for all my blessings,” dailymail.co.uk quoted her as saying. Reflecting on the past, Lopez told the crowd, “It’s been up and down and just exciting and overwhelming and so many things.”

Meanwhile, Katy Perry, who performed dressed in pink and strumming a pink guitar, seemed surprised when given a special award, for the first artist to have five number one singles from the same album. “Thanks for letting me be a chameleon this year,” said Perry.

Winners in key categories:

Artist of the Year:                                            Taylor Swift

Best Pop/Rock Female Artist:                         Adele

Best Pop/Rock Male Artist:                             Bruno Mars

Best Rap/Hip-hop Artist:                                 Nicki Minaj

Best Soul/R&B Male Artist:                             Usher

Best Soul/R&B Female Artist:                         Beyonce

Best Country Female Artist:                            Taylor Swift

Best Country Male Artist:                                Blake Shelton

Best Latin Artist:                                              Jennifer Lopez

Best New Artist:                                               Hot Chelle Rae

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2011.