American Music Awards Recap

Kathleen Catamisan, Staff WriterNovember 28, 2016Leave a Comment

On November 20, the American Music Awards took place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The American Music Awards celebrates the artists of most genres.

For those of you wondering what the American Music Awards (AMA’s for short) exactly is, don’t look any further! The AMA’s celebrate the success of musicians throughout the year. Artists are nominated based off of album sales, streams, tours, and other factors contributing to their success. They win the awards with the help of their fans who vote for them. Awards typically presented during the AMA’s are Artist of the Year, New Artist of the Year, and much more. Between awards are performances by many musicians.

The 2016 AMA’s were hosted by model Gigi Hadid and comedian Jay Pharoah. The show was kicked off by Bruno Mars with his new single 24K Magic. Mars pumped up the crowd with his electrifying performance. After Mars’ performance, the first award of the night was presented. The award was for best pop/rock duo or group, and Twenty One Pilots took it home. After, Niall Horan gave a performance. If the name sounds familiar, it may be due to the fact that he is part of One Direction (who are currently on hiatus). This was H0ran’s first solo performance at an awards show. He played his new and popular single, “This Town” (which was amazing, by the way!). Immediately after, Fifth Harmony performed “That’s My Girl”. The second award was then handed, which was for best rap/hip-hop album, to Drake. After this award, a series of performances took place. First was by Halsey and the Chainsmokers, who played their hit single that took the nation by storm: “Closer”. This performance brought people up to their feet to dance. After this, came the calm and beautiful performance of James Bay, who played his hit single, “Let It Go” (He’s a fairly new artist, and if you have not listened to his album, Chaos and the Calm, go listen to it!). And lastly, came Shawn Mendes; he performed “Treat You Better” and “Mercy,” which are two songs off his new album “Illuminate.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this small series of performances came more awards. The Chainsmokers brought home the award for Electronic Dance Music. Then, came the performance of the Weeknd; he performed his new single, “Starboy.” Following the performance, Fifth Harmony took home the award for best collaboration with their song, “Work from Home” featuring Ty Dolla Sign. Tim McGraw also took home the award for favorite country song. Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj gave an iconic performance to their new song “Side to Side.” Later, came the new artist of the year award; Zayn won (if his name also sounds familiar, he was a former member of One Direction).  After this award came the sweet performance by John Legend, who performed his new single “Love Me Now.” If you have not listened to this song yet, please take the time to listen to it; the song is so heartfelt and cute. After this came Twenty One Pilot’s performance, where they mashed up their two famous songs, “Heathens” and “Stressed Out.” Then came the award for favorite rap artist, which Drake took home. Shortly after, an award that was presented that brought many tears to the attendees. For the award for top soundtrack, the late singer, Prince received it. His sister took the award for him and delivered an emotional speech about her late brother. Following these awards came the performance by Justin Bieber. Bieber wasn’t actually at the show but worked with the awards so he could stream his performance of “Let Me Love You” from his concert in Zurich. Lady Gaga then took the stage, singing “Million Reasons” from her new album, “Joanne.”  The country duo award was given to Florida Georgia Line. With their second award of the night, Twenty One Pilots also took home the award for favorite alternative rock artist.

Nearing the end of the show, there were four more performances and three more awards to be handed. First came Green Day, who performed “Bang Bang.” They were followed by Sting, a singer from the 80s  who performed a medley of his songs that included “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You,” “Message in a Bottle,” and “Every Breath You Take.” Following his performance, he was awarded the American Music Merit Award. After Sting, DJ Khaled took over the stage bringing out Nicki Minaj for a second time, along with Rick Ross, August Alsina, and Future. Then came the award for pop/rock female, where Selena Gomez took the award home. She appeared for the first time in a while, due to her announcement that she would be taking a break for personal and mental health issues. When she accepted her award, she gave an emotional, heartfelt speech that spread like wildfire on Twitter. Finally, the biggest award of the night, Artist of the Year was the final award; Ariana Grande was the winner. To close off the award show, Maroon 5 and Kendrick Lamar came out and performed their single “Don’t Wanna Know.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, the AMA’s were a success. The performances were amazing, and 2016 has proved that it was a year of amazing music.  If you missed out on the show, you can always check the ABC website for videos and highlights. (american-music-awards– here is the link!) The AMA’s will always be around the fall, so if you forgot to watch it this year, there will always be one next year!