|
 One Direction was named artist of the year for a second
consecutive year, and also won the best pop/rock album for a
third consecutive year, with the album "Made In The A.M."
"It's absolutely incredible to receive this award two years in a
row. It's a testament to how incredible our fans are," band
member Louis Tomlinson said.
Actor-musician Jared Leto made a moving tribute to the 130
victims of the deadly Nov. 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 beautiful,
peaceful" show earlier this year.
"Tonight we honor victims of the unimaginable violence that took
place in Paris and around the world," he said. "France matters,
Russia matters, Syria matters, Mali matters, the Middle East
matters, the United States matters, the entire world matters and
peace is possible."
French-Canadian singer Celine Dion sang Edith Piaf's classic
French ode "Hymne à l'amour" in memory of those lost.
Key winners on the night included Taylor Swift, who went into
the night with a leading six nominations and won three awards
but did not attend the event.
Nicki Minaj won two awards in the rap/hip hop categories, The
Weeknd won two soul/R&B awards, Florida Georgia Line won two
country music awards and country artist Sam Hunt was named best
new artist.
Unlike the irreverent antics of MTV's Video Music Awards and the
industry prestige of the Grammy Awards, the fan-voted AMAs offer
up the year's most popular music acts, with a spotlight on
performances.
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"Star Wars" veteran Harrison Ford introduced five-piece a cappella
group Pentatonix, who put their vocals to John Williams' iconic
"Star Wars" score, along with a full orchestra on stage. The
performance comes ahead of next month's highly-anticipated new "Star
Wars: The Force Awakens" film.
Show host Jennifer Lopez danced through a high-octane medley of this
year's top pop songs, saying: "Tonight is about the music, and this
year's music makes me want to dance."
One of the biggest talking points came courtesy of Meghan Trainor
and Charlie Puth, who took audiences by surprise with a steamy kiss
after their duet "Marvin Gaye."
Selena Gomez performed a sultry rendition of her latest hit "Same
Old Love," country star Carrie Underwood belted her romantic ballad
"Heartbeat" and Ariana Grande got the crowd dancing with her upbeat
hit "Focus." Justin Bieber sang and danced through a medley of his
hits, ending with a shower of rain on stage.
The Weeknd set the stage on real fire for his performance of "The
Hills," while Coldplay brought out dancing monkeys on a psychedelic
stage for "Adventure of a Lifetime," and Walk The Moon started a
dance party with their hit "Shut Up And Dance."
(This version of the story corrects title of Dion tribute song in
sixth paragraph)
(Editing by Peter Cooney and Mary Milliken)
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