The jaw-dropping 2016 American Music Awards (AMAs), which was hosted by Gigi Hadid and Jay Pharoah, saw Bruno Mars opening the event with his latest single, “24K Magic”, and it was pure gold (no pun intended).
Simple yet funky, the performance, which marks the singer’s first stage on the award show, left the audience wanting more. Mars’ stage was all about dancing. Is it just us or is that black-and-white Nike Cortez lit af.
Are you tuned in to the #AMAs??? @BrunoMars killed it! pic.twitter.com/fypdPf6DMY
— InRage Entertainment (@InRageEnt) November 21, 2016
The night also featured a very sultry and wild “Side to Side” performance by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj. Yes, we’re talking about the leg-spread move done by Minaj on her “throne”. Yikes!
Obscene dance moves aside, Grande won “Artiste of the Year”, beating the likes of Beyoncé, Adele, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, The Weeknd, and others.
Upon accepting the award, the “Dangerous Woman” singer, who was fighting back tears, said, “I just want to say thank you to my fans who voted so, so, so much. I love you with of with or without this, I love you guys from the bottom of my heart (…) I just wanna say that I’m so thankful for art and I hope that whatever it is that I create in my life, I hope that you’ll feel a little bit of light. I hope I can bring joy to you and make you feel unified and happy.”
An incredible year for an amazing artist! Congrats on your 2016 #AMAs Artist of the Year win, @ArianaGrande! 💜 pic.twitter.com/yaRIGgNMWJ
— American Music Awards (@AMAs) November 21, 2016
Selena Gomez made a surprise appearance at the ceremony. The singer cinched the award for “Favorite Female Artiste — Pop/Rock”. The AMAs is the “Hands to Myself” songstress’ first official post-rehab appearance since taking a break from singing in August due to health issues.
In her powerful speech, she opened up about her own struggles, urging fans to take care of themselves. “I had to stop because I had everything and I was absolutely broken inside and I kept it all together enough to where I would never let you down, but I kept it too much together to where I let myself down,” she said tearfully.
Watch her brutally honest acceptance speech here:
Congrats, @selenagomez! 🎉 Here she is with a sweet message when accepting the #AMAs for Favorite Female Artist- Pop/Rock! pic.twitter.com/JCeE9IijDU
— American Music Awards (@AMAs) November 21, 2016
Besides that, 2 of the most notable performances for the night is The Chainsmoker and Halsey’s “Closer” featuring the drummer from “that Blink 182 song”, Travis Barker as well as Green Day’s “no fascist USA” stage for their latest single, “Bang Bang”. Other performances of the event included “This Town” by One Direction’s Niall Horan; “Let Me Love You” by Justin Bieber;
The full list of winners is as follows:
ARTISTE OF THE YEAR
Ariana Grande
NEW ARTISTE OF THE YEAR
Zayn
COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
Fifth Harmony and Ty Dolla $ign
FAVORITE MALE ARTISTE — POP/ROCK
Justin Bieber
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTISTE — POP/ROCK
Selena Gomez
FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP — POP/ROCK
Twenty One Pilots
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FAVORITE ALBUM — POP/ROCK
“Purpose” by Justin Bieber
FAVORITE SONG — POP/ROCK
“Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber
FAVORITE MALE ARTISTE — SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST — SOUL/R&B
Rihanna
FAVORITE SONG — SOUL/R&B
“Work” by Rihanna feat. Drake
FAVORITE ALBUM — SOUL/R&B
“Anti” by Rihanna
FAVORITE ARTISTE — RAP/HIP-HOP
Drake
FAVORITE SONG — RAP/HIP-HOP
“Hotline Bling” by Drake
FAVORITE ALBUM — RAP/HIP-HOP
“Views” by Drake
FAVORITE ARTISTE — EDM
The Chainsmokers
FAVORITE MALE ARTISTE — COUNTRY
Blake Shelton
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST — COUNTRY
Carrie Underwood
FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP — COUNTRY
Florida Georgia Line
FAVORITE ALBUM — COUNTRY
Carrie Underwood, Storyteller
FAVORITE SONG — COUNTRY
“Humble and Kind” by Tim McGraw
FAVORITE ARTIST — ADULT CONTEMPORARY
Adele
FAVORITE ARTIST — LATIN
Enrique Iglesias
FAVORITE ARTIST — CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Hillsong UNITED
FAVORITE ARTISTE – ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Twenty One Pilots
TOP SOUNDTRACK
Purple Rain
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
“Sorry” by Justin Bieber
TOUR OF THE YEAR
Beyoncé
For more information, visit the American Music Awards website.
