We’re following all the action from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles where Jennifer Lopez is hosting the 43rd AMAs. Will Taylor Swift win everything? Will Justin Bieber continue his reinvention? Will Pitbull show up? Find out here
4.34am GMT
Here’s a full list of winners including the gongs they didn’t give out on the night. Taylor Swift actually won three, including two biggies – song of the year and album of the year.
4.19am GMT
J-Lo thanks everyone for making her dreams come true. She was hardly even on screen in the end. She did a decent job, but on the whole compared to the genuine glitz of the Grammys and the manufactured drama of the MTV awards, this all felt a bit budget.
Go to the AMAs they said, rub shoulders with the rich and glamorous I assumed. But no, in a chilly tent me and some other ‘hacks’ sat on the floor with bags of Cheetos watching Jennifer Lopez’s own interpretation of Pan’s People, a weird nod to 1995 featuring Alanis Morissette and Demi Lovato prowling around a stage and an acappella group humming over an orchestra.
It’s hard to get excited about an Ariana Grande performance while a security guard keeps asking you to move aside so a prop can be stored in a cupboard.
4.09am GMT
Our story about Jared Leto and Celine Dion’s tribute to the victims of the Paris attacks is here.
4.07am GMT
Here’s a short video on the making of Where Are U Now. It’s pretty impressive and explains where that weird “dolphin” sound comes from (it wasn’t an actual dolphin btw).
4.04am GMT
He’s singing Where Are U Now and doing a nice little choreographed bit. Oh, now it’s raining. Someone get that guy an umbrella. Is Rihanna in the house? I need to go home
4.01am GMT
“Welcome back, Justin Bieber!” shouts Ciara. Did he ever go away? Off we go
4.00am GMT
For the second year in a row it’s One Direction. They’re thanking their families and their record label, saying “Obviously we’re going on a little break - we’re going to spend time with our families and it’s going to be amazing.”
3.58am GMT
Jeremy Renner is out to present the biggie: artist of the year, and then Justin Bieber will close the show
3.52am GMT
The Weeknd just won best soul/R&B male. It’s been his year - the second AMA he’s scooped of the evening too. He’s dominated the airwaves with Earned it, Can’t Feel My Face and The Hills, and his speech is short and sweet.
3.51am GMT
Alex Needham’s one-word review: “terrible”. Let’s all move on.
3.49am GMT
Oh, there’s an orchestra and now they’re just playing the Star Wars theme with Pentatonix singing “lallalalalalalalala” over the top of it.
3.48am GMT
Ok, this is terrible. Worse than the snog. Worse than if the snog had never finished and that was the only thing my eyes could ever see again. Someone pull the plug
3.47am GMT
He’s introducing the Star Wars theme - I hope this is good because it has the potential to be garbage
3.46am GMT
Now a new scene from the Star Wars movie. Finn (John Bodega) runs towards something that blows up. Harrison Ford is here now …
3.40am GMT
Dion is singing a version of Edith Piaf’s Hymne à L’Amour, a song she sang when she heard of the death of Marcel Cerdan, the middle weight boxer with whom she had a love affair. Here’s a full account:
“[T]he true story of how Piaf heard of Cerdan’s death was even more poignant than the version you gave. Piaf was not in Paris at all, but in New York, fulfilling an engagement at the Versailles night-spot, and awaiting Cerdan’s arrival for his rematch with Jake LaMotta.
She was told the tragic news at the apartment where she was staying. That night, as the last number of a performance curtailed by emotional distress, she sang L’Hymne à l’Amour, and collapsed. They had been each other’s greatest love, and she never fully recovered. (Of course, Cerdan would have won his title back.)
3.36am GMT
Jared Leto is out to introduce Celine Dion who is singing a tribute to the victims of the Paris terrorist attack. He’s talking about how his band 30 Seconds to Mars played the Bataclan on their last tour. He calls it a “horrific and senseless tragedy”.
3.32am GMT
Favourite rap/hip-hop artist is Nicki Minaj. She’s beaten Drake and Fetty Wap, neither of whom are in attendance tonight. Nicki thanks the AMAs for their support and the other artists on the Pinkprint including ‘Queen B’. Minaj graciously shouts out Fetty Wapp for “having this much success so early on the Billboard Hot 100”.
3.28am GMT
You’d hold me until you died
‘Til you died, but you’re still alive
3.25am GMT
Anna Kendrick is back to introduce Alanis Morrisette singing You Outta Know for NO APPARENT REASON with Demi Lovato
3.23am GMT
There is no music anymore.
It's all lip syncing done with a dance routine.
Just something to bear in mind
3.21am GMT
#AMAs pic.twitter.com/qZb9pPxKZI
3.21am GMT
Fall Out Boy just won the alternative/rock award. The other two contenders were Walk the Moon and Hozier, so we’re not exactly talking Throbbing Gristle here. They say they’ve been doing this 15 years and started out “the stinky band that played in basements”, and now - “we still stink!” They thank the fans, like everyone.
3.18am GMT
Fifth Harmony are here now. Did you know they took over the AMAs Snapchat channel? Nope. Neither did we.
3.16am GMT
Macklemore, Ryan Lewis and Leon Bridges are here now for some sort of moody collab. Macklemore looks like he should be in a production of Glengarry Glenross
Related: Leon Bridges and Curtis Harding: the new stars of classic soul
3.13am GMT
Luke Bryan and Karen Fairchild are duetting now. They’re singing Home Alone Tonight. Which sounds like a pretty fun way to spend my evening right now …
3.10am GMT
Ariana came in to do the photo bit but didn’t hang about for interviews.
3.05am GMT
Collaboration of the year, presented by P Diddy, goes to Skrillex, Diplo and Justin Bieber for Where Are Ü Now. Skrillex says that he’s just trying to move music forward and that with all the negativity in the world, it’s important to produce something positive. Justin doesn’t say anything. It’s his eighth award.
3.03am GMT
Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs is here. He was introduced as a “Multi-talented musician and entrepreneur”. Wonder if he wrote that?
3.01am GMT
Lots of fire here. Bieber looks scared, maybe he’s a pyrophobia. It looks like the Weeknd is going to join J-Lo in Vegas doing a Copperfield-style magic show. Wiz Khalifa is singing along, Nic Jonas looked like he was going to cry. Perhaps this is everyone’s favourite slow jam. One of the best performances so far.
2.58am GMT
J-Lo tells us we’ve still got the exclusive Star Wars clip and Justin Bieber. Now we’ve got a performance by the Weeknd.
2.55am GMT
Here are a couple of observations from Michael Cragg who is going deep into the heart of the American Dream tonight:
Carrie Underwood and Demi Lovato both ran away from me :/
It’s so weird in this tent. We’re just sat on the floor in front of two screens eating Cheetos. Bands are coming into the press room part now so I’ll try and get stuff from that
2.53am GMT
It’s the best country female category, won by Carrie Underwood for the third time. Grady’s a fan: he wrote of her hit Smoke Break:
Smoke Break thrives on empathy, not escapism. The characters in Underwood’s song aren’t drinking and smoking out of some cheap desire to prove their country cred or get wasted in a cornfield. They’re doing so in order to ease their minds for a moment, and Underwood sympathizes with them, saying: “I understand if you wanna take a load off.”
She’s not laying back in her shades and getting stoned, she’s not kicking the dust up with a jar full of “clear”, and she’s not waking up the neighbors ’til the whole block hates her. She’s just singing about real life, and sometimes that’s enough.
2.50am GMT
Coldplay have gone for a kaleidoscopic backdrop, presumably to make this new material seem anything other than the beige middle of the road nonsense that it is.
2.47am GMT
Ariana Grande can mention her grandma all she wants. I still remember this …
Related: Ariana Grande doughnut-licking scandal unlikely to derail star on the rise
2.46am GMT
Fall Out Boy are here to introduce Coldplay
2.46am GMT
Take that Taylor! Redeemed donut-licker Ariane Grande just won female artist of the year (pop/rock). Her performance of Focus earlier in the evening was a corker. She thanks her family, fans and nona (who is in the audience).
2.44am GMT
Paula Abdul and Donnie Wahlburg are introducing the best female artist now
2.43am GMT
“Get on your feet! Here is Walk the Moon with Shut Up and Dance,” says Hailee Steinfeld to no one in particular.
2.35am GMT
J.Lo fluffed the intro to new artist of the year ... and it’s Sam Hunt, who our Grady Smith tipped as a future superstar. Grady said:
Hunt’s party songs feel youthful and effervescent, but not mindless. His hookup songs feel confident and suave, but not manipulative. He may be singing about the same stuff as country’s most famous “bros”, but the fact that Hunt’s music sounds so appealing underlines the reality that bro country’s true downfall is its aggressive and douchey tone, not its lyrical content. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Hunt is classically handsome.
2.31am GMT
Nick Jonas channeling his inner John Bonham with a drum solo.
2.28am GMT
Nick Jonas is here to perform three songs. I’m going to make a cup of tea.
2.23am GMT
Nicki Minaj just posted this without comment. Meek Mill is having a terrible year
2.22am GMT
Honestly just makes me even more excited about Episode VII. pic.twitter.com/d8CV6Pv1o3
2.20am GMT
Time for some Clueless nostalgia. Alicia Silverstone and Jeremy Sisto are introducing Gwen Stefani who is singing Used To Love You. She’s really giving it some welly …
2.16am GMT
One Direction are performing. Harry is not wearing the curtain suit. They’re singing live and Alex Needham says that it’s just “Taylor Swift’s Style slightly redone”. Judge for yourself
2.14am GMT
Nicki Minaj just beat Drake and J Cole to best hip-hop album for The Pinkprint. In a spectacular pink and gold dress, she says that she has the best fans on the planet, and that The Pinkprint was the hardest album she’s ever made and performed. “Find your voice and find your purpose before it’s too late,” she concludes.
Here’s our panel verdict on The Pinkprint.
2.11am GMT
Kylie Jenner and Gig Hadid are here to intro the nominees for hip-hop album
2.09am GMT
Here’s that Muppets ad I was talking about
2.08am GMT
We’ve just launched a gallery of the best and worst looks from the evening, including a lot of side boob and a dress that looks like an octopus on Z LaLa.
2.05am GMT
The award for favourite soundtrack goes to Pitch Perfect 2, beating out Fifty Shades of Grey and Empire. Anna Kendrick accepts it with a flurry of gags including “Don’t tell anyone about that hooker we buried.”
2.05am GMT
2.02am GMT
J-Lo is here to reset the mood after that snog. Who’s on next … Ariana Grande. I wonder who she’ll snog?
1.58am GMT
They’ve done it before …
1.54am GMT
We don’t have a snap of that snog yet so you’ll have to use your imagination and splice these two pictures together in your mind.
1.53am GMT
It’s the country male award and it goes to ... Luke Bryan! His single Kick the Dust Up was described as “thuddingly dim” by our country critic Grady Smith - oh dear. He thanks his booking agent.
1.50am GMT
This is quite pedestrian. Charlie Puth is doing his song Marvin Gaye with Trainor and I’m slowly falling asleep.
Related: American Music Awards 2015 – the winners so far
1.47am GMT
Meghan Trainor is here now doing this little ditty
1.45am GMT
There’s a really funny Muppets ad that’s riffing on Adele’s video for Hello. Apart from Prince, that was easily the best thing so far. Did we mention Adele had a new album out ...
Related: Adele's 25 set to break UK first-week album sales record
1.43am GMT
Here’s a closer view of that stair case that I mentioned before.
1.43am GMT
It’s all happening in the press bit.
So honoured to have this unique view of Jennifer Lopez #AMAs pic.twitter.com/ZvcYVFHdBr
1.42am GMT
A gag from our Anne T. Bieber in a Nirvana T-shirt. Wonder what Kurt Cobain would have thought.
When you're at the #AMAs but a little bit sad you're missing The Walking Dead pic.twitter.com/qeExNd3qc6
1.40am GMT
One Direction just won the favourite duo or group - pop/rock, their sixth such award. They said that they loved their fans and had different outfits on to their suited-up red carpet look, with Harry in a Gucci floral number that made him look like a pair of curtains.
1.39am GMT
Demi Lovato is here now performing and fighting with her own hair. It’s minimal stuff. There’s no big production, just two backing dancers. It’s pretty good actually.
1.36am GMT
We have a name dropper in our midst people. Johnpourri has been hanging out with Romeo Santos in Santo Domingo no less.
That Romeo Santos is a lovely chap. I met him in Santo Domingo a few years ago and he had them all wild with Aventura. Top night.
1.34am GMT
Jenny McCarthy is here to introduce Carrie Underwood, the down-to-earth country star who we talked to a couple of years ago.
Related: Carrie Underwood: 'I turned down a free private jet'
1.30am GMT
Nicki Minaj is here to give out the award for best pop/rock group
1.29am GMT
Another dispatch from Michael Cragg now who is watching the show in some sort of huge hangar. He’s got some crisps/chips though, so it’s not the end of the world
This is where I’m watching the awards. I worry it’s some sort of X Files experiment
“The glamour of the press tent catering! Although actually this was all swiped from the artists’ and dancers’ bit which might explain the stern looks”
1.28am GMT
And you can see J-Lo’s booty-tastic performance miming to a bunch of other people’s hits - albeit in a very spectacular style - right here.
1.24am GMT
She’s doing Same Old Love, and it’s a pretty sultry smokey number replete with mysterious choreography with dancers wearing all black.
1.22am GMT
Selena Gomez is on now, running up a stair case
1.20am GMT
Five Seconds of Summer are performing now, I thought it was 30 Seconds to Mars for a second. They’re playing Hey Everybody, which is a pleasant bit of pop-punk. Instantly forgettable and a bit dull but perfectly pleasant still
1.18am GMT
That was a pretty impressive intro (minus the J-Lo Las Vegas promo section). Prince comes on looking like an alien emperor and the Weeknd sounds like a humble dude.
Now J-Lo is talking about listening to Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. This is a dream come true for her apparently.
1.13am GMT
1.13am GMT
The Weeknd winning isn’t much of a surprise he’s had a huge year. He ditched his outsider R&B and figured out if he embraced some pop sensibilities he could sell a load of records and get a song about doing cocaine to number 1. Got to hand it to him, really.
Related: With dark tales of sex and drugs, is the Weeknd the next face of R&B?
1.09am GMT
PRINCE IS DISHING OUT THE FIRST AWARD! It’s for Soul, and R&B album
1.09am GMT
The most awkward thing about this is seeing the faces of the non-plussed artists who are in the audience watching one of their childhood heroes interpret their songs in an odd dance routine. Bieber responded by doing a robot dance
1.06am GMT
“It’s the star-studded show of the year,” we’re told. They’re just running through the ridiculously long list of performers. This is going to fly by …
12.53am GMT
The awards are decided by fan votes and in some cases “editorially” by the people over at Billboard. Because of those two factors I think Taylor Swift is going to pretty much win everything. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
Related: Meet Sam Hunt, future superstar – and a pop wolf in country clothing
Related: The dismal ‘evolution’ of country is forcing fans to look outside Nashville
12.45am GMT
Michael Cragg is at the epicentre of the action (sandwiched between Radio Disney and the Mail Online no less!), while suffering in the 90 degree heat he managed to fire off this dispatch:
“More relaxed than the Grammys and less thirsty when it comes to controversy than the MTV Video Music awards, this year’s American Music Awards - now in their 43rd year - are hosted by ageless actress, perfumier and occasional pop star Jennifer Lopez.
Not only will she be reading awkwardly from an autocue but she’ll also be using her performance as a teaser for her forthcoming Las Vegas residency so expect subtly, minimalism and raw emotion. Other performances to keep an eye on will be Justin Bieber’s medley of his two emotionally passive aggressive singles What Do You Mean? and Sorry, which will likely involve a few cut away shots of sometime girlfriend Selena Gomez (she’s also performing at some point). While the award show mainstays such as The Weeknd, Coldplay, Gwen Stefani and Ariana Grande will no doubt feature some lovely lasers and such like, the real intrigue comes from the slightly more unexpected; for reasons no one’s quite fathomed out yet, Demi Lovato will be joined by Alanis Morissette for a run through of the latter’s 1995 lullaby You Oughta Know, while acapella nightmare Pentatonix will perform a version of the Star Wars theme. Seriously.
12.42am GMT
Tonight is one of the biggest award shows in the US. It’s not at the level of the Grammys but a look at the list of the people they’ve got performing shows you this isn’t the Smash Hit awards:
Alessia Cara
Shawn Mendes
“ABC is betting big on its American Music Awards broadcast tonight. Last year’s live show gave ABC its strongest primetime entertainment ratings since the Academy Awards eight months earlier, attracting 11.6 million viewers. Social numbers are also strong: Last year, 5.65 million tweets were sent during the broadcast. The AMAs have been pushing social engagement - announcing nominees via Snapchat, allowing fan voting on Twitter and Facebook and sharing exclusive content across multiple platforms – so it’s likely this year’s Twitter tally will be even higher.”
Kelsea Ballerini
Ashley Benson
“While Kylie Jenner and Tyga’s split remains a serious question mark after one viral Snapchat, we can confirm that the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star will be a presenter at Sunday’s telecast. In addition, newly single Gigi Hadid and Joe Jonas are also expected to present separate awards during the show. We have a lot to keep up with tonight.”
12.37am GMT
Hello and welcome to the American Music Awards liveblog, where we’ll be keeping up with all the action from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Along with Alex Needham, I’ll be frantically typing about the antics from New York and we’ll have some input from Michael Cragg who is on the ground in LA with all the stars.
12.37am GMT
The American Music awards first took place in 1974, the year I (Alex Needham) was born. Bing Crosby won the award of merit, Tony Orlando and Dawn got favourite pop single for Tie a Yellow Ribbon and, perhaps more excitingly, Stevie Wonder won best soul/R&B single for Superstition. Here he is doing it.
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