Hosted by Tracee Ellis Ross, the 2018 American Music Awards took place on Tuesday, Oct. 9, at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, California. From Migos to 21 Savage, some of today’s teens favorite artists were all in attendance.
The AMAs are well-known for being one of the few awards shows that are completely fan-voted, meaning the general public is in full control over which musicians take home each award.
This year, fans were able to vote in 29 different categories, such as Artist of the Year, New Artist of the year and Video of the Year.
Leading the list of nominations were rappers Cardi B and Drake, who each were nominated in eight categories. The two chart-topping rappers went head head-to-head in battle for Video of the Year, Favorite Artist- Rap/Hip-Hop and Favorite Song- Rap/Hip-Hop.
This year, artists such as Shawn Mendes, Jennifer Lopez, Post Malone and Dua Lipa were all set to take the stage for a spectacular performance.
Recap
The AMAs made history once again with a dance break from host Tracee Ross, a tribute to Aretha Franklin, and wise words from the stars to encourage young people to get out and vote. Not to mention mind-blowing performances from some of the biggest artists in music.
Taylor Swift opened the show with her new single, “I Did Something Bad,” followed by a dance break from Tracee Ross, who performed to a melody of hip-hop/rap tracks. Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin performed their summer smash “I Like It,”and Camila Cabello performed “Consequences,” her third and final single from her debut album, “Camila.” Panic! At The Disco paid tribute to rock band Queen with their performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and the show ended with an emotional tribute to soul artist Aretha Franklin.
Camila Cabello, Taylor Swift and Kane Brown were some of the biggest winners of the night.
Cabello left the AMAs with four of the biggest awards of the night- New Artist of the Year, Collaboration of the Year (“Havana”) with Young Thug, Video of the Year (“Havana”), and Favorite Song- Pop/Rock (“Havana”).
Swift took home the awards for Artist of the Year, Tour of the Year (“Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour”), Favorite Female Artist- Rock/Pop, and Favorite Album- Pop/Rock with reputation. Swift officially broke Whitney Houston’s record for the most awarded female ever in AMAs history. The pop star now has a total of 23 wins, surpassing Houston’s record of 22.
Brown, a rising country music artist, took home the awards for Favorite Male Artist- Country, Favorite Album- Country with Kane Brown, and Favorite Song- Country with “Heaven”.
After accepting the award for Artist of the Year, Taylor Swift concluded her speech by encouraging young people to get out and vote on Nov. 6 for the Midterm Election.
“I just wanted to make a mention of the fact that this award and every single award given out tonight were voted on by the people,” the singer expressed. “And you know what else is voted on by the people is the midterm elections on Nov. 6. Get out and vote, I love you guys.”
Earlier this week, Swift took to Instagram to share that she herself will be voting in November, and encouraged all young people to at least register to vote, and hopefully go out and vote.
According to Billboard, the 2018 American Music Awards drew in approximately 6.55 million viewers. That is down 28 percent in comparison to the 2017 broadcast, which brought in a total of 9.15 million viewers. The 2017 AMAs definitely featured more on-stage collaborations from artists such as Selena Gomez and Marshmello, Imagine Dragons and Khalid and Zedd with Alessia Cara.
Music award season won’t continue until next year, where the 61st annual Grammy Awards will aired live Sunday, Feb. 10, on CBS from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The 2019 Grammy nominees will officially be announced on Wednesday, Dec. 5.
I’m Dylan Jahnke, and this is my second year with 42Fifty, which I first joined as a staff member. I am a senior at Oswego High School, and I plan to study mass communications/music management in college. I hope to one day have my own radio talk show or get into artist management. If I’m not writing or editing for 42Fifty, I’m either working at Culver’s, hanging out with friends and family, or doing homework. I am humbled to say I began my 42Fifty career my junior year as a staff writer, then Arts & Entertainment editor first semester of my senior year and now Editor-in-Chief.
