Teen pop sensation Justin Bieber dominated the 2010 American Music Awards, beating out veteran performers to win artist of the year and three other trophies Sunday night.
“This is big,” said the 16-year-old Canadian, whose first single hit the charts barely 18 months ago.
Fans voting online chose Bieber over Eminem, Ke$ha, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry for the night’s top honor.
Bieber also out-polled Usher, who helped launch and guide his career, and Eminem to win the favorite rock or pop male artist award.
He noted that he first watched Eminem when he was just three years old.
Bieber called Usher “not only my mentor, but my best friend and my big brother.” The two hugged and shared the stage as the three-hour-long show neared an end.
Bieber also won the breakthrough artist and favorite album awards.
Apparently running out of new people to thank in his acceptance speeches, Bieber mentioned the king of pop. “I want to thank Michael Jackson, because without Michael Jackson none of us would be here,” Bieber said.
A music awards show seems incomplete without unplanned onstage antics. Rapper Nicki Minaj provided the closest thing to that this year when she interrupted the announcement of favorite soul or R&B female artist to plug her upcoming album release.
Rihanna, the category’s winner, graciously ignored the slight and even complimented Minaj for her green hair.
Taylor Swift, who was last year’s big winner with five awards, only won favorite country female artist this year. “I only want to thank the fans,” Swift said. “You guys get me, and you know where I’m coming from.”
Other winners included:
— Lady Antebellum, favorite country band, duo or group
— Black Eyed Peas, favorite pop or rock band, duo or group
— Muse, favorite alternative rock artist
— Shakira, favorite Latin music artist
— Michael Buble, favorite adult contemporary artist
Usher was in tears after losing two awards at the American Music Awards to Justin Bieber, including favorite entertainer of the year, the top AMA honor.
But Usher wasn’t upset about his loss — far from it. Instead, he was welling with pride over the success of his young protege, Justin Bieber, who was the night’s biggest winner with four awards and the youngest performer ever to capture the entertainer award.
“To see Justin take the award — having received that award before — it was like an out of body experience, you understand?” Usher said backstage. “It was emotional. I don’t cry that often, but I did. Hopefully it gives an indication of how hard we worked to build a career that hopefully will flourish and blossom over the years.”
Bieber, who is signed to Usher’s label, had a perfect debut at the American Music Awards, winning all four awards he was nominated for: entertainer of the year, breakthrough artist of the year, favorite pop/rock male and favorite pop/rock album for “My World 2.0.”
Bieber’s debut album is one of the year’s top-sellers, with almost two million sold, and he’s got a new CD, “My Worlds Acoustic,” out this week at Walmart. His ascension marks a phenomenal rise since first garnering attention via homemade videos on YouTube about three years ago.
“This means the world to me,” said Bieber after winning breakthrough artist. “I come from the smallest town in the world, of like 30,000 people; I never thought this was possible.”
Bieber bested mentor Usher and Eminem for two of his wins. Eminem, whose “Recovery” was a critical and commercial triumph, was nominated for five awards on the evening, tying him with Lady Antebellum, who also had a breakthrough year with their near triple-platinum album “Need You Now.”
Justin Bieber gets down on his knees as he performs “Pray” at the 2010 American Music Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon (November 21).
The 16-year-old musician, joined by BFFs Jaden and Willow Smith, won four awards, including Favorite Breakthrough Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist.
