Taylor Swift wins third AMA top honor
Taylor Swift’s fans have done it again, voting her the American Music Awards artist of the year for a third time.
Swift won Sunday night’s top honor, giving her a leading four trophies as fans celebrated the women of pop music.
Swift didn’t perform, but she was a constant presence on stage and the camera alighted on her as she danced to stars like Kendrick Lamar and Luke Bryan. Her win came after Katy Perry dazzled with her show-opening performance, Lady Gaga found another inventive way to grab your attention, Rihanna starred with her mother and Miley Cyrus closed performances with the assistance of a giant lip-syncing CGI kitty on her song “Wrecking Ball.”
“I’m really out of breath,” Swift said after taking the stage in a sequined mini-dress. “I was really going hard with the ‘Wrecking Ball’ thing.”
The 23-year-old pop star also won country album of the year for “Red” and favorite female country and pop/rock artist.
“ ‘Red’ is very different than any album I’ve made before and the reason I was able to do that was because of the fans,” Swift said. “I cannot believe what you’ve done in the last year. This album came out almost exactly a year ago and the fact that 6 million of you went out and bought it is crazy.”
Justin Timberlake was next with three wins. One Direction and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won two awards, and Rihanna was given the AMA’s first Icon Award to go with her win as favorite soul/R&B female artist.
Nickelodeon star Ariana Grande was named favorite new artist, Florida Georgia Line won single of the year for “Cruise” with Nelly in something of a surprise, Luke Bryan won favorite male country artist, and favorite rap/hip-hop act Macklemore & Ryan Lewis used their rap/hip-hop album acceptance speech to send a message of tolerance.
Ben Haggerty, the rapper known as Macklemore, accepted the award for favorite rap/hip-hop album, then quoted Martin Luther King Jr. in a live satellite feed from the rap group’s latest tour stop.
“Due to the fact that we are in Florida tonight accepting this award I want to acknowledge Trayvon Martin and the hundreds and hundreds of kids each year that are dying due to racial profiling and the violence that follows it,” he said. “This is really happening. These are our friends, our neighbors, our peers and our fans, and it’s time that we look out for the youth and fight against racism and the laws that protect it.”
Florida became a focal point after Martin’s killer was freed under the state’s stand-your-ground law. It was the first win of the night for Macklemore and Lewis, whose album “The Heist” has been an unexpected hit and made them the AMA’s top nominees with six. Lewis is originally from Spokane and attended Ferris High School.