The American Music Awards were presented on ABC from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles Sunday night. YA Pop Culture has the winners below. The winners are marked with an * and in bold from the list of nominees.
The awards show featured performances by Rihanna, Usher, Santana, Pink, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Kid Rock, Katy Perry, Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, Train, Ke$ha, New Kinds on the Block and the Backstreet Boys, and more.
The Artist of the Year Award went to Justin Bieber.
Here are the winners of the 2010 American Music Awards:
Favorite Male Artist, Pop or Rock
Justin Bieber
Favorite Female Artist, Pop or Rock
Lady Gaga
Favorite Band, Duo or Group, Pop or Rock
The Black Eyed Peas
Favorite Album, Pop or Rock
Justin Bieber - My World 2.0
Favorite Male Artist, Country
Brad Paisley
Favorite Female Artist, Country
Taylor Swift
Favorite Band, Duo or Group, Country
Lady Antebellum
Favorite Album, Country
Carrie Underwood - Play On
Favorite Male Artist, Rap/Hip-Hop
Eminem
Favorite Album, Rap/Hip-Hop
Eminem - Recovery
Favorite Male Artist - Soul/R&B
Usher
Favorite Female Artist - Soul/R&B
Rihanna
Favorite Album, Soul/R&B
Usher - Raymond v. Raymond
Favorite Album, Soundtracks
Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers
Favorite Artist, Alternative Rock Music
Muse
Favorite Artist, Adult Contemporary Music
Michael Bublé
Favorite Artist, Latin Music
Shakira
Favorite Artist, Contemporary Inspirational
MercyMe
Artist of the Year
Justin Bieber
T-Mobile Breakthrough Artist Nominations
Justin Bieber
“Innocent” is about Kanye West. “Back to December” might be about Taylor Lautner. “Mean” is all about her critics. And it appears that John Mayer may even be the subject of a song penned by Taylor Swift for her forthcoming album, Speak Now, due October 25.
While Swift isn’t naming names on “Dear John” — well, last names at least — she doesn’t shy away from calling out someone for a love gone terribly wrong. There’s no confirmation that the tune is about Mayer, but some lyrics that have appeared online have everyone wondering if he’s the John she’s singing about.
In the song, Swift really gives it to the aforementioned guy, singing, “Dear John/ I see it all now that you’re gone/ Don’t you think I was too young/ To be messed with/ The girl in the dress/ Cried the whole way home/ I should’ve known.”
Further on, she sings, “It was wrong/ Don’t you think 19’s too young/ To be played/ By your dark, twisted games/ When I loved you so.”
A teenage Swift collaborated with the 30-something Mayer on a tune titled “Half of My Heart,” which appeared on his 2009 album, Battle Studies, and the two had been rumored to have dated for a short period after they worked on the track.
Additional leaked lyrics from “Dear John” include: “My mother accused me of losing my mind/ But I swore I was fine/ You’ll add my name to your long list of traitors who don’t understand/ And I’ll look back in regret, I ignored what they said/ ‘Run as fast as you can.’ ”
Strangely enough, the last line of this verse is very similar to one written by the subject of “Innocent,” West, in his single “Runaway” — off his forthcoming November release, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy — which he performed at the VMAs last month.
Swift recently discussed “Dear John” with the New York Post, admitting, “There’s actually no surprise person on this record.” She added: “I will be excited for you to hear that song, though.”
Taylor Swift is sorry, and she wants one of her former boyfriends to know. On her brand-new track “Back to December,” she’s in full-on apologetic mode.
We may never know who she’s singing about on the ballad, which will appear on her October 25 release Speak Now. But she told MTV News that the time was right for her to write a song in which she said sorry.
“Well, I’ve always sort of written songs about situations in life, things that needed to be said,” she said. “I write songs about people who deserve to have songs written about them, and whatever they need to hear, whatever is the right thing to say to that person, ends up being said.”
On the tune’s chorus, Swift sings, “So this is me swallowing my pride/ Standing in front of you saying ‘I’m sorry’ for that night/ And I go back to December all the time/ It turns out freedom ain’t nothing/ Missing you, wishing I’d realized what I had when you were mine/ I’d go back to December, turn around and make it all right/ I go back to December all the time.”
She says now that those feelings stemmed from a relationship during which she was “careless.”
“I’ve never felt the need to apologize in a song before. But in the last two years I’ve experienced a lot, [including] a lot of different kinds of learning lessons,” she said. “And sometimes you learn a lesson too late and at that point you need to apologize because you were careless.”
This is the fourth song released in advance of Speak Now’s late-October release. The release of the album’s first official single, “Mine,” was followed by the debut of “Innocent” at the VMAs in September. The album’s title track debuted on October 5.
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
You were in college, working part-time, waiting tables
Left a small town and never looked back
I was a flight risk, afraid of fallin'
Wondering why we bother with love, if it never lasts
I say, "Can you believe it?"
As we're lyin' on the couch
The moment, I can see it
Yes, yes, I can see it now
Do you remember, we were sittin' there, by the water?
You put your arm around me for the fist time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine
Flash forward, and we're takin' on the world together
And there's a drawer of my things at your place
You learn my secrets and figure out why I'm guarded
You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes
But we got bills to pay
We got nothin' figured out
When it was hard to take
Yes, yes
This is what I thought about:
Do you remember, we were sittin' there, by the water?
You put your arm around me for the fist time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine
Do you remember all the city lights on the water?
You saw me start to believe for the first time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine
Oh, oh, oh, oh
And I remember that fight, two-thirty AM
You said everything was slipping right out of our hands
I ran out, crying, and you followed me out into the street
Braced myself for the goodbye, cause that's all I've ever known
Then, you took me by surprise
You said, "I'll never leave you alone."
You said, "I remember how we felt, sitting by the water.
And every time I look at you, it's like the first time.
I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter.
She is the best thing that's ever been mine."
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine
Do you believe it?
We're gonna make it now
And I can see it
I can see it now
In the new issue of Glamour, Taylor Swift opened up about the past two (very active) years of her life. The interview touches on everything from the singer’s relationship with Taylor Lautner to the now-infamous Kanye West incident at the 2009 VMAs — but if you think she doesn’t pull any punches in the cover article, just wait until you hear her new album, Speak Now, which is due October 25.
“I’m not only excited about sharing the songs with fans,” Swift said. “I’m also pretty interested to hear the response from the guys I’ve written about on this record.”
At the VMAs last month, Swift debuted “Innocent,” a song from the album that was almost certainly directed at West, while lead Speak single “Mine” is about falling in love with a man who “made a rebel out of a careless man’s careful daughter.” So clearly, she’s singing from the heart, and she’s not afraid to get personal either.
“Everything that happens to me gets put into a song,” Swift explained. “For some reason, I’m really comfortable talking about my personal life in songs. There, I don’t hold back: names, dates, times, expressions on people’s faces, exactly where we were and how it felt, what I wish I would have said to them in the moment.”
It’s not all acrimonious, though. Swift also revealed that, despite splitting with Lautner, he remains one of her “best friends.” She added that she’s looking for a man “who loves what he does. … These days, I look for character and honesty and trust.” And who knows, in that search, she might just find fodder for the follow-up to Speak Now.
“I like to write about relationships,” she said. “I like it when my friends come over and we crowd around the piano and sing Journey songs at the top of our lungs. … And I like things that make me feel 7 again.”
