BIEBER, NICKI MINAJ
TAKE HOLD OF AMAs

The 18-year-old Biebs may now be old enough to vote, and so are his fans, who stormed the Internet to award the teen phenom three awards, including Artist of the Year, as well as Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Album for Believe, on last night’s three-hour ABC prime-time telecast. That gives the young veteran seven AMAs in his brief career.

“This is for all the haters who thought I’d be here just one or two years,” he said, in his sole moment of “I told you so.”

Bieber also performed a pair of songs, including an acoustic version of “As :Long As You Love Me” and “Beauty and a Beat,” the latter with Nicki Minaj, who was the evening’s other multiple winner, taking home two AMAs for Rap Hip-Hop Artist and Album (Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded). She also performed a wild, winter wonderland version of “Freedom” in Dr. Zhivago snow suit which included a full gospel choir.

The venerable show marked its 40th anniversary with a tribute to its founder, the late Dick Clark (featuring a Stevie Wonder medley of “My Cherie Amour” and “Sir Duke”), Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. The finale featured South Korean viral superstar Psy matching dance steps with MC Hammer in a spirited mash-up of “Gangnam Style” and “Too Legit to Quit” that got all the celebs in the audience on their feet.

As always, the awards were handed out largely to those in attendance, with nominations based on a combination of Mediabase airplay figures and consumer information from Big Champagne. Then, it’s just an on line popularity contest. As for the presenters, the likes of Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet and Olympian Apollo Ohno rub elbows with Colbie Caillat and Ne-Yo, with a very good representation of ABC performers.

Still, the AMAs have traditionally marked the beginning of the music awards season, and the artists themselves seem to make a big deal out of them. Certainly this year’s show represented a who’s-who of the current pop music sales and radio airplay charts.

It was a good night for Bieber manager Scooter Braun, too, who saw his Schoolboy Records signing Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen earn New Artist of the Year after performing a medley of her hits, “True Kiss” and the ubiquitous “Call Me Maybe.”

Other winners included Taylor Swift (Favorite Country Female Artist), Linkin Park (Favorite Rock/Alternative Artist), Usher (Favorite Soul/R&B Artist), Luke Bryan (Favorite Country Male Artist), Lady Antebellum (Favorite Country Band, Group or Duo), David Guetta (first-time winner of Favorite Electronic Dance Artist) and Carrie Underwood (Favorite Country Album).

Seven awards were handed out off the air, including ones to Adele (Adult Contemporary), TobyMac (Contemporary Inspirational), Shakira (Latin Music), Maroon 5 (Pop/rock Band, Duo or Group), Katy Perry (Pop/Rock Female) and Rihanna (Soul/R*B Album for Talk That Talk).

Among the performers were Usher (“Numb,” “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop’), The Wanted (“I Found You”), a blonde Kelly Clarkson (a medley including “Miss Independent,” “Since You’ve Been Gone,” “Stronger [What Doesn’t Kill You]” and “Catch My Breath”), Ke$ha (“Die Young”), No Doubt (“Looking Hot”), Taylor Swift (“I Knew You Were Trouble”), P!nk (“Try”), Linkin Park (“Burn It Down”), Christina Aguilera (“Lotus Intro”) and Carrie Underwood (“Two Black Cadillacs”). Others included Pitbull as well as the trio of Swizz Beatz, Chris Brown and Ludacris.

In the wake of the show, AMA performers and songs on the iTunes singles chart as of last night included Psy (#1), KeSha’s “Die Young” (#3), Bieber/Minaj’s “Beauty and a Beat” (#12), Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” (#13), P!nk’s “Try” (#17), Bieber’s “As Long As You Love Me” (#23) and Pitbull’s “Don’t Stop the Party” (#31).