AMAS TURN TO IDOLATRY
Idol alumni Daughtry and Carrie Underwood were the night’s big winners, with three awards apiece.
Daughtry copped Favorite Pop-Rock album for his self-titled RCA debut, as well as Breakthrough Artist and Adult Contemporary Artist.
Underwood matched her three wins at the Country Music Awards earlier this month with Female Country Artist, Country Album (for Some Hearts) and the T-Mobile text-in “viewer’s choice” award.
Justin Timberlake took home Male Pop-Rock Artist and Soul/R&B Album for FutureSex/LoveSounds, appearing via satellite from Australia, where he is on tour.
Usher presented Beyonce (sitting next to daddy Matthew) with the International Artist award, the first female to nab the honor, which had previously went to the likes of Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and Rod Stewart.
Rapper T.I. was also a double winner as Hip-Hop Male Artist and for the album T.I. vs. T.I.P. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony were named Favorite Hip-Hop Group.
Rascal Flatts was named top Country Duo or Group, Tim McGraw was top Male Country Artist, Akon won Favorite Male Soul/rhythm & Blues Artist and Rihanna bested former Idol Fantasia to win Favorite Female Soul/R&B Artist. Disney’s High School Musical 2 took home best soundtrack honors over Hairspray and Dreamgirls.
Fergie, who defeated Beyonce and Avril Lavigne to win Favorite Pop-Rock Female Artist, opened the show with three songs from her multi-platinum debut, accompanied by will.i.am, who proceeded to do his own solo number, then joined Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger for her performance.
Other performers in the show, which featured music over award speeches, included Celine Dion, Chris Brown, Lenny Kravitz, Duran Duran, Rascal Flatts, Maroon 5, Duran Duran, Lavigne, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Jonas Brothers, and a show-stopping Alicia Keys tribute to ‘70s and ‘80s dancehall that featured such genre stalwards as Junior Reid, Beenie Man and Chaka Demus & Pliers.
Host Jimmy Kimmel joked about the writers’ strike, saying in his capacity as a member of the union, he had to restrict himself to dancing, then pulled Kellie Pickler and Jordin Sparks on-stage to join him in the “Crank That” dance, where they were taught the steps by Soulja Boy himself.
For the first time in its history, the AMA winners were all chosen by votes cast by the public online.
Here's the complete list of winners:
Pop/rock:
Male artist: Justin Timberlake
Female artist: Fergie
Band, duo or group: Nickelback
Album: Daughtry, Daughtry
Soul/R&B:
Male artist: Akon
Female artist: Rihanna
Album: FutureSex/LoveSounds, Justin Timberlake
Rap/hip-hop:
Male artist: T.I.
Band, duo or group: Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
Album: T.I. vs. T.I.P., T.I.
Country:
Male artist: Tim McGraw
Female artist: Carrie Underwood
Band, duo or group: Rascal Flatts
Album: Some Hearts, Carrie Underwood
Breakthrough artist: Daughtry
Adult contemporary: Daughtry
Alternative rock: Linkin Park
Latin: Jennifer Lopez
Contemporary inspirational: Casting Crowns
Soundtracks: Album: High School Musical 2
T-Mobile Text-In Award: Carrie Underwood
International award: Beyonce
