American Music Awards 2012: Justin Bieber Shirtless and Psy Will Perform at the 2012 AMAs
The 40th American Music Awards will take place this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. (ETS) from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California. The program will be broadcast on ABC, and will feature performances by Carly Rae Jepsen, Kelly Clarkson and Nicki Minaj among others.
However, besides Korean pop sensation PSY and the reunion of No Doubt, this year's presenters, performers and nominees are the usual — and predictable — suspects who also parade in all the other award ceremonies (making them practicably indistinguishable from each other).
One of them is ubiquitous "Boyfriend" Justin Bieber, who recently broke up with Selena Gomez and celebrated it by posting a shirtless photo of himself on Instagram. The post has originated online rumors that the teen idol could also show it off during Sunday's live performance.
The AMAs will also be an opportunity for British boy band The Wanted to debut on the national stage. They're competing in the Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group with rivals One Direction, but only The Wanted will be performing live (perhaps producers were trying to avoid a fist fight between the bands, which reportedly agreed to settle their differences the old fashion way).
This year also introduces the Favorite Electronic Dance Music category for which David Guetta, Calvin Harris and Skrillex are nominated. Here's the full list of this year's nominees and presenters:
Nominees:
Artist of the Year:
Drake
Justin Bieber
Maroon 5
Katy Perry
Rihanna
Sprint New Artist of the Year:
J. Cole
fun.
Gotye
Carly Rae Jepsen
One Direction
Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist:
Justin Bieber
Flo Rida
Pitbull
Usher
Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist:
Kelly Clarkson
Nicki Minaj
Rihanna
Katy Perry
Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group:
Maroon 5
One Direction
The Wanted
Favorite Pop/Rock Album:
Believe by Justin Bieber
Overexposed by Maroon 5
Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded by Nicki Minaj
Up All Night by One Direction
Favorite Country Male Artist:
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
Favorite Country Female Artist:
Miranda Lambert
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood
Favorite Country Band/Duo/Group:
Zac Brown Band
Lady Antebellum
Rascal Flatts
Favorite Country Album:
Tailgates & Tanlines by Luke Bryan
Tuskegee by Lionel Richie
Blown Away by Carrie Underwood
Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist:
Drake
Nicki Minaj
Tyga
Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album:
Cole World: The Sideline Story by J. Cole
Take Care by Drake
Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded by Nicki Minaj
Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist:
Chris Brown
Trey Songz
Usher
Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist:
Beyoncé
Mary J. Blige
Rihanna
Favorite Soul/R&B Album:
Fortune by Chris Brown
Talk That Talk by Rihanna
Looking 4 Myself by Usher
Favorite Alternative Artist:
The Black Keys
Gotye
Linkin Park
Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist:
Adele
Kelly Clarkson
Train
Favorite Latin Artist:
Don Omar
Pitbull
Shakira
Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist:
Jeremy Camp
Newsboys
tobyMac
Favorite Electronic Dance Music (NEW):
David Guetta
Calvin Harris
Skrillex
Performers (in alphabetical order):
Christina Aguilera
Justin Bieber
Carly Rae Jepsen
Kelly Clarkson
Ke$ha
Linkin Park
Nicki Minaj
No Doubt
P!nk
Pitbull
PSY
Taylor Swift
Swizz Beats feat. Chris Brown & Ludacris
Carrie Underwood
Usher
The Wanted
Stevie Wonder