American Music Awards 2012: Justin Bieber Shirtless and Psy Will Perform at the 2012 AMAs

Culture

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