Usher was in tears after losing two awards at the American Music Awards to Justin Bieber, including favorite entertainer of the year, the top AMA honor.
But
Usher wasn't upset about his loss — far from it. Instead, he was welling with
pride over the success of his young protege, Justin Bieber, who was the night's
biggest winner with four awards and the youngest performer ever to capture the
entertainer award.
"To
see Justin take the award — having received that award before — it was like an
out of body experience, you understand?" Usher said backstage. "It
was emotional. I don't cry that often, but I did. Hopefully it gives an
indication of how hard we worked to build a career that hopefully will flourish
and blossom over the years."
Bieber,
who is signed to Usher's label, had a perfect debut at the American Music
Awards, winning all four awards he was nominated for: entertainer of the year,
breakthrough artist of the year, favorite pop/rock male and favorite pop/rock
album for "My World 2.0."
Bieber's
debut album is one of the year's top-sellers, with almost two million sold, and
he's got a new CD, "My Worlds Acoustic," out this week at Walmart.
His ascension marks a phenomenal rise since first garnering attention via
homemade videos on YouTube about three years ago.
"This
means the world to me," said Bieber after winning breakthrough artist.
"I come from the smallest town in the world, of like 30,000 people; I
never thought this was possible."
Bieber
bested mentor Usher and Eminem for two of his wins. Eminem, whose
"Recovery" was a critical and commercial triumph, was nominated for
five awards on the evening, tying him with Lady Antebellum, who also had a
breakthrough year with their near triple-platinum album "Need You
Now."
Neither
were the night's big winners, but they came away from the night with something:
Eminem got two awards, while the country trio won favorite country band, duo or
group.
"Thanks
for inviting us to the party," said Lady A's Charles Kelley after the win.
Other
winners included Black Eyed Peas and Taylor Swift. But Sunday's ceremony at the
Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles was as much a showcase for acts with new albums as
it was a celebration of the biggest achievers of 2010. While some of the
night's winners will likely be nominees when next week's Grammys are announced,
the American Music Awards aren't so much a predictor of the Grammys is it is a
party for the industry's mainstream acts.
Rihanna,
with her hair dyed a ruby red, gave the show a colorful and sexy start,
performing a medley of songs from her just released album "Loud,"
including the No. 1 hit "What's My Name," wearing a bustier and what
seemed like a scarf wrapped around her backside.
"This
is amazing!" said an exuberant Rihanna, who danced onstage later to
receive her award — favorite soul/R&B female.
The
Black Eyed Peas, winners for favorite pop/rock band, gave a levitating
performance, singing from boxes atop the stage during part of their performance
of their new single, "The Time." Kid Rock gave a stirring, acoustic
performance of "Times Like These," his song lifting up his hometown
of Detroit during its recent economic struggles, from his new CD, "Born
Free."
A
pregnant Pink was among the evening's performance highlights. Unlike recent
performances marked by a high-wire act, she stayed close to the ground to
perform her latest song, "Raise Your Glass," with a tightly
choreographed, high-energy dance number.
Swift,
last year's artist of the year, took home favorite country female. Sporting
sleek blonde hair instead of her usual cascading curls, Swift said simply:
"I just want to thank the fans."
Swift
later performed her new single "Back to December," a song she also
performed on the CMA Awards earlier in the month, but mixed things up by
incorporating some of OneRepublic's "Apologize."
Ke$ha,
perhaps trying to make up for the absent Lady Gaga, had the night's most
bizarre performance: She performed her heavily Auto-Tuned hit "Take It
Off" looking like something out of space, with beams of light for eyes and
sporting a motorcycle helmet. She then stripped down to a mirrored outfit,
segueing into the next song with a pack of male dancers dressed like her,
complete with blond wigs and fishnet stockings.
Entertainment
writers Sandy M. Cohen and Derrik J. Lang contributed to this report.
Copyright
2010 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Chris Pizzello)
