AMAs: One Direction Sweeps Top Honors

One Direction (REUTERS/MARIO ANZUONI)

(Reuters) -- British boy band One Direction swept the top honors at Sunday's American Music Awards, while a sorrowful tribute to the victims of the attacks in Paris lent a somber note to a night of otherwise vibrant performances.

One Direction was named artist of the year for a second consecutive year, and also won the best pop/rock album for a third consecutive year, with the album "Made In The A.M."

"It's absolutely incredible to receive this award two years in a row. It's a testament to how incredible our fans are," band member Louis Tomlinson said.

Actor-musician Jared Leto made a moving tribute to the 130 victims of the deadly Nov. 13 attacks across Paris, specifically the 89 who died at the Bataclan concert hall, where he said he and his band, 30 Seconds to Mars, had performed "a beautiful, peaceful" show earlier this year.

"Tonight we honor victims of the unimaginable violence that took place in Paris and around the world," he said. "France matters, Russia matters, Syria matters, Mali matters, the Middle East matters, the United States matters, the entire world matters and peace is possible."


French-Canadian singer Celine Dion sang Edith Piaf's classic French ode "La Vie en Rose" in memory of those lost.

And The Winners Are:

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Luke Bryan
Ariana Grande
Maroon 5
Nicki Minaj
One Direction -- WINNER
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor
The Weeknd

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Fetty Wap
Sam Hunt -- WINNER
Tove Lo
Walk The Moon
The Weeknd

SONG OF THE YEAR
Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth “See You Again”
Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk!”
Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”
Taylor Swift “Blank Space” -- WINNER
The Weeknd “Can’t Feel My Face”

COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
Wiz Khalifa Featuring Charlie Puth “See You Again”
Rihanna & Kanye West Featuring Paul McCartney “FourFiveSeconds”
Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk!”
Skrillex & Diplo Featuring Justin Bieber “Where Are Ü Now” -- WINNER
Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar “Bad Blood”

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Nick Jonas
Ed Sheeran -- WINNER
Sam Smith

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Ariana Grande -- WINNER
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor

FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK
Maroon 5
One Direction -- WINNER
Walk The Moon

FAVORITE ALBUM – POP/ROCK
Ed Sheeran x
Sam Smith In The Lonely Hour
Taylor Swift 1989 -- WINNER

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan -- WINNER
Sam Hunt

Carrie Underwood (REUTERS/MARIO ANZUONI)

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Kelsea Ballerini
Miranda Lambert
Carrie Underwood -- WINNER

FAVORITE DUO or GROUP - COUNTRY
Zac Brown Band
Florida Georgia Line -- WINNER
Little Big Town

FAVORITE ALBUM - COUNTRY
Jason Aldean Old Boots, New Dirt
Florida Georgia Line Anything Goes -- WINNER
Sam Hunt Montevallo

FAVORITE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP
Drake
Fetty Wap
Nicki Minaj -- WINNER

FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP
J. Cole 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Drake If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
Nicki Minaj The Pinkprint -- WINNER

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown
Trey Songz
The Weeknd -- WINNER

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Beyoncé
Mary J.  Blige
Rihanna -- WINNER

FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown X
D’Angelo and The Vanguard Black Messiah
The Weeknd Beauty Behind the Madness -- WINNER

Fallout Boy (REUTERS/DAVID MCNEW)

FAVORITE ARTIST - ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Fall Out Boy -- WINNER
Hozier
Walk The Moon

FAVORITE ARTIST - ADULT CONTEMPORARY
Ed Sheeran
Taylor Swift -- WINNER
Meghan Trainor

FAVORITE ARTIST - LATIN
Enrique Iglesias -- WINNER
Ricky Martin
Romeo Santos

FAVORITE ARTIST - CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Casting Crowns -- WINNER
Hillsong United
MercyMe

FAVORITE ARTIST - ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC (EDM)
Calvin Harris -- WINNER
David Guetta
Zedd

TOP SOUNDTRACK
Fifty Shades of Grey
Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1
Pitch Perfect 2 -- WINNER

Key winners on the night included Taylor Swift, who went into the night with a leading six nominations and won three awards but did not attend the event.

Nicki Minaj won two awards in the rap/hip hop categories, The Weeknd won two soul/R&B awards, Florida Georgia Line won two country music awards and country artist Sam Hunt was named best new artist.

Unlike the irreverent antics of MTV's Video Music Awards and the industry prestige of the Grammy Awards, the fan-voted AMAs offer up the year's most popular music acts, with a spotlight on performances.

"Star Wars" veteran Harrison Ford introduced five-piece a cappella group Pentatonix, who put their vocals to John Williams' iconic "Star Wars" score, along with a full orchestra on stage. The performance comes ahead of next month's highly-anticipated new "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" film.

Show host Jennifer Lopez danced through a high-octane medley of this year's top pop songs, saying: "Tonight is about the music, and this year's music makes me want to dance."

One of the biggest talking points came courtesy of Meghan Trainor and Charlie Puth, who took audiences by surprise with a steamy kiss after their duet "Marvin Gaye."

Selena Gomez performed a sultry rendition of her latest hit "Same Old Love," country star Carrie Underwood belted her romantic ballad "Heartbeat" and Ariana Grande got the crowd dancing with her upbeat hit "Focus." Justin Bieber sang and danced through a medley of his hits, ending with a shower of rain on stage.

The Weeknd set the stage on real fire for his performance of "The Hills," while Coldplay brought out dancing monkeys on a psychedelic stage for "Adventure of a Lifetime," and Walk The Moon started a dance party with their hit "Shut Up And Dance."

(Editing by Peter Cooney and Mary Milliken)



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