The 45th American Music Awards premiered Sunday November 19th, 2017 on ABC. It was hosted by “Black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross, who promised that the show would focus on “women who take up space,” which it certainly did. The show opened up with a duet performance by Pink and Kelly Clarkson singing R.E.M.’s Everybody Hurts. Later that evening, singer, Demi Lovato, performed her hit song Sorry Not Sorry. She sat in the audience in the beginning as hateful tweets directed towards her were displayed across the stage. This was to show the extent of the hateful bullying she still experiences even as a celebrity.  On the red carpet, she told E! News “My story with Sorry Not Sorry is about bullying, and I wanted to have her [Danica Roem] in the audience with me tonight because I feel like we’ve been through some of the same things and now we get to share this experience together.”

    The first award of the night was for best pop/rock duo or group, which went to Imagine Dragons. Upon accepting the award, frontman Dan Reynolds said, “This is a country that I know, which is one of powerful women, talking about our women, talking about empowering our LGBTQ youth. May we continue to progress as a nation toward one of love, of equality, no divide.” Later on, another big performance was Selena Gomez’s song Wolves, performed with DJ Marshmello. This was the first TV performance she has done in a year. Country star Keith Urban got a surprise when he went to accept his award for favorite country male artist, as he won two more: best country song for Blue Ain’t Your Color and best country album for “Ripcord.”

    Tracee Ellis Ross later introduced actress Viola Davis to the stage. She talked about iconic singer Whitney Houston and her movie “The Bodyguard.” Davis said, “The movie has become iconic, thanks to its soundtrack, the best-selling movie soundtrack of all time. What a voice Whitney had, what an artist.” Houston has won more AMAs than any other female artist, her total being 21. Davis introduced Christina Aguilera, who sang one of Whitney’s most famous songs, I Will Always Love You, followed by I have Nothing and I’m Every Woman.

    As the night had passed, Pink performed again, but this time she was on top of the J.W. Marriott hotel in L.A. She was suspended in the air doing death defying stunts never before done on a TV performance. She sang her song Beautiful Trauma while dancers and herself flipped in the air along the hotel. Afterwards, the award for collaboration of the year went to Despacito singers Daddy Yankee, Luis Fonsi, and Justin Bieber. Luis Fonsi dedicated his award to the people of Puerto Rico.

    Another big performance of the night went to K-pop group BTS, who sang their hit song DNA. They were a huge fan favorite, even receiving a standing ovation from the cheering fans in the audience. The AMAs were the band’s biggest U.S. television appearance so far. They had impeccable energy and style shown through their dancing. There was an outpour of support from fans and they certainly made some new ones.

    Singer Evan Ross kicked off the tribute to his mother, Diana Ross, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Evan stated “What do you get when you cross a chart-topping singer, trailblazing style icon, record-breaking pioneer international superstar and an all-around boss? Everybody you get my mom, Miss Diana Ross.” There was a video montage of Ross’s life, in which she voices through the highlights of her career.

    If you haven’t checked out the biggest events of the night, make sure you do. If you want to check out the full winner’s list, check out the link.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2017/11/19/the-american-music-awards-2017-full-winners-list/#5ea99ed16add