This year, One Direction, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry along with other artists, blew everyone away with their intriguing performances at the 2013 American Music Awards, one of the last award shows of the year. This event, hosted by Pitbull, was held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. As usual, the night was filled with jaw-dropping performances and numerous awards. Thousands of televisions nationwide tuned in to witness the greatest artists of the year perform on stage.  

   Since 1973, the nominees of the American Music Awards have been chosen by the audience in contrary to the Grammys’s nominees, whom are chosen by the Recording Academy. Each year, the AMA’s satisfies audiences of all music tastes from country to electronic dance. Katy Perry opened the jam packed night, with her Geisha inspired rendition of her song “Unconditionally”. Soon after, One Direction swooned the audience with their song “Story of My Life,” from their recent hit album, Midnight Memories. Along with One Direction, Imagine Dragons and Ariana Grande rocked the AMA stage for the very first time. West High student, Krysten Tachiyama (10) shared, “Of the entire night, I really admired Imagine Dragons and Christina Aguilera. Also, Ariana Grande’s acceptance speech was absolutely charming.”

   This year, several beaming artists surfaced in the music industry such as One Direction, as they took home two major awards, and Imagine Dragons as they won their first ever AMA. With awards in the Favorite Female Artist category in both country and pop/rock, Taylor Swift and her never ending success took home four awards, including the all around Artist of the Year. Not to mention, the most talked about male artist of year, Justin Timberlake, took home two awards and got the crowd grooving with his bluesy stage show, “Drink You Away.” Later in the night, before performing her popular single “Diamonds,” Rihanna received the honorable, first ever Icon Award presented by her very own mother. Beyond speechless, Rihanna accepted the award saying, “If you know me, than you know that I love you. I’m only as good as my team, so I love you so much.” At only 25 years old, Rihanna has earned the title woman of the year and continues to build onto her expanding musical career.

  With performances from Ariana Grande’s “Tattoo Heart” and Miley Cyrus’s kitty cat accompanied show of “Wrecking Ball,” there was never a dull moment in the Nokia and for viewers at home. Kylie Fujioka (11) commented on the award night by stating, “One Direction was amazing, but I also really enjoyed Christina Aguilera, when she sang ‘Say Something’; it was spectacular. On top of that, R. Kelly and Lady Gaga’s interpretation of JFK and Marilyn Monroe was priceless.” Winning artists after winning artists were called up onto the stage, and this year, fans and critics everywhere raved for days after. Every year, as the music industry expands, the American Music Awards make sure to showcase the most talented artists across America.