Sunday, November 21, 2010 marked the 38th Annual American Music Awards, which recognize the most popular (not necessarily the best) artists and albums as voted on by the public at www.abc.com.  The nomination ballot was based on airplay information compiled by Mediabase and music consumption information provided by Big Champagne Media Measurement.

There are twenty American Music awards presented in total.  Thirteen of these are during the televised portion of the event, and seven award winners are announced off air.  Justin Bieber was the big winner of the night and won all four of the American Music Awards for which he was nominated.  Well deserved or sign of the apocalypse?  You be the judge.

In addition to the awards, the American Music Awards show is noted for its star-studded lineup of live performances:

 - Rhianna opened the show on a strong note as she performed "Love the Way You Lie, Part II," "What's My Name?," and "Only Girl (in the World)" from her new album, Loud, and earned a standing ovation from the crowd. 

- Miley Cyrus: "Forgiveness and Love" from Can't Be Tamed.  Miley appeared to be singing live with no lipsynching and was actually quite good here.

- Kid Rock: "Times Like These" from Born Free.  An acoustic performance that was one of the better, and more memorable, of the night.  It'll be interesting to see whose album debuts at number one as his latest and Rihanna's both arrived in stores on November 16.

- The Black Eyed Peas: "The Time (Dirty Bit)" from The Beginning.  At the end of the song, the Peas welcome us to "the future."  But why did they do it singing a track that's largely an autotuned remix of a 25-year old song?

- Katy Perry: "Firework" from Teenage Dream.  Katy sang this live.  Good for you, Katy, and we'll forgive the occasional bum note.

- Bon Jovi: "What Do You Got?," a new track from Greatest Hits and classic tracks, "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "It's My Life."  Jon's voice was just-ok tonight.  Didn't even try to hit the high notes.

- Pink: "Raise Your Glass" from Greatest Hits...So Far!!!  Another enegetic performance from Pink.

- Ne-Yo: medley including "One in a Million" and "Beautiful Monster" from his concept album, Libra Scale

- Taylor Swift: "Back to December" from Speak Now.  Lots of gals using that dropping-in-from-the-cieling gimmick, but Taylor upped the ante by bringing a piano with her.

- Christina Aguilera: "Burlesque" from her upcoming film of the same name.  Great performance, and if this movie takes off, it could be a career course correction after some missteps in recent years.

- Usher: "DJ Got Us Fallin in Love" from his Versus EP.  Vintage Usher.

- Train: "Marry Me" and their megahit "Hey, Soul Sister" from Save Me, San Francisco got the crowd to its feet

- Kesha: "Take it Off" from Ke$ha and "We R Who We R" from her new EP, Cannibal.  We think these outstanding performances should silence the critics who dismiss her as just a Lady Gaga wannabe.

- Santana with Gavin Rossdale: "Bang a Gong" from Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time.  Santana and Rossdale demonstrated no chemistry on a track that could hardly be classified as a "guitar classic."  Carlos Santana was in his own little world playing his heart out as Gavin jumped around the stage and scream-sang in Carlos' ear trying to be noticed.

- New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys: medley of hits including Hangin' Tough, Step by Step, You Got It (The Right Stuff), I Want it That Way, Larger Than Life.  Well, after Justin Bieber won Artist of the Year, the only way to cap the night off would be a pairing of NKOTB and BSB, right?

Other performers included Enrique Iglesias with Pit Bull ("Tonight," "I Like It"), Sean Combs' new trio – Dirty Ditty Money ("Coming Home"), and Justin Bieber ("Pray").