The American Music Awards spread things around, with country star Tim McGraw, alternative rockers Green Day, soul stars Destiny's Child and hip-hop chart toppers Black Eyed Peas each winning two awards.
Mariah Carey, in the midst of a career comeback, had gone into Tuesday evening's competition the heavy favorite with a leading four nominations, but the pop diva took home only one award, for favorite female artist in the soul-R&B category.
``Thank you so much for the warmth and the love,'' she said as she accepted the evening's first award moments after opening the show with a rousing rendition of Don't Forget About Us. Carey, who appeared in a sequined, silver, spaghetti-strap gown slit to the waist, had to quickly change into a black evening gown before accepting her award.
PHOTO: AP
The show was as much about those who didn't show up as those who did. Many of the night's biggest names, including Green Day, Black Eyed Peas, Eminem, Kelly Clarkson and 50 Cent, were nowhere to be seen.
Notable moments provided by those who were there included an inspired pairing of Cyndi Lauper and Sarah McLachlan for a soulful version of Lauper's 1980s hit Time After Time.
The rapper Pharrell, Gwen Stefani and the Eurythmics also took to the stage, and the Rolling Stones closed the show with a two-song performance from Salt Lake City, wrapping up the evening with a spirited rendition of It's Only Rock `n' Roll (But I Like It).
PHOTO: AP
Stefani, who bested out Carey for the favorite female pop artist award, barely had time to get to the podium after completing her performance.
``What did I win?'' she asked as she was presented her first American Music Award. ``I guess whatever I won, I just want to say thank you to the fans, especially all my girls. Imagine what it feels like to be me all these years and have your support. It's just outrageous.''
McGraw roped in both awards in the country category in which he was nominated. He came out ahead of Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith for favorite male artist and his album, Live Like You Were Dying, beat albums by Keith and Gretchen Wilson, who took the honor for country female artist.
PHOTO: AP
The Black Eyed Peas earned favorite group honors in both the rap/hip-hop and pop-rock categories.
Rapper 50 Cent's album, The Massacre, won the favorite rap/hip-hop album honor, while Missy Elliott took home the favorite female artist award in the rap/hip-hop category for the second year in a row.
``I got to thank God because that's my inspiration for everything that I do,'' Elliott said. She also dedicated the award to the late singer Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash shortly after takeoff in 2001.
Actor-singer Will Smith won favorite male artist in the pop-rock division, edging out Rob Thomas and 50 Cent, while R. Kelly edged Omarion and John Legend for favorite soul-R&B male artist.
Shakira, who picked up the favorite Latin music artist award, praised the trend toward the presentation of more Spanish music on US radio.
``I can only say that when a Spanish song gets played on Top 40 American radio, it means the pseudo rules of the industry are changing,'' she said. ``America is a cross-cultural open country and music is a language on its own.''
Destiny's Child was two-thirds absent, as only singer Kelly Rolland was on hand to accept the group's awards.
``This feels very awkward being up here by myself,'' she said as she accepted the favorite band award in the soul-R&B category. ``I miss my girls, Beyonce and Michelle, wherever you are. I love you so much.''
In a cross-genre category, country group Sugarland bested alternative rockers The Killers and singer Jesse McCartney for breakthrough new artist.
In awards presented off-camera, Green Day won favorite artist in the Alternative category and the band's album, American Idiot, received the pop-rock category honor.
Eminem won the favorite male artist in the rap/hip-hop division, while Clarkson received the honor for favorite artist in the adult contemporary category.
Nominees were chosen on the basis of record sales, with winners selected through a survey of about 20,000 listeners.
Comedian Cedric The Entertainer hosted the three-hour ceremony, broadcast live on ABC from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
He took to the stage wearing a grey pinstripe suit and holding a boombox that he dubbed the first iPod. He quickly noted that new versions of Apple Computer Inc's digital music player seem to be coming out all the time and getting smaller and smaller.
``I got the new Apple Tic-Tac. It freshens your breath and plays one song,'' he joked.
The scene on the red carpet before the show reflected the hodgepodge of musical genres being honored at the AMAs, with hip-hop, pop and country stars making their way through the gantlet of press.
``It's an American quilt,'' said Lauper, who arrived in a black dress with sheer sleeves and a fringed hem.
She and McLachlan exchanged compliments backstage after the rousing response they received for their duet on Time After Time, which was co-written by Lauper.
``Time after Time is one of the best pop songs ever written, in my opinion. It's an incredible, beautiful, timeless song,'' McLachan said.
May 6 to May 12 Those who follow the Chinese-language news may have noticed the usage of the term zhuge (豬哥, literally ‘pig brother,’ a male pig raised for breeding purposes) in reports concerning the ongoing #Metoo scandal in the entertainment industry. The term’s modern connotations can range from womanizer or lecher to sexual predator, but it once referred to an important rural trade. Until the 1970s, it was a common sight to see a breeder herding a single “zhuge” down a rustic path with a bamboo whip, often traveling large distances over rugged terrain to service local families. Not only
Ahead of incoming president William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20 there appear to be signs that he is signaling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the Chinese side is also signaling to the Taiwan side. This raises a lot of questions, including what is the CCP up to, who are they signaling to, what are they signaling, how with the various actors in Taiwan respond and where this could ultimately go. In the last column, published on May 2, we examined the curious case of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweight Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) — currently vice premier
The last time Mrs Hsieh came to Cihu Park in Taoyuan was almost 50 years ago, on a school trip to the grave of Taiwan’s recently deceased dictator. Busloads of children were brought in to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), known as Generalissimo, who had died at 87, after decades ruling Taiwan under brutal martial law. “There were a lot of buses, and there was a long queue,” Hsieh recalled. “It was a school rule. We had to bow, and then we went home.” Chiang’s body is still there, under guard in a mausoleum at the end of a path
Last week the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released a set of very strange numbers on Taiwan’s wealth distribution. Duly quoted in the Taipei Times, the report said that “The Gini coefficient for Taiwanese households… was 0.606 at the end of 2021, lower than Australia’s 0.611, the UK’s 0.620, Japan’s 0.678, France’s 0.676 and Germany’s 0.727, the agency said in a report.” The Gini coefficient is a measure of relative inequality, usually of wealth or income, though it can be used to evaluate other forms of inequality. However, for most nations it is a number from .25 to .50