The 2018 American Music Awards just came to a close. Before the event, Bruins shared their winner predictions – read below to compare their thoughts to the actual winners, as well as catch up on the Daily Bruin’s highlights of the night!
Taylor Swift set the spotlight on herself just in time for the AMAs. Her Instagram message to fans encouraging voter registration was one she echoed in her acceptance speech for the Artist of the Year award.
Swift also won Favorite Female Artist Pop/Rock, Favorite Album Pop/Rock and Tour of the Year, making her the most decorated female artist in AMA history with a total of 23 trophies. Other notable achievers from the night include Post Malone, who won two awards, and Cardi B and Kane Brown, who each took home three awards.
Shawn Mendes won Favorite Artist Adult Contemporary for the second consecutive year. Camila Cabello – who was nominated in five categories – won four, including Favorite Music Video, for the Latin-infused “Havana.”
Cabello was crowned New Artist of the Year, beating out Cardi B and her chart-topping numbers, “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves),” “Girls Like You” and “I Like It.” Cardi B, however, earned awards for Favorite Artist Rap/Hip Hop and Favorite Song Rap/Hip Hop, and shared Favorite Song Soul/R&B – an impressive clapback toward rap rival Nicki Minaj, who earned no nominations. Cardi B was No. 1 on the nominee leaderboard, tied with Drake for eight nominations each.
Drake, unlike his female counterpart, wasn’t spotted at the event and failed to come out on top in any categories – potentially to be attributed to the recent scandals surrounding his public image. His album “Scorpion” seemingly provided intense competition to Post Malone in multiple categories, featuring hits like “God’s Plan,” “Nice For What” and the Instagram-viral “In My Feelings.” But ultimately Post Malone overtook him, winning Favorite Male Artist Pop/Rock and Favorite Album Rap/Hip Hop.
Unsurprisingly, Kendrick Lamar’s “Black Panther” compilation was voted Favorite Soundtrack, and Swift’s “reputation” circuit won Tour of the Year. The Reputation Stadium Tour is slated to gross $400 million – almost double Beyonce and Jay-Z’s monumental On The Run II Tour, with its forecasted earnings of $250 million.
Between the stiff rivalries were touching moments, both bitter and sweet. XXXTentacion won the award for Favorite Album Soul/R&B posthumously, and his mother spoke on his behalf as the family accepted his award on stage. Meanwhile, a pregnant Carrie Underwood took to a revolving stage to sing “Spinning Bottles.” The country musician also snagged the award for Favorite Female Artist Country.
Ciara and Missy Elliott delivered a nostalgic performance of “Dose” and “Level Up,” and the eventful evening concluded with a moving tribute to Aretha Franklin, during which multiple artists came together to honor Franklin’s musical legacy.
Artist of the Year nominees
Taylor Swift (15.5%)
Post Malone (32.4%)
Imagine Dragons (5.6%)
Ed Sheeran (16.9%)
Drake (29.6%)
You guys voted: Post Malone
Winner: Taylor Swift
New Artist of the Year nominees
Camila Cabello (12.9%)
Cardi B (33.9%)
Dua Lipa (14.5%)
Khalid (25.8%)
XXXTentacion (12.9%)
You guys voted: Cardi B
Winner: Camila Cabello
Favorite Song Pop/Rock nominees
Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug, “Havana” (40%)
Drake, “God’s Plan” (27.3%)
Ed Sheeran, “Perfect” (32.7%)
You guys voted: Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug, “Havana”
Winner: Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug, “Havana”
Favorite Album Pop/Rock
Drake, “Scorpion” (38.3%)
Ed Sheeran, “÷(Divide)” (29.8%)
Taylor Swift, “reputation” (31.9%)
You guys voted: Drake, “Scorpion”
Winner: Taylor Swift, “reputation”
Collaboration of the Year nominees
Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug, “Havana” (17.8%)
Post Malone ft. 21 Savage, “Rockstar” (20%)
Bruno Mars & Cardi B, “Finesse” (24.4%)
Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line, “Meant To Be” (15.6%)
Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey, “The Middle” (26.7%)
You guys voted: Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey, “The Middle”
Winner: Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug, “Havana”
Favorite Soundtrack nominees
“Black Panther: The Album, Music From And Inspired By” (65.2%)
“The Greatest Showman” (32.6%)
“The Fate of the Furious: The Album” (2.2%)
You guys voted: “Black Panther: The Album, Music From And Inspired By”
Winner: “Black Panther: The Album, Music From And Inspired By”
Taylor makes more records and world records than anyone else in the music industry. The Reputation tour is a huge success as she will bring in $350m in seat sales alone plus merchandising, album sales and streaming etc. Kanye must feel small when compared with Taylor as she is ahead of him in every department and is starting to make political decisions finally. I don’t blame her for voting against Trump as he has made way to many idiotic comments and every week of his presidency he is sacking people in prominent positions which makes the whole system look stupid!