Jennifer Lopez opens American Music Awards with tribute to the Bronx

Last night, One Direction landed not one but two gongs at the American Music Awards, walking away with the awards for Artist of the Year – for the second year running – and Favourite Group.

The group, which performed “Perfect”, also won favorite duo or group – pop/rock.

One Direction scored the final and biggest award of the night when they were named artist of the year, beating Luke Bryan, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift.

Minaj scored the Best Rap/Hip-Hop Female title and her Pinkprint won for Best Album Rap/Hip-Hop. “And please find your voice and find your goal before it’s too late”.

Show host Jennifer Lopez danced through a high-octane medley of this year’s top pop songs, saying: “Tonight is about the music, and this year’s music makes me want to dance”.

Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan thanked their “incredible” fans on the behalf of their other band members and four looked really obliged to be honoured.

The 21-year-old singer from Stratford, Ont. continued his comeback tour at the AMAs, hours after Billboard announced he scored his sixth number one album with “Purpose”, which sold 649,000 equivalent album units in its first week.

Trainor, Sam Smith, Nicki Minaj, Sam Hunt and Walk the Moon are nominated for three awards apiece.

There’s still a chance to cast your vote for your favorite artist to win. The nominations for the AMAs are based on this year’s performance in terms of sales, video viewing, social network activity, and airplay, The Daily Athenaeum explains.

Still more bad news for Swift: Ariana Grande defeated her for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist.

The other happening moment on the stage was towards the end of Meghan Trainor and Charlie Puth’s performance.

The “Booty” singer showed off her signature curves in a bejeweled tribal printed jump suit with a fur jacket. CELINE DION then took the stage for a moving tribute to FRANCE with a take on EDITH PIAFs “Hymne a L’Amour” that elicited a warm, standing ovation. The performance comes ahead of next month’s highly-anticipated new “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” film.