How the American Music Awards got to the Taylor Swift Show

It was an exceptional evening in Los Angeles by its own: at the American Music Awards (AMA), Taylor Swift received a total of five awards on Monday night, including being named Artist of the Year and the most beloved album of the year ,

With that, the musician overtook AMA's history of Michael Jackson, who died in 2009 and has been the record holder of 24 American Music Awards so far. Swift now has 28 of the trophies. In addition, the 29-year-old was honored with an honorary prize as "Artist of the decade" and played a medley of her songs.

The performance should Swift have been recorded as another success, because it had been in the run-up to fierce dispute: the singer said that her former label boss and his new partner Swift had initially prohibited to present older songs on the stage. However, the label and the AMA production company later agreed (read more about the confict here).

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"Last year I had some of the most beautiful and some of the toughest times," Swift said in a thank-you speech. "I'm so lucky to be here." At times the singer wore a white shirt with the names of all her older albums. Her new album "Lover" with a new label feels like a fresh start, she said.

Apart from Swift, stars such as Billie Eilish, Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello, Halsey and Post Malone have been honored. The 17-year-old Eilish was honored, among other things as the best alternative rock artist. "Simply being named in this category is incredible to me," said Eilish. "My whole body is trembling." She had entered the gala with six nominations and won two awards.

The show was moderated by singer Ciara, and featured singers and bands such as Selena Gomez, Green Day, Shania Twain and Toni Braxton. Numerous other stars sat in the audience or awarded prizes, such as the German model Heidi Klum. She also contributed to the music industry, joked Klum. "I recently married a very handsome young musician from the band Tokio Hotel." Husband Tom Kaulitz applauded in the audience.

The American Music Awards have been awarded since 1973. The nominations are based on album sales figures of the musicians, about the winners, fans can vote on the Internet.