R&B is in the house tonight, literally. The 32nd American Music Awards, broadcast live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, will feature a performance by this year’s reigning king and queen of R&B, Usher and Alicia Keys.
The multi-platinum duo, in a head-to-head battle for favorite soul/rhythm & blues album (in addition to being nominated for other songs), will be peforming their hit “My Boo,” burning up the charts as the Billboard 100’s No. 1 single for the past three weeks.
So far, Usher’s album “Confessions” has gone platinum seven times, while Keys’ “The Diary of Alicia Keys” is three times platinum – making them two of the top-selling solo artists of the year.
“Regardless of sales, there’s no question that they’re the two biggest stars in R&B right now,” says Jonah Weiner, associate editor at music magazine Blender, which recently made Usher (and his fabulous abs) its cover boy.
“What is R&B about, if not a man singing about a woman and a woman singing about a man? To bring Usher and Alicia together, it’s an electric pairing.”
While New York native Keys and Usher might be the night’s big musical highlight, the Jimmy Kimmel hosted extravaganza is a veritable who’s who of pop culture.
Hitmakers representing every mainstream music genre are scheduled to perform, including Jessica Simpson (bubble gum pop), Toby Keith (country), Kanye West (rap), Maroon 5 (alt-rock), Gwen Stefani (rock), Josh Groban (classical) and Rod Stewart (old school).
Besides musicians, celebs from Hollywood and the sports arena world have been tapped as presenters.
Handing out awards for categories that seem taken straight out of a teenager’s diary (Favorite Band, Favorite Album, Favorite New Artist) are Hollywood celebs, sports figures and assorted blasts from the past: Lance Armstrong,
Pamela Anderson, Janet Jackson, Kelly Osbourne, Chingy, Kenny G. and Billy “White Wedding” Idol.
Just like the Oscars, they’ll be presenting a lifetime achievement award – known as the “Award of Merit” – to none other than New Jersey’s Bon Jovi, who’ll join the ranks of previous winners like Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra.
Unlike the Grammys, the AMA nominations are of the people, by the people – 19 awards will be presented in eight area of music, as decided by polling random Americans, which accounts for someone like Jessica Simpson being pitted against Norah Jones and Usher for Favorite Album (pop or rock).
If watching all the pretty people isn’t fun enough, you and your friends can always start a lively game of “Spot the Lip-Syncher.”
—
THE 32ND AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS
Sunday, 9 p.m., ABC