The 2022 American Music Awards are being presented in a live ceremony from Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater on Sunday night.
The Wayne Brady-hosted show kicked off on ABC with Pink roller-skating onto the stage singing her new single, “Never Gonna Not Dance Again.”
An excited Brady then took the stage for his monologue, wearing a rainbow-colored suit, and joking that “the bribes finally paid off,” as he was such a big music fan, much like those who vote for the winners, he screamed when he was offered the job of hosting Sunday night’s show. Brady highlighted 2022 Icon Award recipient Lionel Richie, saying that if he bumps into Richie as a fan and passes out, Richie should just sign his chest and walk away. Richie was seen laughing in the audience. Brady also joked about asking last year’s host, Cardi B, for help, before he launched into a musical performance of his own.
During his high-energy song, punctuated with a bleeped exclamation about the “AMAs,” Brady sang about “every nerdy kid listening to any kind of music,” growing up in Orlando and, in a callout to Will Smith’s Oscars altercation with Chris Rock, said “ain’t nobody getting slapped tonight.”
Early winners included Dove Cameron, Machine Gun Kelly and Chris Brown, with the latter winning for favorite male R&B artist. Brown wasn’t present to accept the award, with presenter Kelly Rowland accepting on his behalf.
Cameron won the first award of the night, for best new artist, and spoke about her fans in the queer community, sharing her support in the wake of Saturday night’s deadly shooting at Colorado Springs gay nightclub, where a 22-year-old man killed five people and left 25 injured before he was subdued by patrons and arrested.
Brady also spoke about the shooting at the top of the second hour of the show, noting that on behalf of the show, “our hearts go out to all of the victims’ families.” Speaking personally,…