American Music Awards

Youth Rules at the American Music Awards

Miley Cyrus celebrated her 18th birthday two days early by hitting the stage at the American Music Awards barefoot and belting out "Forgiveness and Love," but it was a true teenager who swept the fan count on Sunday, Nov. 21, at the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles.

Sixteen-year-old Justin Bieber trounced the competition at the 37th annual popularity contest, that is voted on by the general public and sponsored by ABC-TV, becoming the youngest person ever to win Artist of the Year. And as the show aired live, screams echoed for him from the upper tiers all night long. As one teen fan shrieked in a quiet moment, "Justin, I love you!"

You could barely hear Bieber sing as those adoring fans went crazy as he took to the stage midway through the show, following Rihanna's exuberant opening number, Cyrus' heartfelt ballad, Diddy-Dirty Money's rapping romp and the Black Eyed Peas' cool techno riff on their new single "The Time." Perhaps it was a sign that today's music business belongs to the young, as screams and cheers also met Taylor Swift as she sang her new single "Back to December" and accepted the favorite country female award.

"I want to thanks my fans," said the often-maligned Swift, one of America's most popular recording artists of the moment. "It's wonderful and rare to be understood, and you guys really get me."

Other top acts who performed included Kid Rock, Bon Jovi, Enrique Iglesias, Train, Pink, Ke$ha, Katy Perry, Santana, Ne-Yo, Christina Aguilera and Usher, who took home two awards of his own. But the finale was the thing that kept stars like Heidi Klum, Jessica Alba, Christina Milian, Samuel L. Jackson, Jenny McCarthy, Mandy Moore and Sheryl Crow in their seats to the end.

For when the combined "boy bands" of New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys bounded onto the stage, not a person had left the three-hour-long show. Promoting their combined tour that launches in 2011, the not-so-young nine reminded many of the older set of their own youth, singing a medley of their hits from 15 years ago.

Later on, the adults in the crowd headed to the hottest after party, the opening of the new Rolling Stone Restaurant and Lounge, where that magazine's publisher Jann Wenner held court in a private room.

He greeted most of the night's stars from the earlier show, everyone from Bon Jovi, Iglesias and Kid Rock to Perry and her husband, Russell Brand, along with Jamie Foxx, Brandy, Brittany Snow and the "Glee" guys, Mark Salling and Matthew Morrison.