American Music Awards tonight cover lots of ground
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
"The 31st Annual American Music Awards" arrive tonight, bringing the sheer expanse of modern tastes.
In three hours (7 to 10 p.m. on ABC), the show tries to catch everything that's popular.
Performers include Hilary Duff, Britney Spears, Toby Keith and "American Idol" winner Ruben Studdard. Nominees range from Celine Dion to Bone Crusher. One category includes boy-next-door Clay Aiken and biker-next-door Kid Rock.
Don't ask host Jimmy Kimmel to explain it. He considers the Aiken bandwagon with awe.
"I'm not a teen girl, so it confuses me," Kimmel says. "A lot of things confuse me, though."
Music is supposed to do that. It delights in constant detours.
Dick Clark created the "American Music Awards" 31 years ago when pop music was fairly united. Top 40 stations ruled and some stars could sweep across categories.
That was the era that Kimmel, who turned 36 Thursday, grew up in.
"I loved the music of the '80s," he recalls. "I was a college disc jockey, playing (Bruce) Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Madonna."
Music soon splintered and now there are fewer universal stars.
Even the TV talk shows tend to shy away from music, putting musical performances at the end of the hour. "No matter what kind of music you ... (perform) it's considered a niche," Kimmel says.
His own show — "Jimmy Kimmel Live," airing late nights on ABC — resists that trend. He has rock stars as early guests and even as co-hosts. "To me, these people are big celebrities," Kimmel says.
The musicians who are among his favorite guests or co-hosts include Perry Farrell (of Jane's Addiction), Slash (of Guns n' Roses), Snoop Dogg and Macy Gray.
Now comes Kimmel's first time hosting the awards, which try to cover much of the music world.
The broadest category is pop/rock. For male artist it pits Aiken against Rock, John Mayer and Justin Timberlake. Female has Dion, Avril Lavigne and Jennifer Lopez. The favorite-album category pits Timberlake against Rock, Norah Jones and Evanescence.
The category for pop/rock band is even broader, with Fleetwood Mac, Matchbox Twenty and 3 Doors Down vying for the award. Those bands became famous in, respectively, 1968, 1996 and 2000.
There are awards in three other full genres, each with four categories. They are soul/rhythm & blues, rap/hip-hop, and country.
In addition there are four genres that have only one overall category. They are adult contemporary (Cher, Dion, Jones), Latin (Kumbia Kings, Ricky Martin, Luis Miguel), alternative (Coldplay, Linkin Park, Metallica) and contemporary inspirational (Steven Curtis Chapman, MercyMe, Third Day).
The telecast will be even broader as those who haven't been nominated take to the stage. In addition to those mentioned earlier, Sheryl Crow, Pink and Rod Stewart will perform.
Kimmel is the ringmaster for all of this. "It's a tough thing, because you're improvising on the air, in front of anyone," he says.
He's accustomed to that, going back to his disc jockey days. Indeed, Kimmel and Matchbox Twenty prove that careers can start anywhere — even in tourist towns.
For Matchbox Twenty it was Orlando, Fla.
"It's very odd, but there are some great singers there," says Paul Doucette, the group's drummer. "I think some of the best haven't been discovered yet."
And for Kimmel it was Las Vegas. He was born in Brooklyn but moved west when he was young. "My father had asthma, so we moved to Las Vegas," he says.
His boyhood town could simultaneously celebrate Elvis Presley, Wayne Newton, showgirls and magic acts. Kimmel was a campus DJ at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
On the Web
- abc.go.com/primetime/ama/index.html has for more information on American Music Award nominees.
