Review: ‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile,’ starring Javier Bardem, Constance Wu and the voice of Shawn Mendes

October 6, 2022

by Carla Hay

Constance Wu, Winslow Fegley, Lyle (voiced by Shawn Mendes) and Javier Bardem in “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” (Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures)

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile”

Directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon

Culture Representation: Taking place in New York City, the comedy musical film “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some Asians, African Americans and Latinos) representing the middle-class and working-class.

Culture Clash: When a flamboyant vaudeville performer suddenly has to leave home to go on tour, he leaves his singing crocodile behind in his New York City home, where a new family moves in, keeps the crocodile as a pet, and gets in trouble for it by a neighbor who wants the crocodile out of this residential neighborhood.

Culture Audience: “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” will appeal primarily to fans of Bernard Haber’s 1965 book of the same name and family-friendly movies that dumb down the original source material.

Javier Bardem in “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” (Photo by Fernando Decillis/Columbia Pictures)

Simple-minded to a fault, the trite comedy “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” fails to do justice to Bernard Waber’s charming children’s book. The original songs are the best aspects of this dull and vapid movie, which relentlessly insults viewers’ intelligence. There’s so much tedious formula in the movie’s screenplay and so much lazy editing, it’s obvious that more thought and imagination were put into crafting the songs rather than putting an innovative cinematic spin on a beloved children’s book.

Directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon, “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” looks like the filmmakers decided to just coast on the name recognition of the “Lyle the Crocodile” book series and put some famous people in the movie’s cast as a way to fool audiences into thinking that it would be a reasonably good film. It’s not. Will Davies wrote the very lazy and unimaginative “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” screenplay. Apparently, the “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” filmmakers think that “child-oriented entertainment” is supposed to be “stupid entertainment.”

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” (which takes place in New York City) begins by introducing vaudeville performer Hector P. Valenti (played by Javier Bardem), who can be a fast-talking, hustling con artist when he has to be. Hector will say and do anything to make quick money from whatever he can do in showbiz. In the movie’s opening scene, Hector fails an audition to be a magician on a TV talent show called “Show Us What You’ve Got.”

Hector soon meets a smaller-than-usual adult crocodile that he names Lyle, which he buys from a pet store called Eddie’s Exotic Animals. Hector (who is bachelor with no children) brings Lyle home to live with him as a pet. Never mind that in real life, you just can’t walk into a pet store and buy a crocodile, because that type of animal sale in a pet store is illegal. And it’s also illegal in New York City and most other U.S. cities to keep a crocodile as a pet in a private, residential home. This lack of realism is not this movie’s biggest problem.

At first, Hector thinks he’s just going to have the crocodile as part of Hector’s mediocre magician act. But then, Hector finds out that Lyle can sing. And the next thing you know, Lyle and Hector become a performing duo. Lyle is the main attraction, while Hector is the emcee. The duo’s act become a big hit.

But their good fortune comes to an abrupt halt when Lyle unexpectedly loses his singing voice while on stage. Hector calls it a “minor setback,” and he decides he’ll have to go on tour as a solo act to make some money. While Hector is away from home, he keeps Lyle hidden in the attic. Hector leaves Lyle behind with nothing but a book of songs.

Although “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” is lightweight entertainment, the movie irresponsibly glosses over some issues that should have been addressed in the movie. Lyle (who looks very sad to see Hector go) essentially has to fend for himself when locked up in the home. It’s a form of animal cruelty. Because it isn’t made clear how long Hector will be away, it’s very likely Lyle was going to run out of food.

And apparently, Hector was away for so long, another family moved into what the family thought was an unoccupied house. The real-estate situation in this story is very murky and purposely vague, ignoring real-life details such as house inspections and home appraisals that home owners usually have to go through before buying or renting out a home. It’s also never really clear why or how this house went on the market. There’s some real-estate talk rushed in toward the end of the movie to conveniently explain something to make a problem go away, but it’s all so ridiculous and phony.

Hector eventually comes home and finds out another family is living there, and these new residents have found Lyle. And eventually (as shown in the movie’s trailer), Hector joins in on some of the shenanigans involving Lyle and the family trying to prevent Lyle from being confiscated by animal welfare authorities. Hector should’ve thought of that when he left a crocodile home alone for who knows how long.

But there would be no “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” movie if people acted with common sense. At any rate, you already know where this story is going if you’re familiar with the “Lyle the Crocodile” book series, or if you’ve seen enough movies were an animal befriends a lonely, misfit child, but a miserable adult wants to break up the friendship by taking the animal away. Predictable stories can be entertaining if delivered with some unique flair, but “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” lacks a lot of creativity in the movie’s dialogue and action scenes.

The family that ends up sharing living space with Lyle consists of married couple Mr. Primm (played by Scoot McNairy), Mrs. Primm (played by Constance Wu) and their son Josh Primm (played by Winslow Fegley), who’s about 12 or 13 years old. Most of the adults in the movie do not have first names. And they also don’t have anything memorable to say.

Josh isn’t happy about this move to a new home, because he liked living in the unnamed suburbs where the family used to live. Joe complains out loud that most people move to the suburbs to get away from the city, and he doesn’t understand why his parents wanted to do the opposite. Get used to seeing Josh being a bit of a whiny brat, because that’s apparently why he needs a talking and singing crocodile to teach him how to be a better human being.

Josh has problems fitting in at his new school. He doesn’t excel at anything in particular, and he has a hard time making friends. He’s on the school’s wrestling team, where he frequently loses in practice matches. Guess who’s going to get Josh to do things that are outside of Josh’s comfort zone to experience things that will build up Josh’s confidence? Josh also predictably befriends a neighborhood girl named Kara Delany (played by Lyric), a generic character who’s only in the movie to give Josh someone else to hang out with besides Lyle.

Before Josh and Lyle become friends, Lyle and Josh get off to a rough start, when Josh at first thinks that this crocodile is a pesky nuisance. There are some not-very-funny slapstick scenes of Lyle escaping from the house and causing some mischief. In one scene, Lyle accidentally swallows a neighbor’s pet cat, but then Lyle ends up vomiting up the cat unharmed.

Eventually, Mr. and Mrs. Primm find out about Lyle, who charms almost every human he meets with his upbeat singing. Mr. Primm is a laid-back teacher at a private middle school for girls, who wear matching school uniforms. Mrs. Primm is a cookbook author who is frustrated that she put her career on hold to raise Josh. Expect to see some tedious and predictable scenes involving Mrs. Primm’s cooking skills and Lyle.

The story’s “villain” is Mr. Grumps (played by Brett Gelman), who finds out about Lyle and is outraged that there’s a crocodile living as a pet in a residential building. Mr. Grumps is determined to have Lyle removed and taken away from the home. Apparently, Mr. Grumps didn’t get the memo that crocodiles aren’t dangerous if they can sing human songs.

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” doesn’t have much of a story and attempts to fill this void with several performances of songs written for the movie. Oscar-winning songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“La La Land”) wrote most of the original songs in “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. Other songwriters who contributed to the movie’s original tunes include Mendes, Joriah Kwamé, Emily Gardner Xu Hall, Mark Sonnenblick and Arianna Asfar. Pasek, Paul and Matthew Margeson co-wrote the movie’s original score.

Even with all this songwriting talent, there’s nothing award-worthy about the movie’s music, which is far from Pasek and Paul’s best work. Songs like “Take a Look at Us Now” (a Mendes/Bardem duet), “Carried Away,” “Rip Up the Recipe” (a Mendes/Wu duet) and “Top of the World” are pleasant, but also instantly forgettable. Pasek and Paul wrote original songs for 2017’s “The Greatest Showman,” which had a lot of memorable and catchy tunes, regardless of how people felt about the movie’s screenplay.

The “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” filmmakers also made the odd decision not to have “best friends” Lyle and Josh perform a duet, which would have given this movie more emotional resonance. Fegley is one of the main characters in the movie, but he doesn’t even have a moment in the movie to shine in the spotlight as a singer, in the way that Bardem and Wu have their respective duets with Mendes. As it stands, so much of “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” looks and sounds assembly-line formulaic. There’s very little soul to be found in this hollow film.

Bardem seems to be having some fun hamming it up in his song-and-dance scenes, but that’s not saying much, because he’s not a great singer or dancer. He’s not terrible, just not superb. The computer-generated animation for Lyle doesn’t have much of a charismatic personality, especially when Lyle loses his singing voice for a large chunk of the story. Mendes is bland and bland can be in this role.

Fegley does a version of the many misfit kid characters that he’s played in movies. McNairy and Wu look like they’re just going through the motions and reciting lines of dialogue. Gelman is nothing but a caricature villain. Everything in this movie is cliché-ridden, very corny, and not very funny for a movie that’s supposed to be a comedy.

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” drags on and on with silly scenarios until the movie’s inevitable conclusion. (And yes, there’s a predictable scene where Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock” is performed by members of the cast.) In real life, crocodiles spend a lot of time in water. “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” is so watered-down with banality, it’s washed away any outstanding qualities that this disappointing movie could have had.

Columbia Pictures will release “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” in U.S. cinemas on October 7, 2022.

2019 American Music Awards: Taylor Swift is the top winner

November 24, 2019

Taylor Swift at the 2019 American Music Awards (Photo courtesy of ABC/Image Group LA)

The following is a press release from Dick Clark Productions and ABC:

Tonight, the world’s biggest artists and pop culture icons came together to honor idols, newcomers and record-breakers at the “2019 American Music Awards.”  Multi-platinum selling artist Ciara hosted the show, and kicked the night off with a performance of her new single, “Melanin.”  The show aired live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles at 8:00 p.m. EST on ABC.

*The full list of winners can be found below.

In one of the most talked about musical performances of the year, Artist of the Decade Award recipient, Taylor Swift, brought the house down with a medley of her biggest hits from the past ten years including “The Man,” “Love Story,” “I Knew You Were Trouble,” “Blank Space,” “Shake It Off,” where she was joined by Halsey and Camila Cabello, and “Lover.”  She accepted her award with an impassioned speech, telling her fans that all artists want to do is “create something that will last,” and thanking them for the “fun, incredible, exhilarating times” and countless memories they have shared together over the years. Having won six awards tonight, Swift also broke Michael Jackson’s long-standing record of most American Music Award wins of all time; she now tops the list with a total of 29.

Selena Gomez delivered an emotional opening to the show, taking the stage for the first time in two years for the world television premiere of her new songs, “Lose You To Love Me” and “Look At Her Now.”

There were performances for everyone, featuring newcomers and American Music Awards veterans alike.  Breakout artist Billie Eilish crushed her very first award show performance, with a fiery rendition of “all the good girls go to hell.”  Superstar Lizzo graced the AMA stage for the first time with a passionate performance of her single “Jerome.”  Three-time American Music Award winners, Green Day, celebrated the 25th anniversary of their legendary 1994 album, “Dookie,” with a performance of  “Basket Case,” as well as their latest hit, “Father of All…” Toni Braxton celebrated the 25th anniversary of her first AMAs performance, and had the audience singing along to her chart-topping hits “Breathe Again” and “Unbreak My Heart.”

The night was also filled with incredible collaborations including the world television premiere of Christina Aguilera and A Great Big World’s new single “Fall on Me,” plus an electrifying performance from Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne, Travis Scott and WATT for the world television premiere of their new song “Take What You Want.”

The show included additional knockout performances from Camila Cabello with “Living Proof,” Shawn Mendes & Cabello with “Señorita,” Dua Lipa with “Don’t Start Now,” Halsey with “Graveyard,” Kesha featuring Big Freedia with “Raising Hell” and “TiK ToK” and Thomas Rhett with “Look What God Gave Her.”

The night ended on a high, with the entire audience on their feet for Shania Twain’s return to the American Music Awards stage for the first time in 16 years. The country icon performed a crowd-pleasing medley of her biggest hits: “You’re Still the One,” “Any Man of Mine,” “That Don’t Impress Me Much” and “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!”

A big winner with two new trophies tonight, presenter, Carrie Underwood, now holds the record for most wins in the Favorite Album – Country category, surpassing legend Kenny Rogers, with whom she was previously tied.

Talent in attendance tonight included host Ciara; Artist of the Decade award recipient and performer Taylor Swift, as well as performers Christina Aguilera and A Great Big World, Toni Braxton, Camila Cabello, Billie Eilish, Selena Gomez, Green Day, Halsey, Jonas Brothers, Kesha featuring Big Freedia, Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne, Travis Scott and WATT, Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, Thomas Rhett, and Shania Twain; presenters Paula Abdul, Kelsea Ballerini, Tyra Banks, Chadwick Boseman, Kane Brown, Misty Copeland, Tyler the Creator, Rivers Cuomo, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan + Shay, Jenna Dewan, David Dobrik, Michael Ealy, Maddie Hasson, Maya Hawke, Jameela Jamil, Jharrel Jerome, Taran Killam, Carole King, Regina King, Heidi Klum, Katherine Langford, Dan Levy, Megan Thee Stallion, Ben Platt, Billy Porter, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Cobie Smulders, Carrie Underwood, Pete Wentz, Constance Wu; “AMAs Red Carpet Live Presented by Security Benefit” hosts Sofia Carson, AJ Gibson, Jaymes Vaughan, Lauren Jauregui, Raja Kumari, and Nick Viall; and special guests X Ambassadors, Blanco Brown, Billy Ray Cyrus, Diplo, Meg Donnelly, Andy Grammar, Rich The Kid, Ella Mai, Meek Mill, Agnez Mo, Shiva Safai, Alyson Stoner, Lil Nas X and many more!

American Music Awards nominees are based on key fan interactions as reflected on Billboard.com, including streaming, album and digital song sales, radio airplay, social activity and touring. These measurements are tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Music and Next Big Sound, and reflect the time period of September 28, 2018 through September 26, 2019. The American Music Awards winners are voted entirely by fans.

The “2019 American Music Awards” is sponsored by Dolby, T-Mobile and Wells Fargo.

The “2019 American Music Awards” is produced by Dick Clark Productions. Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco are Executive Producers. Larry Klein is Producer.

For the latest American Music Awards news, exclusive content and more, be sure to follow the AMAs on social and join the conversation by using the official hashtag for the show, #AMAs.

Facebook: Facebook.com/AMAs
Twitter: @AMAs
Instagram: @AMAs
Snapchat: TheAMAs
YouTube: YouTube.com/TheAMAs

About the American Music Awards
The American Music Awards, the world’s largest fan-voted award show, features performances from today’s hottest artists and presents fan-voted awards in the music genres of Pop/Rock, Alternative Rock, Country, Rap/Hip-Hop, Soul/R&B, Adult Contemporary, Contemporary Inspirational, Latin, EDM and Soundtrack, and the categories of Artist of the Year, New Artist of the Year, Collaboration of the Year, Tour of The Year, Favorite Social Artist and Favorite Music Video. The American Music Awards pays tribute to today’s most influential and iconic artists.  The show is produced by dick clark productions and is seen in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. For more information, visit www.theamas.com, www.dickclark.com or abc.go.com/shows/american-music-awards.

About Dick Clark Productions
Dick Clark Productions (DCP) is the world’s largest producer and proprietor of televised live event entertainment programming with the “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “American Music Awards,” “Billboard Music Awards,” “Golden Globe Awards,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” and the “Streamy Awards.” Weekly television programming includes “So You Think You Can Dance” from 19 Entertainment and DCP. DCP also owns one of the world’s most unique and extensive entertainment archive libraries with over 60 years of award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming. dcp is a division of Valence Media, a diversified and integrated media company with divisions and strategic investments in television, film, live entertainment, digital media and publishing. For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com.

About ABC Entertainment
ABC Entertainment airs compelling programming across all day parts, including “Grey’s Anatomy,” the longest-running medical drama in prime-time television; riveting dramas “The Good Doctor,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “A Million Little Things” and “Station 19”; the Emmy® Award-winning “Modern Family” and trailblazing comedy favorites “American Housewife,” “black-ish,” “Bless This Mess,” “The Conners,” “The Goldbergs,” and “Schooled”; the popular “Summer Fun & Games” programming block, including “Card Sharks,” “Celebrity Family Feud,” “Holey Moley” and “Press Your Luck”; star-making sensation “American Idol”; reality phenomenon “Shark Tank”; “The Bachelor” franchise; long-running hits “Dancing with the Stars” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos”; “General Hospital,” which has aired for more than 55 years on the network; and late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”; as well as the critically acclaimed hit special ”Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons.’” The network also boasts some of television’s most prestigious awards shows, including “The Oscars®,” “The CMA Awards” and the “American Music Awards.” ABC programming can also be viewed on ABC.com, the ABC app and Hulu.

Here is the complete list of nominees and winners for the 2019 American Music Awards:

*=winner

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Drake
Ariana Grande
Halsey
Post Malone
Taylor Swift*

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs
Billie Eilish*
Lil Nas X
Lizzo
Ella Mai

COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper “Shallow”
Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Marshmello & Bastille “Happier”
Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello “Señorita”*
Post Malone & Swae Lee “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)”

TOUR OF THE YEAR
BTS*
Ariana Grande
Elton John
P!nk
Ed Sheeran

FAVORITE MUSIC VIDEO
Billie Eilish “bad guy”
Ariana Grande “7 rings”
Halsey “Without Me”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Taylor Swift “You Need to Calm Down”*

FAVORITE SOCIAL ARTIST
BTS*
Billie Eilish
EXO
Ariana Grande
Shawn Mendes

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Drake
Khalid*
Post Malone

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Billie Eilish
Ariana Grande
Taylor Swift*

FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK
BTS*
Jonas Brothers
Panic! At The Disco

FAVORITE ALBUM – POP/ROCK
Billie Eilish “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”
Ariana Grande “thank u, next”
Taylor Swift “Lover”*

FAVORITE SONG – POP/ROCK
Halsey “Without Me”*
Jonas Brothers “Sucker”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”
Panic! At The Disco “High Hopes”
Post Malone & Swae Lee “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)”

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Kane Brown*
Luke Combs
Thomas Rhett

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Kelsea Ballerini
Maren Morris
Carrie Underwood*

FAVORITE DUO or GROUP – COUNTRY
Dan + Shay*
Florida Georgia Line
Old Dominion

FAVORITE ALBUM – COUNTRY
Kane Brown “Experiment”
Dan + Shay “Dan + Shay”
Carrie Underwood “Cry Pretty”*

FAVORITE SONG – COUNTRY
Luke Combs “Beautiful Crazy”
Dan + Shay “Speechless”*
Blake Shelton “God’s Country”

FAVORITE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP
Cardi B*
Drake
Post Malone

FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP
Meek Mill “Championships”
Post Malone “Hollywood’s Bleeding”*
Travis Scott “Astroworld”

FAVORITE SONG – RAP/HIP-HOP
Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road”*
Post Malone “Wow.”
Travis Scott “SICKO MODE”

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown
Khalid
Bruno Mars*

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Beyoncé*
Lizzo
Ella Mai

FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown “Indigo”
Khalid “Free Spirit”*
Ella Mai “Ella Mai”

FAVORITE SONG – SOUL/R&B
Khalid “Talk”*
Lizzo “Juice”
Ella Mai “Trip”

FAVORITE ARTIST – ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Billie Eilish*
Imagine Dragons
Panic! At The Disco

FAVORITE ARTIST – ADULT CONTEMPORARY
Maroon 5
P!nk
Taylor Swift*

FAVORITE ARTIST – LATIN
Bad Bunny
J Balvin*
Ozuna

FAVORITE ARTIST – CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Lauren Daigle*
for KING & COUNTRY
MercyMe

FAVORITE ARTIST – ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC (EDM)
Avicii
Marshmello*
The Chainsmokers

FAVORITE SOUNDTRACK
“A Star is Born” by Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen*
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”

2019 American Music Awards: Number of Wins by Artist
Taylor Swift – 6 (including Artist of the Decade)
BTS – 3
Khalid – 3
Dan + Shay – 2
Billie Eilish – 2
Carrie Underwood – 2
J Balvin – 1
Beyoncé – 1
Kane Brown – 1
Camila Cabello – 1
Cardi B – 1
Billy Ray Cyrus – 1
Lauren Daigle – 1
Lil Nas X – 1
Post Malone – 1
Bruno Mars – 1
Marshmello – 1
Shawn Mendes – 1
Queen – 1

2019 American Music Awards: Christina Aguilera, Great Big World, Green Day, Post Malone, Ozzy Osbourne, Travis Scott, WATT, Halsey, Shawn Mendes added to lineup of performers

November 18, 2019

The following is a press release from Dick Clark Productions and ABC:

Dick Clark Productions and ABC today announced that Christina Aguilera & A Great Big World and Post Malone featuring Ozzy Osbourne, Travis Scott and WATT will debut world television premiere collaborations at the “2019 American Music Awards,” while Green Day will roar back to the stage for a fiery career-spanning performance. They join previously announced performers Camila Cabello, Billie Eilish, Selena Gomez, Jonas Brothers, Kesha feat. Big Freedia, Dua Lipa, Lizzo, Thomas Rhett and Shania Twain. The evening will also include an unprecedented performance by Taylor Swift, the “2019 American Music Awards” Artist of the Decade award recipient. Hosted by Ciara, the “2019 American Music Awards” will broadcast live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, November 24 at 8:00 p.m. EST on ABC.

  • Aguilera and A Great Big World will take the stage for the world television premiere of another captivating vocal collaboration. They last performed together at the “2013 American Music Awards” with their hit song “Say Something.”
  • Post Malone, a two-time American Music Awards winner and the most nominated artist this year with seven, will take the stage with Ozzy Osbourne, Travis Scott and WATT for the world television premiere of their new single.
  • Three-time American Music Awards winners Green Day will celebrate the 25th anniversary of their legendary 1994 album, Dookie, with a performance of “Basket Case,” as well as their latest No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs chart, “Father of All…”.

The American Music Awards is where the world’s biggest artists and pop culture icons come together to honor idols, newcomers and record-breakers in the contemporary music scene. As the decade comes to a close, this year’s show celebrates the past ten years with some of the best moments in music and live performances from the biggest names in the industry. From Pop and Rock, to Country, Hip Hop and beyond, it only happens here.

American Music Awards nominees are based on key fan interactions as reflected on Billboard.com, including streaming, album and digital song sales, radio airplay, social activity and touring. These measurements are tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Music and Next Big Sound, and reflect the time period of September 28, 2018 through September 26, 2019. The American Music Awards winners are voted entirely by fans.   Voting is open for all AMA categories. Fans can access the official voting ballot for the American Music Awards directly by visiting goo.gle/AMAsVote or by going to Google.com and using the search terms “AMAs Vote” or “[Nominee Name] AMAs Vote.” Fans can submit up to 30 votes per category per day per Google account while voting is open. Voting will close on Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 11:59:59 p.m. PST.  The “2019 American Music Awards” is sponsored by Dolby, T-Mobile and Wells Fargo.

The “2019 American Music Awards” is produced by dick clark productions. Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco are Executive Producers. Larry Klein is Producer.

For the latest American Music Awards news, exclusive content and more, be sure to follow the AMAs on social and join the conversation by using the official hashtag for the show, #AMAs.

Facebook: Facebook.com/AMAs

Twitter: @AMAs

Instagram: @AMAs

Snapchat: TheAMAs

YouTube: YouTube.com/TheAMAs

Tickets are on sale at www.axs.com.

About the American Music Awards

The American Music Awards, the world’s largest fan-voted award show, features performances from today’s hottest artists and presents fan-voted awards in the music genres of Pop/Rock, Alternative Rock, Country, Rap/Hip-Hop, Soul/R&B, Adult Contemporary, Contemporary Inspirational, Latin, EDM and Soundtrack, and the categories of Artist of the Year, New Artist of the Year, Collaboration of the Year, Tour of The Year, Favorite Social Artist and Favorite Music Video. The American Music Awards pays tribute to today’s most influential and iconic artists.  The show is produced by Dick Clark Productions and is seen in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. For more information, visit www.theamas.com, www.dickclark.com or abc.go.com/shows/american-music-awards.

About Dick Clark Productions

Dick Clark Productions (DCP) is the world’s largest producer and proprietor of televised live event entertainment programming with the “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “American Music Awards,” “Billboard Music Awards,” “Golden Globe Awards,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” and the “Streamy Awards.” Weekly television programming includes “So You Think You Can Dance” from 19 Entertainment and DCP. DCP also owns one of the world’s most unique and extensive entertainment archive libraries with over 60 years of award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming. DCP is a division of Valence Media, a diversified and integrated media company with divisions and strategic investments in television, film, live entertainment, digital media and publishing. For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com.

About ABC Entertainment

ABC Entertainment airs compelling programming across all day parts, including “Grey’s Anatomy,” the longest-running medical drama in prime-time television; riveting dramas “The Good Doctor,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “A Million Little Things” and “Station 19”; the Emmy® Award-winning “Modern Family” and trailblazing comedy favorites “American Housewife,” “black-ish,” “Bless This Mess,” “The Conners,” “The Goldbergs,” and “Schooled”; the popular “Summer Fun & Games” programming block, including “Card Sharks,” “Celebrity Family Feud,” “Holey Moley” and “Press Your Luck”; star-making sensation “American Idol”; reality phenomenon “Shark Tank”; “The Bachelor” franchise; long-running hits “Dancing with the Stars” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos”; “General Hospital,” which has aired for more than 55 years on the network; and late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”; as well as the critically acclaimed hit special ”Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons.’” The network also boasts some of television’s most prestigious awards shows, including “The Oscars®,” “The CMA Awards” and the “American Music Awards.” ABC programming can also be viewed on ABC.com, the ABC app and Hulu.

November 23, 2019 UPDATE: Carole King will present the coveted Artist of the Decade honor to Taylor Swift at the “2019 American Music Awards.”

Carole King (Photo by Kirsten Schultz)

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to present Taylor with the Artist of the Decade honor,” said King. “She is an extraordinary songwriter who has cultivated a unique and personal relationship with her audience. As a woman songwriter who also got into the music world at a young age, I know the kind of determination, struggle and single-minded perseverance it has taken for her to reach such heights.”

Presenters at the 2019 American Music Awards will be Paula Abdul, Kelsea Ballerini, Tyra Banks, Chadwick Boseman, Kane Brown, Misty Copeland, Rivers Cuomo, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan + Shay, Jenna Dewan, David Dobrik, Michael Ealy, Maddie Hasson, Maya Hawke, Jameela Jamil, Jharrel Jerome, Taran Killam, Carole King, Regina King, Heidi Klum, Katherine Langford, Dan Levy, Megan Thee Stallion, Ben Platt, Billy Porter, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Cobie Smulders,  Carrie Underwood, Pete Wentz, and Constance Wu. “AMAs Red Carpet Live Presented by Security Benefit” hosts are Sofia Carson, AJ Gibson, Jaymes Vaughan, Lauren Jauregui, Raja Kumari and Nick Viall. Special guests include X Ambassadors, Blanco Brown, Billy Ray Cyrus, Diplo, Meg Donnelly, Andy Grammar, Rich The Kid, Ella Mai, Meek Mill, Agnez Mo, Shiva Safai, Alyson Stoner and Lil Nas X.

November 23, 2019 UPDATE: Dick Clark Productions and ABC announced that 2019 American Music Awards nominees Halsey and Shawn Mendes have been added to the performer lineup of the “2019 American Music Awards.”  Halsey will take the stage for a performance of her latest single “Graveyard” while Mendes and previously announced performer Camila Cabello will take the stage together for a performance of their #1 collaboration “Señorita.”

Halsey (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Fox/PictureGroup)

Since 2015, Halsey has amassed over 23 billion streams worldwide and sold more than nine million adjusted albums globally. She has played sold-out dates on five continents (including New York City’s Madison Square Garden), been nominated for a Grammy and appeared on a wide variety of magazine covers, including Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, Nylon, Forbes, Playboy and Billboard. Her 2015 debut album, BADLANDS, was certified Platinum by the RIAA within one year of its release. Halsey claimed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 with 2017’s Platinum-certified hopeless fountain kingdom, which contained such hits as the 2x Platinum “Now or Never” and the 4x Platinum “Bad at Love.”

The success of “Without Me” has made Halsey the first and only female artist to have at least three songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100 for 50 weeks each. Rounding out the trio of songs are the 2x Platinum “Eastside,” her collaboration with Benny Blanco and Khalid, and The Chainsmokers’ 11x Platinum “Closer,” which she featured on. “Without Me” spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in early 2019, marking her first solo single to reach the top spot. It now ranks as the longest-running Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit by a female artist of this century.

She is the first artist to rank at Nos. 1 and 2 simultaneously on Billboard’s Hot 100 Pop Songs radio airplay chart. In March 2019, Halsey became the first artist in history to replace herself at No. 1 twice on the U.S. Pop Songs Airplay chart when “Without Me” returned to No. 1, bumping “Eastside” from the top spot. “Without Me” is the most-played song of 2019 at U.S. radio. She featured on BTS’s platinum hit, “Boy With Luv,” and, more recently, alongside Future on “Die for Me,” a track from Post Malone’s new album. Halsey continues to push creative boundaries, expanding her influence and impact beyond music.

After making her film debut in the animated 2018 summer movie Teen Titans GO! as the voice of Wonder Woman, she was seen in A Star is Born, starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. She continues to use her voice to speak up for causes she passionately believes in, including disenfranchised youth, women’s rights, mental health and the LGBTQ community. GLAAD honored her in 2018 as Outstanding Music Artist. She recently won the Hal David Starlight Award, presented by the Songwriters Hall of Fame, plus a VMA and two Teen Choice Awards. Most recently, Halsey released “Graveyard” and “clementine” from her upcoming album, Manic, which will be released on January 17th, 2020.

Shawn Mendes (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)

Grammy-nominated, Toronto-born multiplatinum singer/songwriter Mendes released his highly anticipated self-titled third album in May 2018. The certified platinum album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 Chart as well as multiple additional worldwide markets. It shot to #1 on iTunes in more than 80 countries immediately upon release. The album became one of the top best-selling album debuts of 2018 and made Mendes the third youngest solo artist to ever have three consecutive #1 albums. Mendes was nominated in two categories for the 61st annual Grammy Awards, including “Song of the Year” for “In My Blood” and “Best Pop Vocal Album” for Shawn Mendes. Most recently, Mendes was nominated for a Grammy for “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” for his single with Camila Cabello, “Señorita.” The song debuted at #1 on iTunes worldwide and broke Spotify’s record for the biggest debut from a male/female duet in its history. The hit nabbed the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart as well as #1 at Top 40 Radio. Earlier this summer, Mendes debuted his certified platinum single, “If I Can’t Have You,” at #1 on iTunes and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

With “Señorita” at #1 and “If I Can’t Have You” at #2, Mendes is the first male solo artist ever to simultaneously hold the #1 and #2 place on the Top 40 chart. In April 2017, Mendes released his 3x platinum hit “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back.” The track scored Shawn his second #1 single at Top 40 radio and on Billboard’s Pop Songs chart, joining his 7x platinum single “Stitches.” Throughout his career, Mendes has achieved 3 consecutive #1 album debuts, 3 platinum albums, and 11+ consecutive platinum and multi-platinum singles. Worldwide, he has sold over 20 million albums, 175 million singles, and has amassed over 31 billion strong streams and over 8 billion YouTube views.

Mendes has completed two sold-out world tours with over one million tickets sold, selling out legendary stadiums and arenas including NYC’s Madison Square Garden and London’s O2 Arena in minutes. On his most recent tour, he sold out his first ever stadium show in minutes at Rogers Centre in his hometown of Toronto. The tour began in March 2019, with over 100 dates currently announced across the UK, Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Australia/New Zealand. He topped Billboard’s “21 Under 21” in 2017 and 2018 and has been featured on Forbes “30 Under 30,” Spotify’s “25 Under 25,” and Time Magazine’s “Time 100 Most Influential”. Last year, ROI Influencer Media recognized Mendes as the #1 Most Influential Artist and #1 Most Influential Teen across all social media platforms.

2019 MTV Video Music Awards: Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, J Balvin, Bad Bunny, Rosalia announced as performers

August 13, 2019

The following is a press release from MTV:

MTV today announced that Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, J Balvin, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, Rosalía and Shawn Mendes will take the stage at the 2019 VMAs, airing live globally from Newark, N.J. on Monday, August 26 at 8:00 p.m.ET/PT.

The 2019 VMAs will be hosted by comedian, actor and best-selling author Sebastian Maniscalco, and will air live from Prudential Center across MTV’s global footprint in more than 180 countries, reaching more than half a billion households around the world. Music’s biggest stars and fans will celebrate the year’s most iconic videos with electrifying performances, viral moments and a new, first-of-its-kind immersive fan experience.

The full list of nominees for the 2019 VMAs, including, Cardi B, Drake, H.E.R., Khalid, Jonas Brothers, and more, is available here. Additional performers will be announced at a later date.

Latin music’s rising star Bad Bunny, originally from Puerto Rico, is one of the top Latin urban artists of the moment and one of the pioneers of the Latin Trap movement. His unmistakable voice and rhythm have led him to transition to the general market, where he’s already created waves of revolution with his participation in “I Like It” alongside Cardi B and J Balvin and his hit collaboration with Drake, “Mia,” part of his debut album “X 100PRE.” Bad Bunny is widely recognized for breaking cultural boundaries and language barriers and seamlessly transcending into the American market as a full-fledged urban artist of his own right.

Cuban born multi-platinum singer/songwriter Camila Cabello released her debut solo album, “CAMILA” in January 2018 to rave reviews. By the end of 2018, Cabello took home “Artist of the Year” and “Video of the Year” at the 2018 VMAs, and was nominated for two Grammy Awards, “Best Pop Vocal Album” and “Best Pop Solo Performance” for “Havana,” her multi-platinum smash hit which became the most streamed song of all time by a female artist. Most recently, Cabello released her new single “Senorita” with Shawn Mendes which debuted at number one on iTunes worldwide and broke Spotify’s record for the biggest debut from a male/female duet in its history. Camila is currently the most listened to female artist on Spotify worldwide.

J Balvin, originally from Medellin, Colombia, is one of the top streaming music artists in the world. J Balvin developed a distinctive musical style all his own that pays reverence to the first-wave of Reggaeton stars from Puerto Rico, while fusing wider influences of hip-hop, mainstream pop, Dance Music and innovative global rhythms tied with lyrical inclusivity.  Between his game-changing major-label debut album “La Familia,” multi-platinum successor “Energia” and several landmark singles such as “Mi Gente,” “Safari,” “Ginza” and more, J Balvin  has won three Latin Grammy Awards, numerous Billboard Latin Music Awards, a Guinness World Record for the longest #1 run for a solo Latin single, and collected over twenty billion YouTube views.

Record-shattering artist Lil Nas X is known for the inescapable song of the year, “Old Town Road” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, which has completely taken over the internet and broken boundaries in the industry. The song first took flight on TikTok, with fans across the world posting videos dancing to the song and memes where they transform into cowboys. Propelled by many moments and Lil Nas X’s charming, hilarious online presence, the record-breaking song has become the longest running number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 after nineteen weeks atop the chart.

Platinum selling, genre-bending, Lizzo channels boundless self-confidence through a downright earth-quaking voice, colorful persona, and undeniable star power. Lizzo has stormed the charts around the world with an upbeat, positive, high energy tracks like “Juice,” “Good As Hell” and “Tempo” ft. Missy Elliott. Her highly praised Atlantic debut album, Cuz I Love You, is an instant classic that showcases her phenomenal talents as a vocalist, rapper, songwriter, and flutist. The critically acclaimed album reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart in the U.S. as well as breaking into the top of the charts in Australia, Ireland, Scotland, and the UK stamping her as one of 2019’s biggest and brightest stars.  Her 2019 takeover continues as her smash single “Truth Hurts” continues to take the industry by storm and has been a definitive and inescapable anthem of the Summer.

Spanish singer/songwriter, Rosalía is making a global splash with her interpretations of flamenco music. Her landmark album “El Mal Querer” was released to immediate critical and commercial success last fall. The album’s groundbreaking fusion of classic Flamenco with R&B and electronic beats, coupled with Rosalía’s nod to the visual arts, fashion and choreography was strongly embraced by fans across the globe. The album’s lead single “Malamente” garnered six Latin Grammy nominations, and took home the award for Best Alternative Song and Best Urban Fusion Performance.  This year has seen three more releases from Rosalía with the recent double track “Milionària & “Dio$ No$ Libre Del Dinero,”“Aute Cuture” and her #1 Global video streaming hit and wide ‘Song of the Summer’ pick “Con Altura” with J Balvin and featuring El Guincho.

Toronto born, multi-platinum singer/songwriter Shawn Mendes has become one of the biggest voices in mainstream media, with three consecutive album debuts, two platinum albums, and eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum singles. Most recently he launched two new singles “If I Can’t Have You” and a Camila Cabello collaboration “Senorita.” Mendes has completed two sold-out world tours with over one million tickets sold, selling out legendary stadiums and arenas including NYC’s Madison Square Garden and London’s O2 Arena in minutes. His current tour, “Shawn Mendes: The Tour,” began in March 2019, with over 100 dates announced across the UK, Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Australia/New Zealand.

As previously announced, Missy Elliott will be honored with the “Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award” and is set to hit the VMAs main stage. Taylor Swift will also perform following the release of her highly anticipated album, “Lover.”

Fans can vote for their favorites across 14 gender-neutral VMA categories, including “Video of the Year,” “Artist of the Year,” “Best Collaboration” and more by visiting vma.mtv.com until Thursday, August 15. Voting for the “Best New Artist” award, presented by Taco Bell®, will remain active until the VMA broadcast. Fans on Twitter and Facebook Messenger can also slide into VMAs’ DMs to cast an additional vote for “Video of the Year,” “Song of the Year,” and more. Fans will also be able to ask Alexa to “vote for the VMAs” for “Artist of the Year” within the MTV skill on Alexa-enabled devices.

This year, for the first time ever, MTV is rewarding fans for voting through VMA Power Hour on vma.mtv.com, where their votes are doubled from 1-2pm ET daily. Superfans can come back each day within this voting window beginning tomorrow to show double the love for their favorite artists.

Bruce Gillmer and Den of Thieves co-founder Jesse Ignjatovic are Executive Producers for the 2019 VMAs. Barb Bialkowski is Co-Executive Producer. Jackie Barba, Joe Buoye and Alicia Portugal serve as Executive in Charge of Production. Amani Duncan is Executive in Charge of Music.  Wendy Plaut is Executive in Charge of Celebrity Talent.

Official sponsors of the 2019 “MTV Video Music Awards” include Extra® Refreshers Gum, PEPSI®, Taco Bell®, the 2020 Toyota Corolla, and truth®.

Follow @MTV and @VMAs on social to keep up with all-things #VMAs.

About MTV:
MTV is the leading global youth media brand in 180 countries, reaching 450 million households in nearly 30 different languages across every platform. A unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), MTV operations span cable and mobile networks, live events, theatrical films and MTV Studios.

2019 Juno Awards: Shawn Mendes is the biggest winner

March 17, 2019

by Carla Hay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcxcHJ1Us3c

With five prizes, including Artist of the Year, Shawn Mendes was the top winner at the 2019 Juno Awards, which were presented on March 17 at Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario. CBC had the Canadian telecast of the show, which was hosted by multiple Juno winner Sarah McLachlan. Corey Hart was inducted in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the ceremony.

Mendes’ big prize haul at the 2019 Junos was not a big surprise since he had the most nominations (six) going into the ceremony. In the end, he won the awards for Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Single of the Year (“In My Blood”), while his “Shawn Mendes” album won for Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year. Mendes did not attend the ceremony, since he is on a previously scheduled concert tour, and he sent pre-recorded footage for the 2019 Juno Awards.

Arkells was another multiple Juno winner at the ceremony, winning two prizes: Group of the Year and Rock Album of the Year (“Rally Cry”).

Performers included Mendes (in a pre-recorded performance), Arkells, McLachlan, Hart, the Reklaws, Bahamas, Tyler Shaw, Jeremy Dutcher and NAV. On-stage collaborations included Loud Luxury, brando, Cheer Western and the Western Mustang Band opening the show with “Body.” Later in the show, Cœur de pirate and Loud teamed up for “Dans la nuit.”

For the second year in a row, Canadian rapper Drake did not submit his name for awards consideration at the Junos, which is why he was not on the nominees list this year. Drake and the music from his 2018 album “Scorpion” would have been eligible for multiple Juno nominations.Eligible artists for the non-international categories are Canadian-born or Canadian-based artists who released music in 2018. Artists eligible for the international categories are artists who were not born in Canada or are not currently based in Canada.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw1iT64qT0k

Here is the complete list of winners and nominees for the 2019 Juno Awards:

*=winner

Artist of the Year
Alessia Cara
Michael Bublé
Shawn Mendes*
The Weeknd
Tory Lanez

Single of the Year
Alessia Cara – “Growing Pains”
bülow – “Not A Love Song”
Loud Luxury – “Body”
Shawn Mendes – “In My Blood”*
The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar – “Pray For Me”

Album of the Year
Hubert Lenoir – Darlène
Jann Arden – These Are The Days
Shawn Mendes – Shawn Mendes*
The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy
Three Days Grace – Outsider

International Album of the Year
Camila Cabello – Camila
Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
Maroon 5 – Red Pill Blues
Post Malone – beerbongs & bentleys*
Travis Scott – ASTROWORLD

Juno Fan Choice Award
Alessia Cara
Avril Lavigne*
bülow
Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine
KILLY Secret Sound Club
Loud Luxury
NAV
Shawn Mendes
The Weeknd
Tory Lanez

Group of the Year
Arkells*
Chromeo
Metric
The Sheepdogs
Three Days Grace

Breakthrough Artist of the Year
bülow*
grandson
Johnny Orlando
KILLY
Meghan Patrick

Breakthrough Group of the Year
88GLAM
Dizzy
Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine
Loud Luxury
The Washboard Union*

Songwriter of the Year
Afie Jurvanen (Bahamas – Earthtones; “No Wrong,” “Way with Words,” “Any Place”)
Donovan Woods (Donovan Woods – Both Ways; “Our Friend Bobby,” “Truck Full of Money,” “Next Year”)
Frank Dukes (Cardi B, “Be Careful”; Post Malone, “Better Now”; The Weeknd, “Call Out My Name”)
Jessie Reyez (Sam Smith and Calvin Harris, “Promises”; Dua Lipa and Calvin Harris, “One Kiss”; Jessie Reyes, “Apple Juice”)
Shawn Mendes (Shawn Mendes – Shawn Mendes; “Lost In Japan,” “Youth,” “In My Blood”)*

Country Album of the Year
Brett Kissel – We Were That Song*
Jess Moskaluke – A Small Town Christmas
Meghan Patrick – Country Music Made Me Do It
The Reklaws – Feels Like That
Tim Hicks – New Tattoo

Adult Alternative Album of the Year
Bahamas – Earthtones*
Dan Mangan – More or Less
Gabrielle Shonk – Gabrielle Shonk
Rhye – Blood
The Barr Brothers – Queens of the Breakers

Alternative Album of the Year
Destroyer – Ken
Dizzy – Baby Teeth*
Fucked Up – Dose Your Dreams
Tokyo Police Club – TPC
U.S. Girls – In A Poem Unlimited

Pop Album of the Year
bülow – Damaged
Chromeo – Head Over Heels
Hubert Lenoir – Darlène
Shawn Mendes – Shawn Mendes*
Tyler Shaw – Intuition

Rock Album of the Year
Arkells – Rally Cry*
Monster Truck – True Rockers
The Sheepdogs – Changing Colours
The Trews – Civilianaires
Three Days Grace – Outsider

Electronic Album of the Year
Ekali – Crystal Eyes
Felix Cartal – Next Season
iamhill – Give It a Rest
Milk & Bone – Deception Bay*
REZZ – Certain Kind of Magic

Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year
Beyond Creation – Algorythm
Cancer Bats – The Spark That Moves
KEN Mode – Loved
Kobra And The Lotus – Prevail II
Voivod – The Wake*

Adult Contemporary Album of the Year
Jann Arden – These Are The Days
Michael Bublé – Love*
Molly Johnson – Meaning to Tell Ya
Nuela Charles – Distant Danger
Whitehorse – A Whitehorse Winter Classic

 

Indigenous Album of the Year
Elisapie – The Ballad of the Runaway Girl
Jeremy Dutcher – Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa*
Leonard Sumner – Standing in the Light
Brothers and Sister – Nitisanak
Snotty Nose Rez Kids – The Average Savage

Contemporary Roots Album of the Year
AHI – In Our Time
Donovan Woods – Both Ways*
Kaia Kater – Grenades
Megan Nash – Seeker
The Deep Dark Woods – Yarrow

Blues Album of the Year
Colin James – Miles to Go*
Jack de Keyzer – Checkmate
Myles Goodwyn – Myles Goodwyn and Friends of the Blues
Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar – Run to Me
Sue Foley – The Ice Queen

Vocal Jazz Album of the Year
Diana Krall & Tony Bennett – Love Is Here to Stay
Diana Panton – Solstice/Equinox
Holly Cole – Holly
Jodi Proznick ft. Laila Biali – Sun Songs
Laila Biali – Laila Biali*

Jazz Album of the Year: Solo
Alexis Baro – Sandstorm
Alison Young – So Here We Are
Larnell Lewis – In the Moment
Renee Rosnes – Beloved of the Sky
Robi Botos – Old Soul*

Jazz Album of the Year: Group
Allison Au Quartet – Wander Wonder
Andrew Rathbun Large Ensemble – Atwood Suites
Andy Milne & Dapp Theory – The Seasons of Being*
Liebman/Murley Quartet – Live at U of T
Quinsin Nachoff’s Flux – Path of Totality

Instrumental Album of the Year
Aerialists – Group Manoeuvre
Gordon Grdina – China Cloud*
Kevin Breit – Johnny Goldtooth and The Chevy Casanovas
The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
Toninato / Thiessen – The Space Between Us

Francophone Album of the Year
Cœur de pirate – En cas de tempête, ce jardin sera fermé
Hubert Lenoir – Darlène
Loud – Une année record*
Philippe Brach – Le silence des troupeaux
Tire le coyote – Désherbage

Children’s Album of the Year
Beppie – Let’s Go Bananas
Ginalina – It Takes a Village
Raffi – Dog on the Floor
Sonshine and Broccoli – It’s Cool to Be Kind
Splash’N Boots – You, Me and the Sea*

Comedy Album of the Year
Chanty Marostica – The Chanty Show
Dave Merheje – Good Friend Bad Grammar*
Debra DiGiovanni – Lady Jazz
Mayce Galoni – Awkwarder
Pat Thornton – Chicken!

Classical Album of the Year: Solo of Chamber
Andrew Wan & Charles Richard-Hamelin – Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 6, 7 & 8
Angela Hewitt – Scarlatti: Sonatas Vol.2
Blake Pouliot with Hsin-I Huang – Ravel & Debussy: Sonates
Gryphon Trio – The End of Flowers: Works by Clarke & Ravel*
Marc-André Hamelin – Schubert: Piano Sonata in B Flat Major D.960; Four Impromptus D.935

Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble
Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra/Orchestre du Centre National Des Arts du Canada conducted by Alexander Shelley – New Worlds/Nouveaux Mondes
James Ehnes with Seattle Symphony and Detroit Symphony Orchestra – Newton Howard & Kernis: Violin Concertos; Tovey: Stream of Limelight
Louis Lortie with BBC Philharmonic – Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2 and 4
Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arthur Post with Gryphon Trio – Into the Wonder
Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Oundjian featuring Louis Lortie, Sarah Jeffrey, & Teng Li – Vaughan Williams*

Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral
Barbara Hannigan with Reinbert De Leeuw – Vienna: Fin de siècle*
Choeur de l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Conducted by Kent Nagano with Guest Soloists – Bernstein: A Quiet Place
Elmer Iseler Singers featuring Patricia O’Callaghan – David Braid: Corona Divinae Misericordiae
Joyce El-Khoury – Écho
Miriam Khalil – Ayre: Live

Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year
Brian Doerksen – Grateful
LOVECOLLIDE – Tired of Basic*
Manic Drive – Into the Wild
Tim Neufeld & The Glory Boys – The Buffalo Roadshow
Dean Flandez – Speak Warren

World Music Album of the Year
Ayrad – Zoubida
Boogát – San Cristóbal Baile Inn
Emmanuel Jal and Nyaruach – Naath
Telmary y Habana Sana – Fuerza Arara
Wesli – Rapadou Kreyol*

Rap Recording of the Year
88GLAM – 88GLAM Reloaded
Belly – Immigrant
KILLY – Surrender Your Soul
NAV – Reckless
Tory Lanez – Love Me Now*

Dance Recording of the Year
AZARI – “Gotasoul”
Dzeko & Tiësto – “Jackie Chan (ft. Preme & Post Malone) ”
Jacques Greene – “Avatar Beach”
Keys N Krates – “CURA”
Loud Luxury – “Body”*

R&B/Soul Recording of the Year
Anders – Twos
Black Atlass -Pain & Pleasure
Charlotte Day Wilson – Stone Woman
Jessie Reyez – Being Human in Public*
The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy

Reggae Recording of the Year
Blessed – Money Don’t Grow Pon Trees
Chelsea Stewart – Genesis
Dubmatix – Sly & Robbie meet Dubmatix – Overdubbed*
Exco Levi – Narrative
Kafinal ft. Queen Ifrica – Talk Or No Talk

Classical Composition of the Year
Ana Sokolović – Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes*
Bekah Simms – Granitic
Cassandra Miller – About Bach
Nicole Lizée – Katana of Choice
Vincent Ho – Arctic Symphony

Jack Richardson Producer of the Year
Michael Bublé and David Foster
(“My Funny Valentine,” “Where or When” from Michael Bublé’s album “Love,” co-producer Jochem van der Saag)

Eric Ratz*
(“People’s Champ”, “Relentless” from Arkells’ album “Rally Cry”)

Greg Wells
(“Waving Through a Window” from “Dear Evan Hansen” Original Broadway Recording; “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Mike Wise
(“Not A Love Song”, “Two Punks In Love” from bülow’s album “Damaged”)

Thomas D’Arcy
(“I’ve Got A Hole Where My Heart Should Be” from The Sheepdogs’ album “Changing Colours”; “Love The Way You Are” from Yukon Blonde’s album “Critical Hit,” co-producers James Younger, Jeffrey Innes)

Recording Engineer of the Year
Ben Kaplan
(“Get Up”, “It’s Alright” from Mother Mother’s album “Dance and Cry”)

Jason Dufour
(“Truck Full Of Money” from Donovan Woods’ album “Both Ways”; “When My Body Breaks” from Kandle’s album “Holy Smoke”)

Robbie Lackritz
(“No Wrong”, “Way With Words” from Bahamas’ album “Earthones” Bahamas)

Shawn Everett*
(“Slow Burn,” “Space Cowboy” from the Kasey Musgraves’ album “Golden Hour”)

Steve Bays
(“Flashes” PHASES – Dear Rouge, “UnAmerican” from Said the Whales’ album “Unamerican”)

Album Artwork of the Year
Gareth Auden-Hole (Art Director), Emil Mateja (Illustrator) for Jack Pine and The Fire’s album “Left to Your Own Devices”
Geordan Moore (Art Director, Designer, & Illustrator) for Joshua Van Tassel’s album “Crossworlds”
Michael DeAngelis (Art Director & Designer), Matt Barnes & Jess Baumung (Photographers) for Akrells’ “Rally Cry”
Mike Milosh (Art Director, Designer, Illustrator, & Photographer) from Rhye’s album “Blood”*
Simon Dupuis (Art Director, Designer, Illustrator, & Photographer) from Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire L-A be (Let artists)’ album “Viens Avec Moi”

Video of the Year
“No Depression – Ali Eisner (Bahamas)*
“Places” – Andrew De Zen (Alaskan Tapes)
“Powerless” – Andrew Hines (Classified)
“Hang Ups” – Ben Knechtel (Scott Helman)
“Have A Nice Day” – Peter Huang (SonReal)

2019 Juno Awards: Shawn Mendes has the most nominations; Sarah McLachlan is the host

January 29, 2019

by Carla Hay

Shawn Mendes
Shawn Mendes at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on September 22, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)

With six nominations, Shawn Mendes is the leading contender for the 2019 Juno Awards, which will be presented on March 17 at Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario. CBC will have the Canadian telecast of the show, which will be hosted by multiple Juno winner Sarah McLachlan. Corey Hart will be inducted in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the ceremony. Hart,  bülow and Loud Luxury are the artists announced so far who will be performing.

Mendes is up for Artist of the Year, Juno Fan Choice Award, Songwriter of the Year, Single of the Year (“In My Blood”), while his “Shawn Mendes” album is nominated for Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year. Following close behind with five nominations is The Weeknd, who is also nominated for Artist of the Year and Juno Fan Choice Award, while his “Pray for Me” collaboration with Kendrick Lamar is up for Single of the Year, and his “My Dear Melancholy” album is nominated for Album of the Year and R&B/Soul Recording of the Year.

Eligible artists for the non-international categories are Canadian-born or Canadian-based artists who released music in 2018. Artists eligible for the international categories are artists who were not born in Canada or are not currently based in Canada.

For the second year in a row, Canadian rapper Drake did not submit his name for awards consideration at the Junos, which is why he’s not on the nominees list this year. Drake and the music from his 2018 album “Scorpion” would have been eligible for multiple Juno nominations.

Here is the complete list of nominees for the 2019 Juno Awards:

Artist of the Year
Alessia Cara
Michael Bublé
Shawn Mendes
The Weeknd
Tory Lanez

Single of the Year
Alessia Cara – “Growing Pains”
bülow – “Not A Love Song”
Loud Luxury – “Body”
Shawn Mendes – “In My Blood”
The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar – “Pray For Me”

Album of the Year
Hubert Lenoir – Darlène
Jann Arden – These Are The Days
Shawn Mendes – Shawn Mendes
The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy
Three Days Grace – Outsider

International Album of the Year
Camila Cabello – Camila
Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
Maroon 5 – Red Pill Blues
Post Malone – beerbongs & bentleys
Travis Scott – ASTROWORLD

Juno Fan Choice Award
Alessia Cara
Avril Lavigne
bülow
Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine
KILLY Secret Sound Club
Loud Luxury
NAV
Shawn Mendes
The Weeknd
Tory Lanez

Group of the Year
Arkells
Chromeo
Metric
The Sheepdogs
Three Days Grace

Breakthrough Artist of the Year
bülow
grandson
Johnny Orlando
KILLY
Meghan Patrick

Breakthrough Group of the Year
88GLAM
Dizzy
Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine
Loud Luxury
The Washboard Union

Songwriter of the Year
Afie Jurvanen (Bahamas – Earthtones; “No Wrong,” “Way with Words,” “Any Place”)
Donovan Woods (Donovan Woods – Both Ways; “Our Friend Bobby,” “Truck Full of Money,” “Next Year”)
Frank Dukes (Cardi B, “Be Careful”; Post Malone, “Better Now”; The Weeknd, “Call Out My Name”)
Jessie Reyez (Sam Smith and Calvin Harris, “Promises”; Dua Lipa and Calvin Harris, “One Kiss”; Jessie Reyes, “Apple Juice”)
Shawn Mendes (Shawn Mendes – Shawn Mendes; “Lost In Japan,” “Youth,” “In My Blood”)

Country Album of the Year
Brett Kissel – We Were That Song
Jess Moskaluke – A Small Town Christmas
Meghan Patrick – Country Music Made Me Do It
The Reklaws – Feels Like That
Tim Hicks – New Tattoo

Adult Alternative Album of the Year
Bahamas – Earthtones
Dan Mangan – More or Less
Gabrielle Shonk – Gabrielle Shonk
Rhye – Blood
The Barr Brothers – Queens of the Breakers

Alternative Album of the Year
Destroyer – Ken
Dizzy – Baby Teeth
Fucked Up – Dose Your Dreams
Tokyo Police Club – TPC
U.S. Girls – In A Poem Unlimited

Pop Album of the Year
bülow – Damaged
Chromeo – Head Over Heels
Hubert Lenoir – Darlène
Shawn Mendes – Shawn Mendes
Tyler Shaw – Intuition

Rock Album of the Year
Arkells – Rally Cry
Monster Truck – True Rockers
The Sheepdogs – Changing Colours
The Trews – Civilianaires
Three Days Grace – Outsider

Electronic Album of the Year
Ekali – Crystal Eyes
Felix Cartal – Next Season
iamhill – Give It a Rest
Milk & Bone – Deception Bay
REZZ – Certain Kind of Magic

Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year
Beyond Creation – Algorythm
Cancer Bats – The Spark That Moves
KEN Mode – Loved
Kobra And The Lotus – Prevail II
Voivod – The Wake

Adult Contemporary Album of the Year
Jann Arden – These Are The Days
Michael Bublé – Love
Molly Johnson – Meaning to Tell Ya
Nuela Charles – Distant Danger
Whitehorse – A Whitehorse Winter Classic

 

Indigenous Album of the Year
Elisapie – The Ballad of the Runaway Girl
Jeremy Dutcher – Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa
Leonard Sumner – Standing in the Light
Brothers and Sister – Nitisanak
Snotty Nose Rez Kids – The Average Savage

Contemporary Roots Album of the Year
AHI – In Our Time
Donovan Woods – Both Ways
Kaia Kater – Grenades
Megan Nash – Seeker
The Deep Dark Woods – Yarrow

Blues Album of the Year
Colin James – Miles to Go
Jack de Keyzer – Checkmate
Myles Goodwyn – Myles Goodwyn and Friends of the Blues
Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar – Run to Me
Sue Foley – The Ice Queen

Vocal Jazz Album of the Year
Diana Krall & Tony Bennett – Love Is Here to Stay
Diana Panton – Solstice/Equinox
Holly Cole – Holly
Jodi Proznick ft. Laila Biali – Sun Songs
Laila Biali – Laila Biali

Jazz Album of the Year: Solo
Alexis Baro – Sandstorm
Alison Young – So Here We Are
Larnell Lewis – In the Moment
Renee Rosnes – Beloved of the Sky
Robi Botos – Old Soul

Jazz Album of the Year: Group
Allison Au Quartet – Wander Wonder
Andrew Rathbun Large Ensemble – Atwood Suites
Andy Milne & Dapp Theory – The Seasons of Being
Liebman/Murley Quartet – Live at U of T
Quinsin Nachoff’s Flux – Path of Totality

Instrumental Album of the Year
Aerialists – Group Manoeuvre
Gordon Grdina – China Cloud
Kevin Breit – Johnny Goldtooth and The Chevy Casanovas
The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
Toninato / Thiessen – The Space Between Us

Francophone Album of the Year
Cœur de pirate – En cas de tempête, ce jardin sera fermé
Hubert Lenoir – Darlène
Loud – Une année record
Philippe Brach – Le silence des troupeaux
Tire le coyote – Désherbage

Children’s Album of the Year
Beppie – Let’s Go Bananas
Ginalina – It Takes a Village
Raffi – Dog on the Floor
Sonshine and Broccoli – It’s Cool to Be Kind
Splash’N Boots – You, Me and the Sea

Comedy Album of the Year
Chanty Marostica – The Chanty Show
Dave Merheje – Good Friend Bad Grammar
Debra DiGiovanni – Lady Jazz
Mayce Galoni – Awkwarder
Pat Thornton – Chicken!

Classical Album of the Year: Solo of Chamber
Andrew Wan & Charles Richard-Hamelin – Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 6, 7 & 8
Angela Hewitt – Scarlatti: Sonatas Vol.2
Blake Pouliot with Hsin-I Huang – Ravel & Debussy: Sonates
Gryphon Trio – The End of Flowers: Works by Clarke & Ravel
Marc-André Hamelin – Schubert: Piano Sonata in B Flat Major D.960; Four Impromptus D.935

Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble
Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra/Orchestre du Centre National Des Arts du Canada conducted by Alexander Shelley – New Worlds/Nouveaux Mondes
James Ehnes with Seattle Symphony and Detroit Symphony Orchestra – Newton Howard & Kernis: Violin Concertos; Tovey: Stream of Limelight
Louis Lortie with BBC Philharmonic – Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2 and 4
Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arthur Post with Gryphon Trio – Into the Wonder
Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Oundjian featuring Louis Lortie, Sarah Jeffrey, & Teng Li – Vaughan Williams

Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral
Barbara Hannigan with Reinbert De Leeuw – Vienna: Fin de siècle
Choeur de l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Conducted by Kent Nagano with Guest Soloists – Bernstein: A Quiet Place
Elmer Iseler Singers featuring Patricia O’Callaghan – David Braid: Corona Divinae Misericordiae
Joyce El-Khoury – Écho
Miriam Khalil – Ayre: Live

Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year
Brian Doerksen – Grateful
LOVECOLLIDE – Tired of Basic
Manic Drive – Into the Wild
Tim Neufeld & The Glory Boys – The Buffalo Roadshow
Dean Flandez – Speak Warren

World Music Album of the Year
Ayrad – Zoubida
Boogát – San Cristóbal Baile Inn
Emmanuel Jal and Nyaruach – Naath
Telmary y Habana Sana – Fuerza Arara
Wesli – Rapadou Kreyol

Rap Recording of the Year
88GLAM – 88GLAM Reloaded
Belly – Immigrant
KILLY – Surrender Your Soul
NAV – Reckless
Tory Lanez – Love Me Now

Dance Recording of the Year
AZARI – “Gotasoul”
Dzeko & Tiësto – “Jackie Chan (ft. Preme & Post Malone) ”
Jacques Greene – “Avatar Beach”
Keys N Krates – “CURA”
Loud Luxury – “Body”

R&B/Soul Recording of the Year
Anders – Twos
Black Atlass -Pain & Pleasure
Charlotte Day Wilson – Stone Woman
Jessie Reyez – Being Human in Public
The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy

Reggae Recording of the Year
Blessed – Money Don’t Grow Pon Trees
Chelsea Stewart – Genesis
Dubmatix – Sly & Robbie meet Dubmatix – Overdubbed
Exco Levi – Narrative
Kafinal ft. Queen Ifrica – Talk or No Talk

Classical Composition of the Year
Ana Sokolović – Golden Slumbers Kiss your Eyes
Bekah Simms – Granitic
Cassandra Miller – About Bach
Nicole Lizée – Katana of Choice
Vincent Ho – Arctic Symphony

Jack Richardson Producer of the Year
Michael Bublé and David Foster
(“My Funny Valentine,” “Where or When” from Michael Bublé’s album “Love,” co-producer Jochem van der Saag)

Eric Ratz
(“People’s Champ”, “Relentless” from Arkells’ album “Rally Cry”)

Greg Wells
(“Waving Through a Window” from “Dear Evan Hansen” Original Broadway Recording; “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Mike Wise
(“Not A Love Song”, “Two Punks In Love” from bülow’s album “Damaged”)

Thomas D’Arcy
(“I’ve Got A Hole Where My Heart Should Be” from The Sheepdogs’ album “Changing Colours”; “Love The Way You Are” from Yukon Blonde’s album “Critical Hit,” co-producers James Younger, Jeffrey Innes)

Recording Engineer of the Year
Ben Kaplan
(“Get Up”, “It’s Alright” from Mother Mother’s album “Dance and Cry”)

Jason Dufour
(“Truck Full Of Money” from Donovan Woods’ album “Both Ways”; “When My Body Breaks” from Kandle’s album “Holy Smoke”)

Robbie Lackritz
(“No Wrong”, “Way With Words” from Bahamas’ album “Earthones” Bahamas)

Shawn Everett
(“Slow Burn,” “Space Cowboy” from the Kasey Musgraves’ album “Golden Hour”)

Steve Bays
(“Flashes” PHASES – Dear Rouge, “UnAmerican” from Said the Whales’ album “Unamerican”)

Album Artwork of the Year
Gareth Auden-Hole (Art Director), Emil Mateja (Illustrator) for Jack Pine and The Fire’s album “Left to Your Own Devices”
Geordan Moore (Art Director, Designer, & Illustrator) for Joshua Van Tassel’s album “Crossworlds”
Michael DeAngelis (Art Director & Designer), Matt Barnes & Jess Baumung (Photographers) for Akrells’ “Rally Cry”
Mike Milosh (Art Director, Designer, Illustrator, & Photographer) from Rhye’s album “Blood”
Simon Dupuis (Art Director, Designer, Illustrator, & Photographer) from Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire L-A be (Let artists)’ album “Viens Avec Moi”

Video of the Year
“No Depression – Ali Eisner (Bahamas)
“Places” – Andrew De Zen (Alaskan Tapes)
“Powerless” – Andrew Hines (Classified)
“Hang Ups” – Ben Knechtel (Scott Helman)
“Have A Nice Day” – Peter Huang (SonReal)

2019 Grammy Awards: Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Dan + Shay, Post Malone, Shawn Mendes, Janelle Monáe, Kacey Musgraves announced as performers

January 17, 2019

by Carla Hay

Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Dan + Shay, Post Malone, Shawn Mendes, Janelle Monáe and Kacey Musgraves are in the first group of artists announced to perform at the 61st Grammy Awards, which will take place at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on February 10, 2019. As previously announced, Alicia Keys is hosting the show, which will have its U.S. telecast on CBS.

It’s a tradition for most of the artists performing at a Grammy Awards ceremony are those who are nominated for Grammys that year. All of the aforementioned artists have Grammy nominations in 2019. Cabello and Mendes will be performing at the Grammy Awards for the first time.

Cabello’s Grammy nominations this year are for Best Pop Solo Performance for “Havana [Live]” and Best Pop Vocal Album for her solo debut album, “Camila.” Cabello is a former member of Fifth Harmony.

Cardi B has five Grammy nominations this year. Her debut album, “Invasion of Privacy,” is up for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album; “Girls Like You,” her her hit collaboration with Maroon 5, is nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance; her song “I Like It” is one of the contenders for Record of the Year; and her song “Be Careful” is up for Best Rap Performance.

Dan + Shay’s “Tequila” is nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

Malone has four Grammy nominations: Album of the Year (for “Beerbongs & Bentleys“); his “Better Now” single is up for Best Pop Solo Performance; and his “Rockstar” collaboration with 21 Savage is nominated for Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Performance.

Mendes’ self titled album is nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, while his single “In My Blood” is a contender for Song of the Year.

Monáe has two Grammy nominations this year: “Dirty Computer” is up for Album of the Year, while she has a Best Music Video nod for “PYNK.”

Musgraves received four Grammy nominations this year: “Golden Hour” is up for Album of the Year and Best Country Album; “Butterflies” is nominated for Best Country Solo Performance; and “Space Cowboy” is a contender for Best Country Song.

New Year’s Eve specials ringing in 2019 will feature Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, Sting and more

December 27, 2018

by Carla Hay

Watching a New Year’s Eve special on TV is a tradition for millions of people around the world. After taking a break from a New Year’s Eve Special in 2017, NBC is back with its star-studded party in New York City’s Times Square. Here’s what is planned for the four biggest New Year’s TV specials in the United States:

Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2019 

Ryan Seacrest and Jenny McCarthy (Photo by Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC)

Celebrating its 47th year, “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” (which is produced by Dick Clark Productions and airs in the U.S. on ABC) is still the most high-profile televised New Year’s Eve event. Mariah Carey headlined the show from New York City’s Times Square in 2018 and 2017. In 2018, another Grammy-winning diva—Christina Aguilera—is taking the headlining spot. Ryan Seacrest will once again host the show, which begins airing from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET, followed by 11:30 p.m. to 2:13 a.m. ET. Jenny McCarthy will provide on-site reporting. Other performers in Times Square include Bastille, Dan + Shay and New Kids on the Block. Airing just after midnight Eastern Time, Post Malone will perform from a stop on his current tour in Brooklyn, New York, marking the first television performance of the new year. Meanwhile, the special has partnered with YouTube Music for the first time this year for cross-promotional programming.

Ciara will once again host the Los Angeles segments of the show that will feature performances that were mostly previously recorded. Artists in the show’s Los Angeles segments will include Lauren Alaina, Kelsea Ballerini, Bazzi, Kane Brown, Camila Cabello, The Chainsmokers, Ciara, Foster the People, Halsey, Dua Lipa, Ella Mai, Shawn Mendes, Charlie Puth and Weezer, as well as collaborations from Brown featuring Alaina; Macklemore with Skylar Grey; and The Chainsmokers featuring Ballerini.

Meanwhile, actress Lucy Hale (former star of “Pretty Little Liars”) will host the show’s second annual Central Time Zone celebration from New Orleans. Florida Georgia Line and Maren Morris will perform from the Allstate Fan Fest, leading up to the midnight countdown and fleur-de-lis drop near Jackson Square.  “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2019” is produced by Dick Clark Productions with Seacrest, Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco serving as executive producers. Larry Klein is producer.

Fox’s New Year’s Eve With Steve Harvey: Live From Times Square

Steve Harvey (Photo by Brian Bowen Smith/Fox)

After televising its New Year’s Eve show (hosted by Pitbull) in Miami from 2014 to 2016, Fox changed locations and hosts in 2017, with the show now taking place at New York City’s Times Square with comedian/talk-show host Steve Harvey and former E! News personality Maria Menounous. This year, Harvey and Menounous return to co-host the show, which airs on Fox from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. ET live; CT/MT/PT tape-delayed. Performers will include Sting, Snoop Dogg, Robin Thicke, Florence + the Machine, Jason Aldean, Juanes and Why Don’t We. Additionally, the special will include celebrity cameo appearances by comedians Ken Jeong and Kenan Thompson, as well as “Fox NFL Sunday” commentators Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan and Jimmy Johnson. “Fox’s New Year’s Eve With Steve Harvey: Live From Times Square” is produced by IMG Original Content and Done + Dusted. Guy Carrington, Katy Mullan, Mike Antinoro, Dave Chamberlin and Orly Anderson serve as executive producers; and Eddie Delbridge serves as co-executive producer. IMG also produces Harvey’s self-titled talk show, as well as the Miss Universe Pageant and “It’s Showtime at the Apollo,” which have been hosted by Harvey over the past several years.

[December 30, 2018 UPDATE: Dierks Bentley has been added to the lineup performing in Times Square.]

NBC’s New Year’s Eve

Carson Daly, Chrissy Teigen, Leslie Jones, Keith Urban
(Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal)

Stars from NBC’s “The Voice” are all over “NBC’s New Year’s Eve” special, which begins airing at 10 p.m. ET from New York City’s Times Square. Not only is “The Voice” host Carson Daly hosting the New Year’s Eve show (with Chrissy Teigen and assistance from Leslie Jones), but “The Voice” coaches Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton and John Legend are also performing on the special. Other performers include Jennifer Lopez, Bebe Rexha, Diana Ross and Andy Grammer.  Keith Urban and  Brett Young will perform at Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve in Nashville. “NBC Nightly News” and “Dateline NBC” anchor Lester Holt will also appear on stage before the iconic ball drop. “NBC’s New Year’s Eve” will be televised from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET, followed by the New Year’s countdown segment 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. ET. “NBC’s New Year’s Eve” is executive produced by Daly, Teigen and John Irwin through NBCUniversal Television Studio and Irwin Entertainment. It is co-executive produced by Casey Spira.

New Year’s Eve Live With Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen

Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper (Photo courtesy of CNN)

For the second year in a row, longtime friends Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen will co-host CNN’s New Year’s Eve celebration, which begins at 8 p.m. ET. CNN’s 11th annual New Year’s Eve Show, which is telecast live from New York City’s Times Square has a more star-studded lineup this year than in previous years. Gwen Stefani is scheduled to perform from her Las Vegas residency, while Keith Urban (who also appears on NBC’s New Year’s Eve Special), Dave Chappelle, Patti LaBelle and Jack Black also round out the show’s celebrity lineup.  New Year’s Eve Live With Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen will also spotlight Broadway musicals such as “The Band’s Visit,” “Wicked,” “Tootsie” and “Come From Away.” CNN’s New Year’s Eve Show begins at 8 p.m. ET, and will end at approximately 1:05 p.m. ET. CNN anchors Don Lemon and Brooke Baldwin will host a countdown from New Orleans at 12:30 a.m. ET. In 2017, Cohen replaced Kathy Griffin, who was notoriously fired from the show in May of that year for publicly posting a photo of herself holding up a fake bloody head of President Donald Trump. Griffin and Cooper had co-hosted CNN’s New Year’s Eve Show since 2007, but the Cooper/Cohen duo brought in the show’s highest ratings so far. Cooper and Cohen have an established rapport, since they have done numerous speaking engagements together.

Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve: Camila Cabello, Weezer, Shawn Mendes, Kane Brown, Halsey, Ciara, Lauren Alaina, Bazzi added to Los Angeles lineup to ring in 2019

December 10, 2018

The following is a press release from Dick Clark Productions and ABC:

Dick Clark Productions and ABC today announced performances from chart-topping artists Lauren Alaina, Bazzi, Kane Brown, Camila Cabello, Ciara, Halsey, Shawn Mendes, Weezer and a collaboration from Kane Brown featuring Lauren Alaina have been added to the lineup for the West Coast celebration of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2019.” These artists join previously announced West Coast host, multi-platinum music superstar Ciara, and performers Kelsea Ballerini, The Chainsmokers, Foster the People, Dua Lipa, Ella Mai and Charlie Puth, as well as a performance by Macklemore with Skylar Grey presented by Planet Fitness and a special collaboration from The Chainsmokers featuring Kelsea Ballerini. Airing just after midnight, Post Malone will perform from a stop on his current tour in Brooklyn, NY, marking the first television performance of the New Year. America’s biggest celebration of the year will take place on MONDAY, DECEMBER 31 beginning at 8:00 p.m. EST on the ABC Television Network.

Ranked as the #1 music special of last year, “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2019” marks the 47th anniversary of America’s biggest celebration of the year and will include 5 ½ hours of special performances and reports on New Year’s celebrations from around the globe.  Ryan Seacrest will host the primetime festivities and lead the traditional countdown to midnight from Times Square in New York City, as he has for the last 13 years, with live onsite reporting from actress and comedian Jenny McCarthy. Award-winning actress Lucy Hale will return to host the 3rd annual Central Time Zone celebration from New Orleans, providing viewers with exclusive performances and celebrity and fan interviews leading up to the midnight countdown and stunning fleur-de-lis drop near Jackson Square at the dawn of the New Year.

“Our lineup in Hollywood this year is truly outstanding, featuring artists across multiple genres and some incredible crossover hits,” Said Mark Bracco, Executive Producer and Executive Vice President of Programming & Development, dick clark productions. “Music brings people together and we look forward to rockin’ in the New Year with some of the biggest hits of the year.”

Country star Lauren Alaina’s critically-acclaimed sophomore album, “Road Less Traveled,” landed on multiple “Best Of” lists including Billboard, Rolling Stone and Amazon, and it became the top-streamed female country album release of 2017. Praised as “full of life lessons and uplift” (People), the collection of 12 songs all written by the young star includes Lauren’s first No. 1 smash on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, “Road Less Traveled,” the Top 25 hit “Doin’ Fine,” and the deeply personal and inspiring, “Three.” The “sassy Southerner with killer pipes” (PARADE) has shared the stage with superstars including Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Martina McBride and Jason Aldean, and the Georgia native is currently on tour with Cole Swindell and Dustin Lynch. In addition to earning nominations for ACM Vocal Event of the Year, CMA New Artist of the Year, and Billboard Music’s Top Country Song awards, Lauren took home this year’s ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year Award and CMT Collaborative Video of the Year Award for “What Ifs,” the four-time platinum selling No. 1 hit with childhood friend, Kane Brown. Lauren is one of CMT’s Next Women of Country and she received her first CMT Music Award for Breakthrough Video of the Year with her No. 1 hit “Road Less Traveled.”  Following the release of Road Less Traveled, Lauren has received nominations for the ACM Awards, CMA Awards, CMT Music Awards, Teen Choice Awards, Radio Disney Awards and Billboard Music Awards.

Bazzi, one of the biggest breakout artists of 2018, catapulted into mega-status with his massive hit “Mine.” The track, now certified two-times platinum, climbed to #1 on Billboard‘s Pop Songs airplay chart and top 3 on the Rhythmic Songs airplay chart. Bazzi solidified his spot as Pop’s most promising newcomer with his follow-up hit “Beautiful,” which included a collaboration with multi-platinum global chart-topping singer/songwriter Camila Cabello. Both tracks are featured on Bazzi’s breakthrough debut album, “Cosmic,” which has been streamed more than a billion and a half times globally. Written predominantly by Bazzi and produced by Rice N’ Peas and Bazzi, “Cosmic” has received ecstatic critical applause, with Billboard praising its “slinky, R&B-infused pop” and Playboy hailing the collection as “genre-bending,” praising Bazzi’s “warts-and-all approach to songwriting.” “Bazzi’s ‘Cosmic’ seems primed to linger near the top of the albums chart for quite a while,” wrote Stereogum, while USA Today echoed, “Bazzi’s career is just getting started.” Bazzi recently performed during The 92nd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, continuing his recent streak of high profile TV appearances including Jimmy Kimmel LIVE!, two performances on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “Today,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and The 2018 MTV Video Music Awards – as a Best New Artist nominee. Bazzi has spent much of the past year on The Cosmic Tour, including a sold-out headline run, a special guest role on Camila Cabello’s sold out “Never Be The Same” North American tour, and support on the European leg of Justin Timberlake’s blockbuster “Man Of The Woods Tour.”

Released November 9, Breakthrough star Kane Brown’s second album, “Experiment,” debuted #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, marking only the third country album release to top the Billboard 200 all year and the first time in 24 years a solo country act debuted atop the all genre chart for the first time with a sophomore album. Brown has continued to make history since first releasing his #1 debuting, Platinum-selling self-titled debut album in December 2016. In addition to Platinum and Multi-Platinum RIAA certifications, more than two-billion career audio and video streams, and sold-out concerts, Brown recently won 3 AMA awards, marking the most award wins for any first-time country nominee in the award show’s history. Noted by The New York Times as “one of Nashville’s most promising young stars and also one of its most flexible,” the 25-year-old Georgia native “distinguished himself with an unorthodox path and unvarnished lyrics” (Billboard) and “ultimately bring(s) folks together.” Brown topped the Billboard Top Country Albums chart with his Platinum-certified “Kane Brown,” and again with his “Deluxe Edition” reissue of the albumwhich also sent the set into Top 5 on the all-genre Billboard 200. That same week (October 28, 2017), Brown made history by becoming the first artist to top all five of Billboard’s main country charts with his No. 1 Top Country Album; a No. 1 debut on Country Digital Song Sales with the Double-Platinum “Heaven,” and No. 1s on Country Airplay, Hot Country Songs, and Country Streaming Songs with the Triple-Platinum “What Ifs” featuring Lauren Alaina.  Kane Brown held 12 weeks on Billboards Top Country Albums Chart at No. 1, and his multi-week, 3X Platinum No. 1 song “Heaven” was recently featured by Variety Magazine as the only “pure country” hit to be honored as one of the most streamed songs of the year. Additionally, Brown’s 4X-Platinum No. 1 hit “What Ifs” recently became the third most-streamed country song of all time. For more information including touring information, visit KaneBrownMusic.com.

Multi Grammy nominated Cuban born singer/songwriter Camila Cabello (Epic Records/Syco) released her debut solo album, “Camila” in January 2018 to rave reviews. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart at the same time as her single “Havana” Reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making Camila the first soloist in nearly 15 years to reach the #1 spot on both the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 charts in the same week for the first time. The RIAA gold-certified album “Camila” launched its debut at #1 on over 100 iTunes charts around the world, breaking the record for most #1 positions for a debut album in iTunes history. At the end of 2018, Camila was nominated for two Grammy awards, “Best Pop Vocal Album” for her album”Camila” and “Best Pop Solo Performance” for “Havana” (Live). Earlier this year, she took home awards for Artist of the Year and Video of the Year for her hit “Havana” at the 2018 Video Music Awards. Beginning her official solo career after four years in Fifth Harmony, Cabello released her RIAA 7x platinum smash hit “Havana,” in August 2017 where it obtained the #1 spot on the pop radio chart, marking her second top 40 #1 as a solo artist. Furthermore, “Havana” hit #1 on iTunes overall top songs chart, #2 on the Spotify Global chart and hit #1 in 80 countries around the world. “Havana” is the first song by a female artist to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary, Pop Songs and Rhythmic Songs charts in 22 years, has earned 101 billion on-demand U.S. streams, according to Neilsen Music, and attained the longest run at No. 1 on Pop Songs for any song by a female artist since 2013. Her double-platinum single “Never Be The Same,” was released in January 2018 and peaked in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Cabello had already earned a chart-topping smash with her recent double platinum-certified hit “Bad Things” with MGK. The track generated over 400 million on-demand streams. As a result of its success, she became the fifth female artist to hit #1 on the Pop songs chart with and without a group. In November 2018, Camila was named the new ambassador for Save the Children.

Ciara is a Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter, producer, model and actress. Over her thirteen-year career, she has sold over 23 million records and 16 million singles worldwide, including chart-topping hits “Goodies,” “Ride,” “Oh,” “1, 2 Step,” “Body Party,” and “I Bet.” Most recently, Ciara has been scorching this summer with her new song “Level Up” which has transformed into a defining moment for the culture with the subsequent movement it has incited. Beyond clocking over 100 million views on YouTube, the song spent several weeks at #1 on the iTunes Top R&B/Soul Songs Chart and top 10 on iTunes overall, and attracted Missy Elliott and Fatman Scoop for a high-profile remix which also shot up the iTunes charts. Its high-powered dance initially inspired fans to shoot their own videos with the hashtag #LevelUpChallenge—stirring up a viral buzz that has seen over 2 million posts across social media and launched the video to a #1 trending topic on YouTube. Known for her incredible visuals and stellar dance abilities, Ciara’s videos have been viewed over 1.4 billion times accurately earning her the moniker of “Queen of Dance.”  Ciara continues to captivate with her social media prowess reaching over 50 million fans across her platforms and channels. Ciara is not only known for her vocal talent and dance moves, but she is signed with IMG Models and Vogue previously named her the “new fashion icon.” Most recently, she became a Global Brand Ambassador for Revlon.  As longtime muse for several high-fashion designers, Ciara has not only been the face of various campaigns but she has graced the covers of numerous fashion and lifestyle magazines. Ciara is a devoted wife and mother of two as well as a philanthropist who is dedicated to improving the lives of children and empowering women across the globe.

Grammy® Award-nominated multi-platinum alternative pop maverick Halsey claimed the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 with her second release, “Hopless Fountain Kingdom,” an album Rolling Stone called “bold” in a 4-star review, claiming that “Halsey could go anywhere from here.” Indeed, since storming on the music scene in 2015, she has garnered over 7 billion streams globally and nearly 6 million global sales, graced the covers of magazines from Nylon to Billboard to Forbes, among others – a far cry from the New Jersey teen who’d escaped her suburban existence for New York, writing poetry, and scrounging money for concerts and her next slice of pizza. Halsey shows no signs of slowing down. This fall she released her new single, “Without Me,” which came on the heels of the summer hit “Eastside,” with Benny Blanco and Khalid, which garnered 300 million streams worldwide in just 2 months.  The track was the follow up to the platinum-certified smash with G-Eazy “Him & I,” which reached #1 on Billboard’s Pop Songs Airplay Chart and #1 at Top 40 radio—marking her second #1 since accompanying The Chainsmokers’ on “Closer,” which dominated for 11 weeks and has been certified Diamond by the RIAA. “Him & I” has accrued over 750 million streams worldwide and been certified platinum in several countries.  In addition her own two double-platinum-certified singles, “Bad At Love” and “Now Or Never” which also peaked in the top 3 on the Pop Songs Airplay chart. In addition, Halsey pushes creative boundaries expanding her influence and impact beyond music.   Earlier this year, Halsey spoke at the 2018 women’s march advocating for equality.  Her speech has been viewed millions of times and has moved people from around the world. As her star continues to rise, Halsey uses her voice to speak up for causes she passionately believes in, including disenfranchised youth, women’s rights, mental health and the LGBTQ community, proving that both she and her music can affect meaningful change, and that, yes, the 23-year-old can go anywhere from here. Yves Saint Laurent recently tapped her as a brand ambassador of YSL Beauté where she will help create and share makeup looks that speak to today’s millennial. After making her film debut in the animated 2018 summer movie “Teen Titans Go! To the Movies” as the voice of Wonder Woman, she can be seen this fall in “A Star Is Born,” starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. Halsey went from putting songs on SoundCloud to having her first full length album, “Badlands,” land at #2 on the Billboard 200 and become certified platinum by the RIAA within one year of its release, from couch surfing to witnessing her first tour sell out in minutes to touring globally with sold out dates on five continents (including a sold-out Madison Square Garden performance) and performing for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Norway.  In 2017 she earned a 2017 Grammy nomination in the category of “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” for “Closer,” her Diamond Certified megahit with The Chainsmokers.

Grammy nominated Toronto born singer/songwriter Shawn Mendes released his highly anticipated self-titled third album in May 2018. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart as well as multiple additional worldwide markets, including Australia, Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Holland & more. “Shawn Mendes” made Shawn the third youngest solo artist to ever have three #1 albums on the Billboard 200 and became one of the top best-selling album debuts of 2018. The album shot to #1 on iTunes upon release in over 80 countries around the world. At the end of 2018, Shawn was nominated for two Grammy awards; “Song of the Year” for “In My Blood” and “Best Pop Vocal Album” for his self-titled album, “Shawn Mendes.”  Leading up to the album, he released multiple tracks including “Youth” Featuring Khalid, “In My Blood” and “Lost In Japan.” Both “In My Blood” and “Lost In Japan,” the first two songs released off the new album, experienced massive success, soaring to the #1 and #2 spots on the overall iTunes chart in the U.S, Top 5 on iTunes in 50 countries, and held the #1 and #2 spots on Spotify’s “New Music Friday” playlist. With “In My Blood,” Shawn became the first artist to ever have had four #1 singles on Billboard’s Adult Pop Songs airplay chart before the age of 20 In April 2017, Shawn released his 3x Platinum hit “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back.” The track scored Shawn his second #1 single on Billboard’s Pop Songs chart, joining 7x Platinum single “Stitches.” Throughout his career, Shawn has achieved 3 consecutive #1 album debuts, 2 Platinum albums, and 8 consecutive platinum and multi-platinum singles. Worldwide, he has sold over 15 million albums, 100 million singles, and has amassed over 16 billion song streams and 5 billion YouTube views. Shawn has completed two sold-out world tours with over one million tickets sold, selling out legendary arenas including NYC’s Madison Square Garden, Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, and London’s O2 Arena in minutes. Shawn Mendes: The Tour begins in March 2019, with over 60 dates currently announced across Europe, North America and Australia, with more to be announced soon. He topped Billboard’s “21 Under 21” in 2017 and 2018 and has been featured on Forbes “30 Under 30,” Spotify’s “25 Under 25,” and Time Magazine’s “Time 100 Most Influential”. In February 2018, ROI Influencer Media recognized Shawn as the #1 Most Influential Artist and #1 Most Influential Teen across all social media platforms.

Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, CA in 1992, currently consisting of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, lead guitar), Patrick Wilson (drums), Brian Bell (rhythm guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), and Scott Shriner (bass, backing vocals).  Weezer has sold 10 million albums in the U.S., and over 35 million records worldwide.  Their catalogue has included such megahits as “Buddy Holly,” “Undone (The Sweater Song),” “Say It Ain’t So,” “El Scorcho,” “Hash Pipe,” “Island In The Sun,” “Beverly Hills,” “Pork and Beans,” and more.   Weezer has won Grammys, MTV Video Music Awards, and more throughout their career.  Following massively acclaimed album releases in 2016 and 2017 (Weezer [The White Album] and Pacific Daydream, respectively), and two sold out amphitheatre tours with Panic! At the Disco (in 2016) and Pixies (in 2018), Weezer released a fan-inspired cover of Toto’s “Africa.”  The cover propelled the band back into the charts across the board, giving Weezer their FOURTH #1, TENTH Top 5, and FIFTEENTH Top 10 on Billboard‘s Alternative Songs chart, in addition to landing Top 5 on the Adult Pop Songs chart.  Weezer will release their highly anticipated twelfth album, Weezer (The Black Album), in 2019.

YouTube Music is the presenting sponsor of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2019.”

“Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2019” is produced by dick clark productions with Ryan Seacrest, Barry Adelman and Mark Bracco serving as executive producers. Larry Klein is producer.

The complete lineup airing Monday, December 31 on ABC is:

8:00-10:00 p.m. ET – “Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2019 – Part 1”

10:00-11:00 p.m. ET – “Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2019 – Part 2”

11:30 p.m.-1:09 a.m. ET – “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2019 – Part 1”

1:09-2:13 a.m. ET – “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2019 – Part 2”

For additional photos, please visit www.disneyabc.com.

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About Dick Clark Productions 
Dick Clark Productions (DCP) is the world’s largest producer and proprietor of televised live event entertainment programming with the “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “American Music Awards,” “Billboard Music Awards,” “Golden Globe Awards,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” and the “Streamy Awards.” Weekly television programming includes “So You Think You Can Dance” from 19 Entertainment and DCP. DCP also owns one of the world’s most unique and extensive entertainment archive libraries with over 60 years of award-winning shows, historic programs, specials, performances and legendary programming. DCP is a division of Valence Media, a diversified media company with divisions and strategic investments in premium television, wide release film, specialty film, live events and digital media. For additional information, visit www.dickclark.com.

About ABC Entertainment
ABC Entertainment airs compelling programming across all day parts, including the new dramas “A Million Little Things” and “The Rookie,” starring Nathan Fillion; new comedies “The Conners,” “The Kids Are Alright” and “Single Parents”; and the new prime-time talk show, “The Alec Baldwin Show.” The ABC Television Network is also home to the groundbreaking dramas “The Good Doctor,” “How to Get Away with Murder” and “Grey’s Anatomy”; the Emmy® Award-winning “Modern Family” and trailblazing comedy favorites “black-ish,” “American Housewife,” “Fresh Off the Boat,” “The Goldbergs,” “Speechless” and “Splitting Up Together”; hit game shows “The $100,000 Pyramid,” “Celebrity Family Feud,” “Match Game” and “To Tell the Truth”; star-making sensation “American Idol”; reality phenomenon “Shark Tank,” iconic “The Bachelor” franchise, long-running hits “Dancing with the Stars” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos”; “General Hospital,” which has aired for over 50 years on the network; and late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The network also boasts some of television’s most prestigious awards shows, including “The Oscars®,” “The CMA Awards” and “The American Music Awards.”

ABC’s multiplatform business initiative also allows viewers to watch current episodes of their favorite ABC shows anytime, anywhere on ABC.com and the ABC app for desktop, smartphone, tablet or connected TV devices.

About YouTube Music 
YouTube Music is a completely re-imagined streaming music service with music videos, official albums, singles, remixes, live performances, covers and hard-to-find music you can only get on YouTube. It’s ALL here! YouTube Music serves music based on your tastes and what’s moving the community around you. Discover something new or keep up with what’s trending. Basic functions such as playing music and watching videos are totally free, but you can upgrade to YouTube Music Premium to explore the world of music ad-free, offline, and with the screen locked. Available on mobile and desktop.  For additional information, visit www.youtube.com/musicpremium.

2018 American Music Awards: Taylor Swift is the top winner; Camila Cabello also wins big

October 9, 2018

by Carla Hay

AMAs logo

 

With four prizes, including Artist of the Year, Taylor Swift was the top winner at the 2018 American Music Awards, which were presented on October 9 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.  Camila Cabello, a former member of Fifth Harmony, also won four American Music Awards, including New Artist of the Year. Cabello was an opening act for Swift on Swift’s “Reputation” tour. Tracee Ellis Ross hosted the American Music Awards show for the second year in a row. The awards are voted for online by the public.

Swift now has 23 American Music Awards, the most ever won by a female artist. The previous record holder was Whitney Houston, who won 21 American Music Awards.

At the 2018 ceremony, Swift also did her first award-show performance in more than two years. She opened the 2018 American Music Awards with “I Did Something Bad.” Swift was one of several people on the show, including Ross and presenter Billy Eichner, who urged people to vote in their upcoming political elections.

With eight nominations each, Cardi B and Drake were the top nominees for the 2018 American Music Awards, but Drake (who did not attend the ceremony) did not win any of the prizes. Cardi B won three American Music Awards, and so did Kane Brown. Post Malone won two American Music Awards.

Other performers on the show included Twenty One Pilots (“Jumpsuit”), Carrie Underwood (“Spinning Bottles”), Cabello (“Consequences”), Mariah Carey (who sang the live world premiere of “With You”), Dua Lipa (who did a medley of “One Kiss” and “Electricity”), Jennifer Lopez (“Limitless”) and Ella Mai (“Boo’d Up”). Imagine Dragons had been announced as performers several weeks before the ceremony, but the band’s appearance was canceled with no explanation.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” stars Rami Malek, Joseph Mazzello and Gwilym Lee introduced Panic! At the Disco, which performed Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” from a concert in Brisbane, Australia.

There were also several on-stage collaborations. Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin performed their hit song “I Like It” on television for the first time. Benny Blanco joined forces with Halsey and Khalid for their hit “Eastside.” Ciara featuring Missy Elliott did a medley of “Level Up” and “Dose.” Post Malone was joined by Ty Dolla $ign for their hit “Psycho” after Malone performed “Better Now.”  Shawn Mendes paired with Zedd for “Lost in Japan.” Gladys Knight, Ledisi, Mary Mary, Donnie McClurkin and CeCe Winans closed out the show did a special tribute to Aretha Franklin, who died of pancreatic cancer on August 16, 2018.

Other presenters included Kelsea Ballerini, Tyra Banks, Kane Brown, Chloe x Halle, Macaulay Culkin, Lauren Daigle, Sara Gilbert, Kathryn Hahn, Amber Heard, Vanessa Hudgens, Taran Killam, Leighton Meester, Heidi Klum, Liza Koshy, Lenny Kravitz, Normani, Rita Ora, Busy Philipps, Bebe Rexha, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Evan Ross, Ashlee Simpson-Ross, John Stamos, Amandla Stenberg, The Chainsmokers and Constance Wu.

YouTube Music was the presenting sponsor of the 2018 American Music Awards. Capital One Savor Card and Subaru of America, Inc. were sponsors of the show. The media partner was Cumulus Media/Westwood One.

The 2018 American Music Awards show was produced by Dick Clark Productions. Barry Adelman, Mark Bracco and host Ross were executive Producers. Larry Klein was a producer.

The following is the complete list of nominees and winners of the 2018 American Music Awards:

*=winner

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Drake
Imagine Dragons
Post Malone
Ed Sheeran
Taylor Swift*

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY CAPITAL ONE SAVOR CARD
Camila Cabello*
Cardi B
Khalid
Dua Lipa
XXXTentacion

COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug, “Havana”*
Post Malone featuring 21 Savage, “Rockstar”
Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B, “Finesse”
Bebe Rexha featuring Florida Georgia Line, “Meant To Be”
Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey, “The Middle”

TOUR OF THE YEAR
Beyoncé & JAY-Z
Bruno Mars
Ed Sheeran
Taylor Swift*
U2

FAVORITE MUSIC VIDEO
Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug, “Havana”*
Cardi B, “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)”
Drake, “God’s Plan”

FAVORITE SOCIAL ARTIST 
BTS*
Cardi B
Ariana Grande
Demi Lovato
Shawn Mendes

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Drake
Post Malone*
Ed Sheeran

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Camila Cabello
Cardi B
Taylor Swift*

FAVORITE DUO OR GROUP – POP/ROCK
Imagine Dragons
Maroon 5
Migos*

FAVORITE ALBUM – POP/ROCK
Drake, “Scorpion”
Ed Sheeran, “÷ (Divide)”
Taylor Swift, “Reputation”*

FAVORITE SONG  – POP/ROCK
Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug, “Havana”*
Drake, “God’s Plan”
Ed Sheeran, “Perfect”

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Kane Brown*
Luke Bryan
Thomas Rhett

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – COUNTRY
Kelsea Ballerini
Maren Morris
Carrie Underwood*

FAVORITE DUO or GROUP – COUNTRY
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line*
LANCO

FAVORITE ALBUM – COUNTRY
Kane Brown, “Kane Brown”*
Luke Combs, “This One’s For You”
Thomas Rhett, “Life Changes”

FAVORITE SONG  – COUNTRY
Kane Brown, “Heaven”*
Dan + Shay, “Tequila”
Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line, “Meant To Be”

FAVORITE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP
Cardi B*
Drake
Post Malone

FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP
Drake, “Scorpion”
Lil Uzi Vert, “Luv Is Rage 2”
Post Malone, “Beerbongs & Bentleys”*

FAVORITE SONG – RAP/HIP-HOP
Cardi B, “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)”*
Drake, “God’s Plan”
Post Malone featuring 21 Savage, “Rockstar”

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Khalid*
Bruno Mars
The Weeknd

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Ella Mai
Rihanna*
SZA

FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B
Khalid, “American Teen”
SZA, “CTRL”
XXXTentacion, “17”*

FAVORITE SONG – SOUL/R&B
Khalid, “Young Dumb & Broke”
Ella Mai, “Boo’d Up”
Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B, “Finesse”*

FAVORITE ARTIST  – ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Imagine Dragons
Panic! At The Disco*
Portugal. The Man

FAVORITE ARTIST  – ADULT CONTEMPORARY
Shawn Mendes*
P!NK
Ed Sheeran

FAVORITE ARTIST  – LATIN
J Balvin
Daddy Yankee*
Ozuna

FAVORITE ARTIST  – CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Lauren Daigle*
MercyMe
Zach Williams

FAVORITE ARTIST  – ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC (EDM)
The Chainsmokers
Marshmello*
Zedd

FAVORITE SOUNDTRACK
“Black Panther: The Album, Music From and Inspired By”*
“The Greatest Showman”
“The Fate of the Furious: The Album”

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