Taylor Swift Wins 5 American Music Awards

Taylor Swift had a successful night at the American Music Association awards show in Los Angeles on Sunday. Of the six awards she was nominated for, Taylor walked away with five including Artist of the Year, favorite female artist in both the Pop-Rock and the Country category, favorite Adult-Contemporary artist, and favorite country album for her album "Fearless," which is the best-selling release in the United States this year.

Taylor had to accept her awards via satellite because she was at London's Wembley Arena, where she will be performing Monday.
"Music has never been ultimately about competition," Taylor said after she won Artist of the Year over Michael Jackson, who won four out of five awards he was nominated for including favorite male artist in both the Pop-Rock and the Soul-R&B category, and favorite album in both the pop-rock and the soul-R&B category for his 2003 album "Number Ones."

Taylor said it was an "unimaginable honor" to be cited in the same category as Michael, and she thanked the Jackson family.

Other multiple-winners include Jay-Z for favorite Rap-Hip-Hop artist and favorite album in the same genre for his release "Blueprint 3," and the Black Eyed Peas for favorite group in both the Pop-Rock and the Soul-R&B category.

Rascal Flatts won favorite Country group for the fourth year in a row, and Keith Urban won favorite male Country artist.

There were some curious performances during Sunday night's show, including a raucous performance by  "American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert, and Jennifer Lopez landing on her butt after jumping off the back of one of her dancers.

The American Music Association Awards nominees are determined by radio airplay and retail sales, while the publicc determines the winners via online voting. This would help to explain how Michael was nominated in so many categories even though he hasn't released anything since 2003.
Source: ABC News