Taylor Swift poses backstage with the awards for favorite album - country for "Red", favorite female artist - pop/rock, favorite female artist - country, and artist of the year at the American Music Awards, Nov. 24, 2013,
Country-pop star Taylor Swift won the top prize at the American Music Awards, beating out Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Bruno Mars, and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis for the artist of the year award. The ceremony took place Sunday night at the Nokia Theater, in Los Angeles.
Swift also won awards for favorite female pop/rock artist, best female country artist, and best country album.
Rihanna, who won the best female rhythm and blues/soul artist prize, also won the awards show's first ever Icon award, which was presented to her by her mother.
Justin Timberlake accepts the award for favorite male artist - pop/rock at the American Music Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Nov. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles.
Justin Timberlake had three wins - best soul/R&B album, best soul/R&B male artist and best pop/rock male artist.
Jennifer Lopez delivered a sensational song-and-dance tribute to salsa queen Celia Cruz.
A scantily-clad Miley Cyrus - who has been closely watched since her "twerking" at the MTV Video Music Awards - performed her song Wrecking Ball, accompanied by a kitten on a big screen behind her mouthing the words to the song.
This year's show was hosted by Latin hip hop artist Pitbull.
American Music Award nominees are selected based on sales and airplay. Fans chose the winners by voting online.
