The American Music Awards are a music awards show created by Dick Clark that is shown every November on the ABC television network. Clark created the awards show in 1974 to compete with the Grammy Awards after the awards show moved out of Nashville, Tennessee.http://www.tv.com/american-music-awards/show/65313/summary.html

The awards show has become one of the largest music awards shows in the world, with many of the biggest names in music performing on the show. Each year, many of the top artists from the past year, many of whom that are also nominated for American Music Awards, perform at the star-studded event.http://abc.go.com/shows/american-music-awards/performers

At the 2010 American Music Awards, top performers included Rihanna, who opened the show, and a special duet between the boy bands of the New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys. Additionally, Ke$ha, Usher, Pink, Taylor Swift and many others sang at the event. The 2010 American Music Awards took place on November 21, 2010, at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California, and aired on ABC.http://abc.go.com/shows/american-music-awards/performers

• Rihanna performed a medley of songs including "Love the Way You Lie," "What's My Name" and "Only Girl" to open the show.
• Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull performed together, singing "Tonight" and "I Like It."
• Miley Cyrus' performance immediately followed, as she sang "Forgiveness and Love."
• Diddy and the Dirty Money crew, performed "Coming Home."
• Kid Rock sang an acoustic version of his track "Times Like These."
• The Black Eyed Peas performed "The Time (Dirty Bit)”, the first single from their album The Beginning.
• Appearing with a small choir of school children, Katy Perry performed "Firework." Male dancers with actual fireworks also joined.
• Justin Bieber performed "Pray."
• Bon Jovi performed various hits including "What Do You Got," "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "It's My Life."
• Pink sang "Raise You Glass" after a glowing introduction from Kelly Osbourne, who added that the singer is expecting.
• Ne-Yo performed tracks from his new album including "One in a Million" and "Beatutiful Monster."
• Favorite Country Music Female Artist winner Taylor Swift sang "Back to December."
• Christina Aguliera performed "EXPRESS" from her new film Burlesque.
• R&B singer Usher performed "DJ Got Us Falling in Love."
• Train sang "Marry Me" and their hit "Hey, Soul Sister."
• Pop artist Ke$ha sang "Take It Off."
• Gavin Rossdale and Carlos Santana performed the T. Rex song "Bang a Gong (Get It On)."
• The New Kids on the Block performed with the Backstreet Boys in a duet that mashed together hits from both bands.http://idolator.com/5696122/2010-american-music-awards-the-liveblog