American Music Awards

Not long after 19-year-old country-pop sensation Taylor Swift walked off with the Country Music Assn.'s biggest awards in Nashville, the American Music Awards handed her more trophies to add to her growing collection. Swift, who came in with a field-leading six nominations, landed all but one of those, including the evening's top honor as artist of the year. She also was named favorite female pop-rock, country and adult contemporary artist. Her "Fearless" CD collected the favorite album trophy.

UNDERRATED 'Moral Orel' : Canceled in 2008 but still part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim stable of twisted animation, this stop-motion series tweaks the 1960s series "Davey and Goliath" with its look and religion-inspired subject matter. But spending more time in creator Dino Stamatopoulos' warped world built around the morally grounded Orel Puppington and the damaged adults in his orbit, and the show quickly gets far darker — and funnier — than you'd believe. 'American: The Bill Hicks Story' : Consistently underrated in the U.S. while revolutionizing stand-up comedy in the early '90s, Hicks is the focus of a posthumous documentary about his brilliant career.

Veteran performers Fleetwood Mac, Celine Dion and Cher mixed with youngsters Beyonce and Avril Lavigne on the list of nominees for the 31st annual American Music Awards. Dion received two nominations Tuesday, for favorite female pop-rock artist and favorite adult contemporary artist, where she'll face Cher and Norah Jones. Jones, whose folksy, sensuous voice earned her five Grammys this year, is also vying for favorite pop-rock album for her platinum debut, "Come Away With Me."

SUNDAY Get well, Adele. The soulful British singer, recuperating from successful vocal-cord surgery, is nominated for several of those pointy glass trophies, including artist of the year, at the "2011 American Music Awards. " Christina Aguilera, Justin Bieber, Kelly Clarkson and Katy Perry are among the slated performers. (ABC, 8 p.m.) From his early days in stand-up to his 1977 Oscar winner "Annie Hall" to his recent hit "Midnight in Paris," the writer-director discusses his storied career in the two-part "Woody Allen: American Masters.

Eminem was the big winner Monday at the 30th annual American Music Awards, taking home trophies in all four categories in which he was nominated. The rapper, who did not attend the awards show at the Shrine Auditorium, won for favorite male artist in the pop/rock and hip-hop/R&B fields. "The Eminem Show" was named favorite album in both fields too.

Last year's "American Music Awards" TV show was upstaged by the "We Are the World" recording session, which was held a few hours after the show in a studio across town. So, it was only fitting that "We Are the World" was part of the TV show Monday night at the Shrine Auditorium. Many of the participants in that historic recording session--which raised millions of dollars for famine victims in Africa--joined during the finale to sing the song.

Dance music taps across the spectrum of pop, rock, soul and rhythm & blues with nominees for the 17th annual American Music Awards spotlighting the reigning popularity of music that moves. Vocalist Bobby Brown and singer Paula Abdul exemplify the dance trend with nominations in the pop-rock, soul-R&B and the first-ever dance category. The American Music Awards will be presented tonight at the Shrine Auditorium in a three-hour show broadcast by ABC-TV.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Wednesday: Adele racks up four American Music Awards nominations. ( Los Angeles Times ) Eminem's "Shady 2.0 Cypher" steals the spotlight during the BET Awards. ( MTV ) And Chris Brown took the trophies. ( E! ) In the Conrad Murray trial, an expert is set to testify on Michael Jackson's at-home treatment. ( Los Angeles Times ) Beyonce's rep denies rumors that the singer is wearing a prosthetic belly.

The gig: President of Dick Clark Productions. Orly Adelson oversees the production and distribution of the company's TV shows, including "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve," the Golden Globes, the American Music Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, "So You Think You Can Dance?" and " Shaq vs." The company has about 50 employees. "Primarily, my job is to resolve problems. . . . If there is no problem, then nobody needs me. That's the idea of hiring good people." Coming to Hollywood: After serving as a lieutenant in the Israeli army, then earning degrees in sociology and musicology from Hebrew University and the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, "I met a man who was an American in the [entertainment]

Open the windows and turn on the fans -- it's time to present the Alewife Awards to those cultural/entertainment figures who've left the year's biggest stench. Celebrities make the best dads, Part 1 Celebrity confessionals reached a new level of ickiness as Mackenzie Phillips made endless talk show appearances to hype her memoir, "High on Arrival," and its revelation that she carried on a drug-fueled sexual relationship with her father, singer John Phillips. (Mick Jagger makes a gross cameo as well.

Lady Gaga with her outré, original style is the up-and-coming doyenne of the music world, racking up Grammy nominations, setting pianos afire at the American Music Awards, playing at a private Museum of Contemporary Art gala in downtown L.A. She's as noted for her eye-popping looks as she is for her music. But when Lady Gaga takes the stage at Nokia Theatre for performances Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, stylist B. Akerlund, who helped her burst onto the scene with her stunning look, won't be there -- she's moved on to other things.

Boyle 'Dreamed' a hit A failed contestant on "Britain's Got Talent" has become one of the biggest and most surprising music stories of the year as Susan Boyle shot to No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts Wednesday and scored the highest-selling debut week of 2009. A TV-fueled sensation, Boyle's collection of pop standards, "I Dreamed a Dream," sold 701,000 copies last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Her orchestral-pop covers hit a holiday season sweet spot, with Boyle topping Eminem's "Relapse" to score the best debut week of 2009.

Re "Adam Lambert Causes a Fuss," Quick Takes, Nov. 24: When Elvis Presley first performed a bump and grind on national television, millions of older Americans were apoplectic in their response. After Adam Lambert planted a kiss on a male keyboard player at the American Music Awards, 1,500 people complained to ABC. We've come a long way. Haven't we, baby? Alan Cantwell Hollywood AMAs reveal today's paucity I really feel sorry for young people today. Here are a few of the new record releases we could listen to in 1966: "Revolver" by the Beatles, Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde," the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" and the Rolling Stones' "Aftermath."

Pop idol Adam Lambert kissed a man on national television on Sunday night. Now ABC has given Lambert the kiss-off, and CBS has embraced him. Apparently responding to hundreds of viewer complaints following Lambert's racy performance during Sunday's "American Music Awards" telecast on ABC, the network canceled its plans for a Lambert-headlined concert that would have aired on ABC's "Good Morning America" program today. The network reported on Monday that it had received about 1,500 complaints about Lambert's number, in which he kissed a male keyboard player and another dancer placed his face in Lambert's crotch during a performance of his song "For Your Entertainment" (the latter bit was edited out for the West Coast broadcast)

Not long after 19-year-old country-pop sensation Taylor Swift walked off with the Country Music Assn.'s biggest awards in Nashville, the American Music Awards handed her more trophies to add to her growing collection. Swift, who came in with a field-leading six nominations, landed all but one of those, including the evening's top honor as artist of the year. She also was named favorite female pop-rock, country and adult contemporary artist. Her "Fearless" CD collected the favorite album trophy.