{"id":695095,"date":"2026-05-26T06:19:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T06:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/695095\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T06:19:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T06:19:19","slug":"k-pop-stans-score-big-and-the-pussycat-dolls-lead-noughties-nostalgia-at-2026-american-music-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/695095\/","title":{"rendered":"K-pop stans score big and The Pussycat Dolls lead noughties nostalgia at 2026 American Music Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

The American Music Awards kicked off with K-pop stans power, noughties nostalgia and surprising snubs.<\/p>\n

Hosted this year by Queen Latifah, music’s biggest fan-voted awards show received more votes than ever before.<\/p>\n

“[These awards] are a statement about how much music matters,” Latifah told the crowd.<\/p>\n

Taylor Swift led the night with eight nominations, while 80s rock star Billy Idol was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award.<\/p>\n

Here are the other key moments:<\/p>\n

K-pop stans the real winners<\/p>\n

Kicking off the show to ear-deafening screams was simply a clip of BTS performing their hit Hooligan.<\/p>\n

But those screams were no match for the real performance from the K-pop group, which made its first US awards show appearance in four years.<\/p>\n

The group reunited last year when Suga was discharged from the South Korean military<\/a>, becoming the group’s seventh and final member to complete the country’s mandatory national service.<\/p>\n

The group took home Song of the Summer for Swim and Artist of the Year, beating out Taylor Swift in both categories.<\/p>\n

\"BTS<\/p>\n

BTS members Jungkook, V, Jin, RM, Suga, Jimin and J-Hope of BTS on stage. (Getty Images: Ethan Miller\u00a0)<\/p>\n

“When we made this album we had a lot of pressure,” said BTS member RM accompanied by the squeaks of a rubber ducky.<\/p>\n

“We were were trying to figure out what kind of music felt like us at this time.”<\/p>\n

In many ways it was a grand slam tonight for the K-pop genre, with K-pop Demon Hunters taking out Song of the Year for anthem Golden.<\/p>\n

“This movie and this song is fuelled by the fans,” Ejae told the crowd.<\/p>\n

“You guys sealed the whole moon.”<\/p>\n

” K-pop Demon Hunters would not be what it is without our passionate fandom,” Rei Ami added.<\/p>\n

It is yet another gong for the Netflix phenomenon which also took out Oscars for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Rei Ami and Ejae thank fans for yet another award for the Netflix phenomenon. (Getty Images: Ethan Miller)<\/p>\n

The Pussycat Dolls serve noughties flashback<\/p>\n

You could be forgiven for thinking you had tuned into a repeat instead of the 2026 show with presenters like Hilary Duff and and an Iris singalong led by Latifah.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik and Queen Latifah lead an Iris singalong. (Getty Images: Ethan Miller\u00a0)<\/p>\n

But perhaps the noughties highlight of the night was The Pussycat Dolls’s first AMA’s performance in 20 years.<\/p>\n

In matching red latex, akin to Britney’s Oops! period, the Dolls served a mega-mix that included Don’t Cha, When I Grow Up and even Busta Rhymes.<\/p>\n

It was an awards tone shift for the group’s Nicole Scherzinger who last accepted a 2025 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.<\/p>\n

The performance also comes six years after a planned reunion was derailed by COVID and a legal dispute.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Kimberly Wyatt, Nicole Scherzinger and Ashley Roberts of The Pussycat Dolls whipped out some of their hits. (Getty Images: Ethan Miller)<\/p>\n

Later in the night The Black Eyed Peas took out best throwback song for 2009 hit Rock That Body.<\/p>\n

The group, which announced an indefinite hiatus in 2011, laughed as they accepted the inaugural gong.<\/p>\n

Fergie thanked the social media creators who helped revive the song so “my son would put our song on his playlist”.<\/p>\n

Other throwbacks included performances by New Kids On The Block and Hootie and the Blowfish.<\/p>\n

A subtle Sombr sweep<\/p>\n

But it was sad boy Sombr that swept the show with Best Rock\/Alternative Album and Best Rock\/Alternative Song.<\/p>\n

Sombr, whose real name is Shane Michael Boose, took the accolades aboard with humility, recalling watching the awards show two years ago from his living room.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sombr accepts the Best Rock\/Alternative Song award. (Getty Images: Ethan Miller\u00a0)<\/p>\n

“I wouldn’t be here without you, I love my fans,” he said, before encouraging them to follow their dreams.<\/p>\n

“It felt impossible to me so you can do it.”<\/p>\n

He also wowed with a high-powered version of Homewrecker that climaxed with an onstage downpour.<\/p>\n

Less, less, less Billy Idol<\/p>\n

The English rocker, recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award, also paid tribute to his fans.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been able to live my dream and it’s really all because of you,” he said.<\/p>\n

“When I started out in punk rock in 1976 we didn’t know if it would last six months, let alone 50 years.<\/p>\n

“To any kid out there who loves rock and roll or any music, pick an instrument, find out who you are and be it.”<\/p>\n

\"Billy<\/p>\n

Billy Idol received a Lifetime Achievement Award. (Getty: David Becker)<\/p>\n

Idol went straight from accepting his award to performing a medley of his hits with his long-time guitarist Steve Stevens.<\/p>\n

He definitely wasn’t lip-synching and seemed, perhaps, a little nervous for the first few bars of Eyes Without a Face.<\/p>\n

But by the time he had wound through to Dancing With Myself, Idol had found his signature sneer and attitude.<\/p>\n

Maybe the biggest surprise was that the medley did not include his biggest hit Rebel Yell, leaving the audience in the midnight hour wanting more, more, more.<\/p>\n

Pinky up for Katseye\"A<\/p>\n

Katseye won New Artist of the Year, Best Vocal Performance and Best Music Video. (Getty Images: Gilbert Flores\/Dick Clark Productions)<\/p>\n

Global girl group Katseye performed their high-energy hit Pinky Up and picked up three awards.<\/p>\n

They won New Artist of the Year, Best Vocal Performance and Best Music Video for Gnarly.<\/p>\n

“We’ve always been on a mission to celebrate diversity and celebrate our cultures,” Lara Raj said.<\/p>\n

The group was formed from the 2023 reality series Dream Academy, a Netflix doco following their every move.<\/p>\n

Taylor Swift was nominated for eight awards, followed by country singer Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Dean and Sombr with seven each.<\/p>\n

Sombr, however, was the only performer at the ceremony.<\/p>\n

Swift did not win a single award, beaten out by her former support act Sabrina Carpenter for Best Female Pop Artist, Best Pop Album and Album of the Year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The American Music Awards kicked off with K-pop stans power, noughties nostalgia and surprising snubs. Hosted this year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[22081,64,63,405,291151,134,105455,5601,136,216899,277204],"class_list":["post-695095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-american-music-awards","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bts","tag-dream-academy","tag-entertainment","tag-k-pop-demon-hunters","tag-katseye","tag-music","tag-queen-latifah","tag-the-pussycat-dolls"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}