American Music Awards

　　When the American Music Awards first broadcast "liv e" from the Aquarius Theatre in Hollywood back in 1974, no one could have imagined that it would become the tim e-honored tradition it is today. So why has the TV spec ial been so successful for the past 26 years?

　　Part of the show's popularity lies in the fact that the awards are voted on not by a panel of "experts" or music industry insiders, but by the American public, wh o eagerly tune in each year to see if their favorites w ill win. Throughout its history, the American Music Awa rds established new Nielsen ratings (尼尔森收看率) records, m aking it the most-watched musical awards show on televi sion. More than 60 million people watch the broadcast e ach year, putting it on par with another music awards s how heavyweight, the Grammys.

　　Over the past quarter century, the American Music A wards have become an institution with a powerful impact on the music industry.

　　As far back as 1979, the show began to encourage ne w trends in music by opening categories that were relev ant to the time, a tradition that continues today.

　　The American Music Awards got off to an unassuming, but wildly successful start. From the beginning, the sh ow swarded the best that Pop/Rock, Country, and Soul/Rh ythm & Blues had to offer, along with an annual Award o f Merit (Bing Crosby was the first recipient).

　　Over the next ten years the awards show became an i mportant part of the music and television landscape, as viewership grew to epic proportions. This led to banner years for the show in 1984 and 1985.

　　In 1984, Michael Jackson won 8 Awards, an AMA first .

　　In 1989, awards for Favorite New Artist were added to each category, as were new categories for Rep/Hip-Ho p and Heavy Metal. In 1994, Whitney Houston tied Michae l Jackson's record of 8 awards in a single show with he r smash I Will Always Love You.

　　Just as Executive Producer Dick Clark put it, "The legacy of the AMAs is simply people thinking that they had a vote, they had a choice. That they made a decisio n. That their favorite artist won an award and that the y were partly responsible for it."

　　And that, no doubt, is music to their ears.