American Music Awards: What will Taylor Swift sing and other moments to watch out for

By Andrea Dresdale & Ken Simmons

All eyes are on Taylor Swift at this year's American Music Awards, who'll perform and receive the Artist of the Decade award.

Her performance has been mired in controversy since she accused her former record label of forbidding her from singing her old hits on the show. What'll happen on Sunday? The show's producers will only say that you need to see it go down live.

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She's won more #AMAs than anyone this decade... She's a five-time 2019 #AMAs nominee... AND she's performing at this year's #AMAs LIVE on Nov. 24...@taylorswift is our ARTIST OF THE DECADE! 💘🦋✨

A post shared by American Music Awards (@amas) on Oct 30, 2019 at 5:46am PDT

"If we're going to honor the decade in any way, it's by awarding Taylor Swift as our Artist of the Decade," executive producer Mark Bracco told ABC News. "She won more AMAs this decade than anyone else, which made it seem logical that we give her that award."

"She's going to be here Sunday … and it's going to be a spectacular performance," he added. "And I highly suggest everyone watch it live."

OK, but why?

"You gotta watch," producer Larry Klein said. "I'm not trying to get away from [the question] … Just watch. And watch it live."

Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage/Getty Images

Lizzo performs at Victoria Warehouse on November 11, 2019 in Manchester, England.

But even if you're not a Swiftie, Klein and Bracco say you shouldn't miss the show, which also features performances by Toni Braxton, Christina Aguilera with A Great Big World, Camila Cabello, Selena Gomez, The Jonas Brothers, Kesha, Shania Twain, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Green Day and leading nominee Post Malone, who'll be performing with Ozzy Osbourne and rapper Travis Scott.

"It's the biggest music party of the year," Klein told ABC News. "The best performances you could possibly see, with productions you will never see on … tour, in a video … everything here is absolutely done for the AMAs and nothing else. It's a one-off."

Bracco added, "We have got more moments this year on the show that -- if you don't watch them live -- you're going to regret it."

Hoping viewers do tune in is Ciara, who is fulfilling her dream as she prepares to host the awards show.

“My first time hosting," Ciara told ABC News. “I remember being a little girl watching the amazing hosts grace this stage and think I could do that one day, and it's crazy because it’s happening and it feels surreal.”

Last year, Ciara performed “Level Up” with Missy Elliott at the AMAs.

“This is the awards show you want to be at,” Ciara added. “You have legends and you have, like, up-and-coming amazing artists, like the combination of everyone just coming together to put on the best show. And literally, it is like the best show."

Meanwhile, Ella Mai has four nominations: New Artist of the Year, Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist, Favorite Soul/R&B Song for "Trip" and Favorite Soul/R&B Album for her platinum, self-titled debut album.

The British singer said it was magical to perform her breakout hit, “Boo’d Up," at the show in 2018.

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Hey hey, @ellamai 👋 We weren't ready for your #AMAs performance to end, so it's a pretty sweet deal there's an encore performance of 'Trip' on @Xfinity on Demand. RN. Go watch!

A post shared by American Music Awards (@amas) on Oct 11, 2018 at 9:56am PDT

“Being able to come down through the crowd and have everybody like stand up for me and really be a part of the performance made it that much better,” she said. “That was my first nomination ever, so to be at the awards show, and even though I didn’t take anything home, I was just super grateful to be there and be recognized."

Here's a selection of the nominees:

FAVORITE ARTIST – RAP/HIP-HOP
Cardi B
Drake
Post Malone

FAVORITE ALBUM – RAP/HIP-HOP
Meek Mill - "Championships"
Post Malone - "Hollywood’s Bleeding"
Travis Scott - "Astroworld"

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Lil Nas X performs onstage during the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on September 20, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

FAVORITE SONG – RAP/HIP-HOP
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus - “Old Town Road”
Post Malone - “Wow”
Travis Scott - “SICKO MODE”

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown
Khalid
Bruno Mars

FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST – SOUL/R&B
Beyoncé
Lizzo
Ella Mai

FAVORITE ALBUM – SOUL/R&B
Chris Brown Indigo
Khalid Free Spirit
Ella Mai Ella Mai

FAVORITE SONG – SOUL/R&B
Khalid - “Talk”
Lizzo - “Juice”
Ella Mai - “Trip”

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Drake
Ariana Grande
Halsey
Post Malone
Taylor Swift

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Luke Combs
Billie Eilish
Lil Nas X
Lizzo
Ella Mai

COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper - “Shallow”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus - “Old Town Road”
Marshmello & Bastille - “Happier”
Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello - “Señorita”
Post Malone & Swae Lee - “Sunflower" from "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"

Erika Goldring/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Billie Eilish performs during Austin City Limits Festival at Zilker Park on October 12, 2019 in Austin, Texas.

FAVORITE MUSIC VIDEO
Billie Eilish - “bad guy”
Ariana Grande - “7 rings”
Halsey - “Without Me”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus - “Old Town Road”
Taylor Swift - “You Need to Calm Down”

FAVORITE MALE ARTIST – POP/ROCK
Drake
Khalid
Post Malone

FAVORITE SONG – POP/ROCK
Halsey - “Without Me”
Jonas Brothers - “Sucker”
Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus - “Old Town Road”
Panic! At The Disco - “High Hopes”
Post Malone & Swae Lee - “Sunflower" from "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"

FAVORITE ARTIST - LATIN
Bad Bunny
J Balvin
Ozuna

FAVORITE SOUNDTRACK
"A Star is Born" by Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"