Canadian teen idol Justin Bieber swept the American Music Awards on Sunday, overshadowing Eminem to take tahanan four prizes, including artist of the year.

The fresh-faced pop singer also won statuettes for paborito pop album, breakthrough artist and paborito male pop artist.He also perfomed "pray", his newest single.

Since the awards are determined sa pamamagitan ng fans' online voting, the 16-year-old bituin was unquestionably the frontrunner.

Eminem and country trio Lady Antebellum, who led the contenders with five nominations each, had to make do with some scraps. Eminem won a pair of prizes in the rap/hip hop field, losing to Bieber in his three other categories. He did not attend the event at the Nokia Theater. Lady Antebellum was named best country group.

R&B singer Usher, who helped discover Bieber about 18 months nakaraan and signed the youngster to a record deal, also won a pair of prizes. The two embraced on stage after Bieber collected his artist of the taon trophy.

"I don't cry that often but I did, and I enjoyed it," Usher told reporters backstage.

During his trips to the stage, Bieber repeatedly thanked his fans and reflected on his unlikely rise to fame.

"I'm from the smallest town in the world of, like, 30,000 people," he sinabi as he accepted the breakthrough artist award. "I never thought this was possible."