Taylor Swift kicked off the 2014 American Music Awards Sunday night with a live TV premiere of her new single "Blank Space," which appears on the 24-year-old pop songstress' No. 1 album, "1989."
"In the four minutes she was on stage, she sold another 68 million albums," host Pitbull joked after her performance.
"We're going to be getting loose. We're going to be partying. We're going to be off the chain," he said at the start of the show.
The first awards of the evening -- favorite pop/rock band, duo or group -- went to One Direction. They sent a "massive massive thank you" to all their fans.
A wide range of genres will be celebrated at this year's awards shows with stars from pop and R&B to Latin and EDM taking the stage to perform and pick up trophies.
Iggy Azalea, who was born Down Under, is the lead nominee at Sunday's show. She will compete for top awards such as artist, new artist and single of the year for her smash hit, "Fancy."
The 24-year-old singer will also perform -- she will take the stage with Jennifer Lopez for "Booty" -- when the show airs live from Nokia Theatre L.A. Live.
Another Australian act, the boy band 5 Seconds of Summer, will battle Azalea for new artist of the year, capping out a successful year with a sold-out tour and top-selling debut album.
Pitbull will host the 42nd annual AMAs, airing on ABC, and he will also perform. The night will feature a slew of A-Listers onstage: Taylor Swift, who will open the show, Garth Brooks, Fergie, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Imagine Dragons, Lil Wayne, Lorde, Nicki Minaj, One Direction and Sam Smith.
Azalea will battle heavyweights for artist of the year. Beyonce, Luke Bryan, One Direction and Katy Perry are her competitors.
Perry, Pharrell and John Legend are also up for multiple awards. Their hits "Dark Horse," "Happy" and "All of Me" will compete with "Fancy" and MAGIC's "Rude" for single of the year. All of the songs reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.
Azalea, Perry and Lorde are nominated for favorite female artist - pop/rock, while Legend, Pharrell and Smith are nominated for favorite male artist - pop/rock. Legend and Pharrell are also up for favorite male artist - soul/R&B, along with Chris Brown.
Bryan, who was named entertainer of the year at the Country Music Association Awards this month, is up against Blake Shelton and Jason Aldean for favorite male artist -- country. Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood and Kacey Musgraves are nominated for favorite female artist -- country.
Swift, whose "1989" sold more than 1 million units in its debut week, will receive the first-ever Dick Clark Award for Excellence.
"All About That Bass" singer Meghan Trainor, who will be a presenter, will battle Azalea, Smith, 5 Seconds of Summer and Bastille for new artist of the year.
American Music Awards 2014
Who should win artist of the year?
Other presenters include Uzo Aduba, Jhene Aiko, Elizabeth Banks, Aloe Blacc, Lauren Cohan, Gavin DeGraw, Ansel Elgort, Jamie Foxx, Becky G, Brantley Gilbert, Danai Gurira, Lucy Hale, Ella Henderson, Julianne Hough, Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, Kira Kazantsev, Heidi Klum, Mary Lambert, Rose McGowan, Danica McKellar, Pat Monahan of Train, Olivia Munn, Kevin O'Leary, Pentatonix, Tracee Ellis Ross and Taylor Schilling.
The soundtrack for "Frozen," the year's top-selling album, is nominated for top soundtrack and will compete with "The Fault in Our Stars" and "Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix, Vol. 1," which reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
