Justin Bieber beats out Lady Gaga for artist of the year award

It would appear our rosy-cheeked boy from Stratford can do no wrong. Teenage heartthrob Justin Bieber went four for four last night at the American Music Awards, winning in every category he was nominated.

It’s no big surprise that the baby-faced YouTube sensation won the breakthrough artist award—he’s sold nearly two million albums in the U.S. since the beginning of this year. There may have been a few raised eyebrows, however, when he walked away with the artist of the year award, beating out Eminem, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry for the evening’s top prize.

“I’m from the smallest town in the world, of, like, 30,000 people,” said the awe-struck 16-year-old, instantly irritating everyone who comes from a town of less than 30,000 people. He also won favourite pop album and pop artist of the year, which he accepted by saying, “Without Michael Jackson, none of us would be here.” Again, not technically true, but we’ll cut him some slack because he’s just so gosh-darned adorable. Just ask Usher, who lifted Bieber off his feet in a gigantic bear hug as he moved toward the stage to collect his award.

Now let’s stop here for a second and do the math: four American Music Awards, three albums, one book, and an upcoming movie that’s sure to gross in the hundreds of millions. We’re not exactly sure what that equals, but it’s definitely some enviable arithmetic.

• Justin Bieber sweeps AMAs [Toronto Sun]
• Bieber wins big at American Music Awards [CBC]