All the ways Canadians can dominate the 2020 American Music Awards

The 2020 AMAs is a Canadian Heritage moment waiting to happen.
November 20, 2020 4:56 p.m. EST
November 25, 2020 11:08 a.m. EST
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The 2020 American Music Awards are happening this Sunday, Nov. 22 (watch at 8pET on CTV) and though they may be ~American~ awards, there's also going to be quite the Canadian presence. Viewers will get to see multiple Canadian performances, including The Weeknd, Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes (together???). It seems like we're taking the American Music Awards and turning it into a Canadian Heritage Moment.The Weeknd, who leads the list of nominations, could join the likes of Michael Jackson and Whiney Houston for the most wins in a single ceremony with 8 awards. Bieber, who earned four nominations, could inch his way closer to the top of the most wins list jumping from 15 AMAs to 19.There are so many reasons to tune into the AMAs, but the main one is to watch our Canadian artists dominate the 2020 awards show from performances to awards and even the chance to break records. Check out the ways Canadians can dominate the 2020 AMAs below before tuning into Sunday's show on CTV.

The Weeknd leads the list of nominations

The Weeknd is taking over this year's AMAs with an incredible eight nods. The Canadian singer is nominated for Artist of the Year, Favourite Music Video, Favourite Song - Pop/Rock for "Blinding Lights," Favourite Male Artist - Pop/Rock, Favourite Album - Pop/Rock for After Hours, Favourite Male Artist - Soul/R&B, Favourite Album - Soul/R&B for After Hours, and Favourite Song - Soul/R&B for Heartless. To have your album nominated in one genre category is one thing but to hit two just shows how versatile The Weeknd's sound really is. Rapper Roddy Rich is tied with The Weeknd for most nods of the evening.If The Weeknd wins all eight awards, he will be tied with two legends for most wins in a single ceremony. Michael Jackson held the title first in 1984, and Whitney Houston tied the record in 1994, but both artist's records included the Award of Merit.
 
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Justin Bieber will be performing at the AMAs for the first time since 2016

Justin Bieber is returning to the AMAs stage this year for the first time since 2016 for a special multi-song performance. This performance will also mark the 10th anniversary of his AMAs stage debut, so we know that Biebs will make it special. The 15-time AMA-winner will be performing his 2020 hits "Lonely" and "Holy," but his performance is also set to feature surprise guests. Country duo Dan + Shay are also set to make their AMA performance debut, but there is a chance that they could join Justin on stage for their song "10,000 Hours," which is nominated for Collaboration of the Year. There's also a chance that fellow Canuck Shawn Mendes could join Bieber on stage to perform their new single, "Monster."In 2016, Bieber was hard at work on the European leg of his Purpose world tour, but he made some time to perform at the 2016 AMAs virtually—which it seems foreshadowed the year he returns to the stage. He did a live stream of his performance with his dancers to "Let Me Love You." In 2010, Bieber made his AMAs debut with an inspirational rendition of his song "Pray."
 
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The Weeknd will perform with Kenny G

The Weeknd fans can prepare for some "Blinding Lights" because the 30-year-old singer will hit the stage for two performances. The leading man of the night will be treating viewers to a memorable performance with legendary saxophonist Kenny G for their song “In Your Eyes.” The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, will also perform “Save Your Tears” for the first time on TV.In addition to the two performances, The Weeknd will also be joining Nelly and R&B trio Bell Biv DeVoe for a medley of "memorable club-banging hits."
 
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Shawn Mendes will hit the stage... with Bieber?

Canadian cutie Shawn Mendes is set to light up the AMAs stage this year with a world premiere performance. It's unclear what songs Shawn will sing (or premiere?), but we can only hope that Bieber joins him on stage for a live performance of their new song, "Monster."[video_embed id='2081380']RELATED: Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber release new song 'Monster'[/video_embed]The AMAs takes place the day before the release of Shawn's Netflix doc, titled Shawn Mendes: In Wonder, which follows the singer toward self-discovery on his last world tour. Shawn teamed up with girlfriend Camila Cabello last year for a steamy AMAs performance of their hit collab "Señorita," which was unforgettable in so many ways, we can only imagine what he's got in store for us this time.
 
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Two Canadians nominated for Artist of the Year

Canadians have a two out of five chance to win Artist of the Year with both Justin Bieber and The Weeknd nominated for the award. Bieber has been nominated for the award four times, winning it in 2010 and 2012. This is The Weeknd's first time getting the Artist of the Year nod.

Director X is nominated for Favourite Music Video

The Can-con just keeps coming. Prolific Canadian music video director (and frequent Drake collaborator) Director X's work on Future and Drake's video, "Life is Good" is nominated for Favourite Music Video of the Year. This will be the director's first AMA if he wins the category. He has 2 BET Awards, 2 MuchMusic Video Awards, and 1 Juno Award.Director X has worked on some iconic music videos this year, including Ariana Grande's recently released "34+35" and DJ Khaled and Drake's "Popstar" featuring Justin Bieber. In September, Director X told etalk's Tyrone Edwards how the star-studded video came to be. "We've been working on that whole project for a long time—from before quarantine,” Director X said. “Drake was going back and forth with ideas and the way Drake and I work—sometimes he’ll know an idea and actually have scenes laid out, and sometimes he just has an idea.”“This is one of those times where he was just like, ‘What if it’s Bieber? And Bieber is me?'” X continued. “And I’m like, ‘Okay.’ And then I go in and sometimes it’s sort of like I’m the chef, so then I go and I chef up the meal. Drake had it in his mind that the intro was Khaled and this wave of videos… and then he was like, ‘Oh man, I gotta call in a favour.’ And then from there, I had to go figure [the rest of it] out.” Director X (aka Julien Christian Lutz) added that as much as the project was a fun idea for Drake, it was more of a statement for Bieber, who has been in the process of shedding his partying pop star persona since settling down with wife Hailey Bieber.

Justin Bieber could break his own record

Bieber has the potential to break his own record. The "Yummy" singer is tied for most wins by category for Favourite Male Artist - Pop/Rock. He's won three times along with Barry Manilow, Eric Clapton, Michael Bolton and Michael Jackson. If he wins this year, he will break the tie and become the 4-time champion. Bieber won the award in 2010, 2012 and 2016.
 
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Don't forget to tune into the 2020 American Music Awards Sunday, November 22 at 8 p.m. ET on CTV.[video_embed id='-1']BEFORE YOU GO: Baby preciously cuddles cat for nap time[/video_embed]

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