AMAs deny Chinese singers bought awards

Recording artists Wang Taili (left) and Xiao Yang of the Chopsticks Brothers perform at the 2014 American Music Awards at the Nokia Theater Los Angeles, on Sunday. The pop duo's Little Apple won the International Song Award at the gala. [Photo/China Daily]

Chinese duo the Chopstick Brothers and Jason Zhang have attracted controversy over winning two American Music Awards (AMAs) on Sunday, despite the organizers claiming that there were no bribes involved.

Mark Rafalowski, vice president of the International Division of Dick Clark Productions, which held the AMAs, told Xinhua that inviting Chinese singers to the awards is the first step in promoting the AMAs abroad.

The Chopstick Brothers won the International Song Award with their viral track "Little Apple" and Chinese singer Jason Zhang (Zhang Jie) walked away with the International Artist Award.

However, according to videos released later on tudou.com, the Chopstick Brothers didn't even receive their award on stage. Instead, after the duo came off stage from performing a lip-synced version of "Little Apple," they were hastily given the award by the host Pitbull. Zhang accepted the award in front of a live audience, but was only able to give a short acceptance speech in English thanking his wife and idol Michael Jackson and then sing a short section from "Heal the World."

To everyone's dismay, the two Chinese segments were not part of the live broadcast of the show and instead had been filmed during the show's commercial breaks.

The legitimacy of the award was not only questioned in China, even Rolling Stone's website asked: "Did Zhang know the award wasn't being broadcast in the United States, and if so, why did he accept it in English?"

But Zhang's fan community saw the event differently, and his management even proclaimed the award was the same lifetime achievement recognition as the International Artist Award Of Excellence accepted by a few legendary acts like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin,and Beyoncé.

But Rafalowski said Zhang and the Chopstick Brothers' awards were new additions. "The International Song Award and International Artist Award were made for foreign singers who have achieved a lot in their own country. The award given to Michael Jackson and other legends is for recognition of their global influence."

"We are glad to promote the brand of Dick Clark Productions internationally and feel proud to bring outstanding international singers like Zhang to the stage," he added.

The executive denied the awards could be bought. "The AMAs have a decent history of 40 years, do you think that is what we will do? It doesn't fit our tastes and status," he said.

The Chopstick Brothers previously denied they bought any award by just saying, "Do you really think we have that much money?" Jason Zhang's management also said they felt sad that people think about it that way.

Rafalowski pointed out the two awards were honor awards, which do not require nomination and votes, just like the new Dick Clark Award for Excellence received by Taylor Swift. "We sent people to investigate in China about the sales of records, concert tickets, song downloads and streams, and social media popularity to decide who could receive the honors. We found that Zhang and the Chopstick Brothers' 'Little Apple' are incredibly popular in China. Some people may have different opinions, but we cannot please everyone."

As for why the Chinese segments were put in the commercial breaks, he said it was because the tight scheduling and everything was imperfect since the international awards were a new format. "We'll do better next year," he said.