Image courtesy of Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Here's what the artists had to stay backstage at the American Music Awards on Sunday night:

* Usher acted like a proud papa backstage, thrilled that his protege Justin Bieber won four awards, including artist of the year. Usher, who won multiple awards himself, said, "I'm really happy to continue to do what I do and make people happy. This is an honor to be here not only to receive awards myself but also to see my young brother, my student, win and excel."

* Will.I.Am wore an unusual outfit as he and his bandmates accepted the award for favorite pop/rock band, duo or group. In particular, he donned a cap made of Lego bricks. He said backstage, "I'm wearing 'Viva La Lego,' it's a designer from Italy, you know, he's a fashion Lego dude. I like wearing Lego hats, because I'm always thinking about connecting things." Though the Black Eyed Peas won an award as a group, will.i.am says they don't view themselves as a group, but rather as members of a family.

* British R&B; singer Taio Cruz was nominated for the T-Mobile breakthrough artist award, but lost to Justin Bieber. Still, he's thrilled by the way his music has been embraced by U.S. music-lovers. He said, "It's absolutely awesome to be fair. But yeah, it's great. Everyone seems to be very, very responsive and a lot of love for the music, which is great."

* Favorite adult contemporary artist winner Michael Buble was entertained by the many performances during the broadcast. He said, "I thought Pink was absolutely stunning -- I don't know if you guys got to see it -- but she was amazing. Bieber was really good. I thought that, Kid Rock shocked me. I mean, I know Kid Rock is a talented dude, but what a really nice, beautiful voice, he sounded really nice, and it was a really touching song."

Provided by ABC News Radio