The first clear sign that the awards season is in progress will be arriving via the American Music Awards on January 9th.

Despite the celebratory mood that begins every New Year, this Wednesday night is proving to become a competitive evening. If you haven't heard, that other major music awards show is causing trouble for the AMAs, basically blacklisting AMA performers from appearing on their stage a month later. To top that, CBS decided to re-air the Michael Jackson concert special in direct competition against the AMAs. But when the curtains rise on January 9th, you're best bet remains the American Music Awards. They've got the musicians, they've got the awards, and they too have Michael Jackson (Jacko will accept a special award during the broadcast).

So who's coming then? Let's start with the performances. Britney Spears will be performing at the AMAs this year and, like her or not, you'll want to watch her because she's THE pop star of the moment and will undoubtedly do something outrageous, because really, at this point she almost has to, doesn't she?

We've also got an entertainer who came out of nowhere in early 2001 to become even bigger than Britney if album sales have anything to do with it, Shaggy, who'll perform a hit from his recent album, Hotshot.