Taylor Swift Takes Home Artist of the Year Award at the 2011 AMAs

Taylor Swift pretty much dominated at the 2011 American Music Awards, both in and outside the country categories. Not only did Swift win awards in the country genre for Favorite Album and Favorite Female Artist, but she also won the night's biggest honor for Artist of the Year, beating out Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Lil Wayne and Adele in the category.

Although it's not surprising that Ms. Swift won Artist of the Year at the 2011 American Music Awards -- considering she had a huge year with the success of her album 'Speak Now' and her nationally sold out tour -- we have to admit that we're surprised she beat Adele. Adele's '21' has been one of the biggest and most widely appealing albums that has been released in the past year, and we thought the Brit had the award on lockdown. It just goes to show you that you can never assume with award shows like this!

We weren't the only ones who were surprised by Swift's win. Swift herself was shocked by the win, and her jaw dropped as Lionel Richie and Eva Longoria read her name off as the Artist of the Year. She absolutely flipped once reality set in, and she had trouble collecting her thoughts as she accepted the award. Swift, who brought her brother to the show as her escort, said, "I love [my fans] so much ... [Thank you to] Selena Gomez, my little sister that I've never had! I love my band, the fans ... Thank you for everything!"

Congratulations to Taylor Swift on her Artist of the Year win! We hope she has a great time celebrating tonight.