People's Choice Awards 2018: Nicki Minaj, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War triumph
Forty-three gongs were attributed ahead of Sunday night based on the public's votes
Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music
Get our Now Hear This email for free
The 44th People's Choice Awards kicked off at 9pm ET in Santa Monica on Sunday, with Nicki Minaj opening the evening. Rita Ora and John Legend also sang during the ceremony.
This year, 43 awards were to be attributed across the categories of movies, TV, music, and pop culture. Members of the public voted ahead of time for their favourite films, TV shows, musicians, and influencers.
Three special awards were given. Melissa McCarthy was named People Icon of 2018, Victoria Beckham earned the Fashion Icon title, and lawyer and social justice activist Bryan Stevenson was awarded the People's Champion gong.
In addition to providing the opening performance for the evening, Minaj collected two major awards during the ceremony. She was named Female Artist of 2018 and won the Album of 2018 award for Queen. Minaj thus had the chance to give two humorous acceptance speeches. In the first, she gave a shout-out to actor Michael B Jordan, saying he would be removing her dress later in the evening. Minaj's second acceptance speech saw her dedicate her award to "Kim Kardashian's a** in that dress".
Avengers: Infinity War, which was released in April this year by Marvel, was one of the night's big winners. The superhero film was named movie of the year and won the Action Movie of 2018 award. It also earned Scarlett Johansson the title of Female Movie Star of 2018 for her role as Black Widow.
Black Panther, another Marvel Studios production, led to two awards. Chadwick Boseman was picked as Male Movie Star of 2018 for his role as T'Challa, while Danai Gurira, who plays Okoye, won the Action Movie Star of 2018 gong.
Follow updates as they happened
Please allow a moment for the liveblog to load.
Hello and welcome to The Independent's live-blogging of the 2018 People's Choice Awards, bringing you the latest from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.
Here is everything you need to know about tonight's ceremony:
Red carpet coverage will begin at 7pm ET. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 9pm ET.
Nicki Minaj will provide the opening performance. Rita Ora and John Legend are also scheduled to take the stage.
The 2018 People's Choice Awards will air on NBC Universal's cable networks, such as E!, Bravo, SYFY, Universo, and USA Network.
The ceremony will have a global audience, since it is being broadcast in 161 countries.
In the music category, Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, and Taylor Swift are all in the running for the Female Artist of 2018 award.
Bruno Mars, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Keith Urban, and Shawn Mendes are competing for the title of Male Artist of 2018.
The Male Movie Star of 2018 award will go to either Chadwick Boseman, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Nick Robinson, or Robert Downey Jr.
Anne Hathaway, Bryce Dallas Howard, Lily James, Sandra Bullock, and Scarlett Johansson are all contenders for the Female Movie Star of 2018 award.
Red carpet coverage is beginning now in Santa Monica. Celebrities will start strolling into the Barker Hangar any minute now.
Other nominees in the Comedy Act of 2018 category were Ali Wong, Amy Schumer, Marlon Wayans, and Tiffany Haddish.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies