Nicki Minaj's "Roman Reloaded" took the title of Favorite Album in the Rap/Hip-Hop division, triumphing over Drake and J. Cole (Photo Courtesy of Jason Merritt, Getty Images).

The American Music Awards on ABC, for the most part, proved to be relatively predictable. The performances were as spectacular as usual and the celebrities looked as extravagant as ever.

Taylor Swift took home the award for Favorite Female Artist in the Country category, Justin Bieber snagged the title as Favorite Male Artist in the Pop/Rock category, and Beyoncé confirmed her superiority by winning Favorite Female Artist in the Soul/R&B category. Yet, there were still a few unexpected wins and losses of the night to consider.

Favorite Album - Rap/Hip-Hop

Nicki Minaj’s album, “Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded,” took home the victory over Drake’s “Take Care” and J. Cole’s “Cole World: The Sideline Story.”

As iconic as Nicki Minaj has become, this is a huge shock when considering actual album sales. All three albums reached No. 1 positions when they were released, but had significant differences in success.

J. Cole pulled ahead of Wiz Khalifa with his album, selling about 197,000 copies the first week it was released.

Nicki Minaj’s album sold 253,000 copies and went platinum, despite its disappointing sales.

The true winner of the category, thus, should have been Drake, as his album – also platinum – sold an overwhelming 631,000 copies the first week it was released. Shockingly, Nicki Minaj took the title and Drake did not. This was one of the biggest and most upsetting surprises of the night.       

New Artist of the Year

Carly Rae Jepsen took the victory over J. Cole, Fun, Gotye, and (surprisingly) One Direction. It is already incredible that she took down Fun and Gotye, but Jepsen beat out internationally famous One Direction.

“Call Me Maybe” may have been a tremendous hit, but does it really compare to the millions of self-proclaimed Directioners' “What Makes You Beautiful,” and the recently released “Little Things” single? Yes, the video for “Call Me Maybe” pulled an impressive 338 million views and the video for “What Makes You Beautiful” only reached about 283 million views. Jepsen may have a catchy tune that launched her into stardom, but One Direction has far more talent and potential for future hits. In the end, she is liable to become a one hit wonder who cannot top her fame from "Call Me Maybe" while One Direction continues to produce chart-topping hits.

Favorite Male Artist – Soul/R&B

Usher beat out Trey Songz and Chris Brown to obtain the title of Favorite Male Artist in the Soul/R&B division.

With the amount of media attention Chris Brown has garnered in the last few years, in addition to his recent album “Fortune” (featuring hit singles like “Turn Up the Music,” “Till I Die,” and “Don’t Wake Me Up”), it is startling that he did not triumph over Usher.

Usher, in his defense, released an album entitled “Looking 4 Myself,” which featured chart-topping hits like “Climax” and “Scream.” As a long-time veteran of the music industry, on the other hand, it is understandable that Usher would dominate over a fresher face such as Brown. Usher has produced more hits than Brown over the years and his voice has matured into a vocal range that the latter requires more experience to achieve.

Reach Staff Reporter Kathy Zerbib here; Follow her on Twitter here.