The AMAs moved to November because of the pressure from the Grammys, which airs in February. Remember a couple years ago that the Grammys told Michael Jackson that they wouldn't let him perform on the Grammys if he performed on the AMAs a month earlier. (He declined the AMAs and still was ignored by the Grammys, having a crap album didn't help either) Other artists were facing similar problems, so Dick Clark, the producer of the AMAs, moved it November, which also happens to be a "Sweeps" month for TV, so ABC was pleased.
Oh God ...I saw the list of winners.
Not only they nominated some really bad artists, but a lot of the worst ones from the nominees list got awards. (ej. Jennifer Lopez).
The only one who failry deserved his awards was Luther Vandross.