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This year the stars are rushing to the AMAs and making the most of their stage time, especially with the all-important holiday sales season ramping up. Not only is there a record number of performers, but the broadcast on ABC also will have a bit of a throwback approach by including medleys, that old variety show stand-by. Christina Aguilera, for instance, will open the show with a "sampler" of her new greatest hits album, "Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits," which is being sold exclusively through Target stores and the retail giant's website and features 10 hits and two new songs.

That sort of retail deal is another of sign of the times, especially for veteran artists, such as the Eagles, who are up for the artist of the year award on Sunday night on the strength of their success with "Long Road Out of Eden," which came out in October 2007 and until last week was sold only at Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and the band's website. The Eagles will be a rare bird on Sunday night because of combined factors of their age, gender and rock heritage.

The producer of the AMAs this year is Larry Klein, who worked his way up from a job being a runner on the set as a youngster and has a long resume. At rehearsals, amid the blaring music and work-crew hammering, he was in a constant state of motion.

"How can you have 19 performances in three hours? Ask me after I've done it."

Klein and company love the appeal of mixing and matching stars -- who wouldn't want to eavesdrop on the small talk, for instance, between Reba McEntire and Lil Wayne, who will be seated close to one another? They know that, in this iPod shuffle age, the main appeal of the awards show is putting on an unpredictable party.

Expect the cameras to linger, for instance, on the air-kisses sent back-and-forth between Aguilera and Carey, who will be sitting a few feet apart in the center of the front row. They had a nasty feud in 2006 that played out in the fascinating Kabuki of passive aggressive press-releases. "It is sad yet predictable that she would use my name to my name to reinvent past incidents for her promotional gain," Carey said in one tender attack. "It is in my heart to forgive and I will keep her in my prayers."

Why would these stars subject themselves to this red-carpet ordeal? For some, there are many reasons, but chief among them is that holiday shopping season is right around the corner. Klein said that for the AMAs, now closing in on their 40th year, the hits might change but the song remains the same. "The stars need us right now, maybe more than ever. And we have always needed them."