No one will ever sum up what’s wrong with the People’s Choice Awards better than my former colleague Whitney Pastorek, who penned the 2009 dissertation “You showed up? Here’s a trophy!” But here’s what I’d like to add: If you truly want to do an awards show for “the people,” don’t spend two hours selling us projects and products (that I refuse to mention) in thinly-veiled embedded promotions, and don’t keep referring to us as “the people.” You are people, too, the last time I checked. It comes off condescending. Also, if Taylor Swift isn’t even trying to pretend she didn’t know she was a winner, then I promise you everyone realizes the stars are told who won ahead of time. And I understand that: The stars don’t want to piss “the people” off by looking like they can’t be bothered to accept an award from them, but there’s no way they’re going to show up to get stiffed by them. That’s fine. But just showing up to say “thanks” isn’t enough when it’s a two-hour televised show (unless you’re Favorite Movie Actor Johnny Depp and, in a voice that sounds oddly like Robert Shaw, you tell your award presenter, Taylor Swift, “My daughter said that if I didn’t say ‘hi’ to you, I’d be in big trouble, so, ‘hi’ from my daughter”). Prepare something. Entertain us. Because the only thing worse than bombing is bombing on a show when we know you had time to prepare. I’d honestly prefer the stars pre-record something funny/interesting so we, the people, get something out of it. Rant over. Let’s list the evening’s most awkward moments, then the full list of winners.
The nominees for Favorite Awkward Moment are:
• Near the end of the show, when Kristen Stewart won Favorite Movie Actress, and she, Taylor Lautner, and Robert Pattinson were suddenly sitting in the front row. No way they were there the whole night, when Kristen and Rob lost Favorite Movie Star Under 25 to Zac Efron. Do they book the stars in half hour increments? “It’s always surreal to be at places like this, but I was a vampire this morning in Baton Rouge, so it’s really weird,” Stewart said, having flown in from the set of Breaking Dawn. The trio later accepted the award for Favorite Movie and Favorite Movie Drama, and also won Favorite Onscreen Team.
(source:popwatch.ew.com)
