YouTube Video Awards: And The Nominees Are....

by Jarrett Martineau | March 20, 2008 at 03:54 pm

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Apparently the Y-Tube chose nominees by considering videos "that really will stand out and
over time". But I wonder what that means anymore. Water cooler chatter now seems to happen, increasingly, in a minute to minute online IM play-by-play that can overwhelm even the most technoratified webtard.

Today's viral video hit will quickly fade into yesterday's unremembered Britney rant. Do you really think anyone can pay attention to anything anymore?

It's like trying to remember an annual best of America's Funniest Home Videos. Let me think.....hmm.....Nope. I got nothin'.

And, by extension, I have to ask: is "Don't tase me, bro!" really the best eyewitness video our society can come up with? C'mon fellow users, let's generate some better content.

YouTube
will announce the 12 winners in the video-sharing site's awards on
Friday, recognizing the top-user created videos of 2007. There were six
nominees for each category: music, sports, comedy, instructional, short
film, inspirational, commentary, creative, politics, series, eyewitness
and "adorable."

The nominees can been viewed at http://www.youtube.com/ytawards07.

YouTube spokesman Aaron Ferstman said the winners, voted on by users,
will score "notoriety" and a trophy he described as "very heavy with a
metal base" supporting a "big glass 'play' button."

Ferstman said: "These are the (videos) that really will stand out and
over time, you know, you'll say, 'Hey do you remember the Laughing
Baby'?"

The music category includes Tay Zonday's Chocolate Rain, an
amateur clip of the Minneapolis musician-turned-Internet superstar
crooning in a low baritone that has garnered nearly 16 million views
since going viral last year.

Zonday's competition: Comely singer-songwriter Mia Rose; R&B chanteuse Lisa Lavie; a beat-boxing harmonica player; the Scraper Bike rappers; and "the vegetable orchestra," featuring a jam session with a carrot flute and squash drum.

Amber Lee Ettinger, also known as Obama Girl, whose I Got A Crush On Obama
clip has been seen more than 7 million times, is up for best political
video, along with a dorm room interview with Ron Paul and one dude's
plea to college students to "wake up" and join campus protests.

Ferstman said there was a close race within the political and commentary categories.

Chris Crocker, who shot to stardom in his video freak-out over Spears'
public meltdown, is nominated as in commentary, along with Michael
Buckley of the popular online series What the Buck?

The clip of a University of Florida student pleading "Don't tase me,
bro!" as police removed him from a John Kerry forum is nominated for
best eyewitness video.