The controversial rapper, Eminem, was named Artist of the Year at the first ever Youtube Music Awards beating other nominees like One Direction, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez.
“This felt more like a festival,” said actor Jason Schwartzman as he closed the show.
If the host felt that, so did the winners. The awards were treated with a healthy bit of irreverence.
"The dopest paperweight ever,”" said "See me standing" singer DeStorm who got the innovation of the year award.
There were 61 billion votes cast for nominees in six categories according to the host, but a little more than 155,000 viewers watched the stream. It can therefore be concluded that a lot of people voted a lot of times.
The biggest early surprise was YouTube phenomenon People doing Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” beat “Gangnam Style.”
The winners:
Artist of the Year — Most Watched, Shared, Liked, and Subscribed-to Artists — Eminem
Video of the Year — Video with Most Fan Engagement — Girls’ Generation “I Got A Boy”
Breakthrough — Artists with Biggest Growth in Views and Subscribers — Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Response of the Year — Best Fan Remix, Parody or Response Video – Lindsey Stirling and Pentatonix, “Radioactive”
Innovation of the Year — Creative Video Innovations with Most Views, Likes, Shares, Comments — DeStorm, “See Me Standing”
YouTube Phenomenon — Songs that Generated Most Fan Videos — Taylor Swift, “I Knew You Were Trouble”
The awards kicked off on Sunday at New York City’s Pier 36 and were streamed live worldwide.
