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Photo via sham hardy/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0) | Remix by Fernando Alfonso III

Sunday’s Streamys honored the best and brightest of YouTube and Vine

The annual video awards felt polished without losing their upstart shine.

 

Rae Votta

Streaming

Posted on Sep 8, 2014   Updated on May 30, 2021, 3:30 pm CDT

From video games to vloggers, digital video celebrated its biggest night Sunday when the 2014 Streamy Awards were handed out in Beverly Hills.

The ceremony took place in the same room in the Beverly Hilton where Hollywood annually throws the Golden Globes, giving the fourth annual awards a shine of legitimacy as digital video finds its place in the greater world of entertainment media. The evening had more polish than years past, and hosts Hannah Hart and Grace Helbig called out to other high-level award show moments like Ellen DeGeneres‘ infamous Oscars selfie. Epic Meal Time‘s Harley Morenstein and Epic Rap Battles of History‘s EpicLLOYD had one of the most lighthearted yet honest moments of the night, going off script to remind everyone that anyone who’d touched the microphone that night was a millionaire, and that YouTubers were big business, not just side gigs. While that’s an exaggeration, the super popular YouTubers who took home awards do command legions, and broker powerful brand deals.

Of course, the show was still a celebration of all things digital, meaning sometimes the video screens futzed out.   

Overall, the awards were well spread out, with few nominees taking home more than a single award for their work. Video Game High School, which premieres its third and final season in October, took home awards for Best Ensemble Cast and Sci-Fi/Action Show. Other exceptions included Tyler Oakley, who snagged both an ICON award for his activism with The Trevor Project and an audience-voted Entertainer of the Year award, as well as The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which won for Drama and saw actress Ashley Clements awarded for her breakout role.

The show also paid honor to recently departed Joan Rivers, who last year started her own YouTube show after a storied career. It was the evening’s most somber moment, since the genre of YouTube is so new that it doens’t have need for an in memoriam section. Overall, the show felt more grown up than years past, and more focused on digital-only talent instead of bridging the gap between digital and mainstream, with YouTube and Vine creators standing on their own as legitimate stars.

Of course, sometimes a non-digital artist can still bring down the house. While YouTube native artists like Pentatonix and Postmodern Jukebox wowed the crowd throughout the night, the evening closed with a dance-along to Starship, the 1970s group, now a duo, who thrilled with “We Built This City” and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” both featuring cameos from various YouTube singers. For all the work to make the Streamys feel like a legitimate award show, in the end it was simply a dance party. You just can’t take the laid-back vibe out of a show honoring the Internet.

A full list of winners is below:

Channel, Show, or Series – Overall

Best Comedy (Channel, Show, or Series) – My Drunk Kitchen

Best Companion (Channel, Show, or Series) – Vandaveon and Mike (Key & Peele)

Best Drama (Channel, Show, or Series) – The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Best Non-Fiction or Reality (Channel, Show, or Series) – Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

Channel, Show, or Series – Subject

Best Action or Sci-Fi (Channel, Show, or Series) – Video Game High School

Best Beauty (Channel, Show, or Series) – Missglamorazzi

Best Dance (Channel, Show, or Series) – Jabbawockeez

Best Fashion (Channel, Show, or Series) – Bethany Mota

Best Food and Cuisine (Channel, Show, or Series) – Epic Meal Time

Best Gaming (Channel, Show, or Series) – Smosh Games

Best Health and Wellness (Channel, Show, or Series) – Blogilates

Best Kids and Family (Channel, Show, or Series) – Kids React

Best News and Current Events (Channel, Show, or Series) – SourceFed

Best Pranks (Channel, Show, or Series) – Jack Vale

Best Science and Education (Channel, Show, or Series) – Vsauce

Best Sports (Channel, Show, or Series) – Red Bull

Special

Best Animated (Channel, Show, or Series) – RWBY

Best First Person (Channel, Show, or Series) – Jenna Marbles

Best Indie (Channel, Show, or Series) – Little Horribles

Best International (Channel, Show, or Series) – Noob (France)

Performance

Best Actress in a Comedy – Mamrie Hart, You Deserve a Drink

Best Actress in a Drama – Ashley Clements, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Best Actor in a Comedy – David Milchard, Convos With My 2-Year-Old

Best Actor in a Drama – Joey Graceffa, Storytellers

Best Collaboration – Zach Galifianakis and President Barack Obama, Between Two Ferns

Best Ensemble Cast – Josh Blaylock, Johanna Braddy, Brian Firenzi, Ellary Porterfield, Cynthia Watros, Jimmy Wong, Freddie Wong, Harley Morenstein, Brennan Murray, and Joey Scoma, Video Game High School

Music

Best Cover Song – Pentatonix, Daft Punk Mashup (Daft Punk)

Best Music Video – Goku vs Superman, Epic Rap Battles of History

Best Musical Artist – Lindsey Stirling

Best Original Song – “Whistle While I Work It,” Chester See

Craft

Best Choreography – Mortal Kombat: Legacy II, Garrett Warren and Larnell Stovall

Best Cinematography – Devinsupertramp, Devin Graham

Best Costume Design – Epic Rap Battles of History, Sulai Lopez

Best Directing – Video Game High School, Matt Arnold and Freddie Wong

Best Editing – Kids React, Dan Seibert, Justin Reager, Benny Fine, Rafi Fine, and Jordan Towles

Best Original Score – RWBY, Jeff Williams

Best Visual and Special Effects – Action Movie Kid, Daniel Hashimoto

Best Writing – Epic Rap Battles of History, Nice Peter, EpicLLOYD, Zach Sherwin, Dante Cimadamore, and Mike Betette

Vine

Best Vine Comedian – DeStorm Power

Best Vine Creativity – Zach King

Viner of the Year – Brittany Furlan

Campaign or Event

Best Brand Campaign – Need For Speed: Ken Block’s Gymkhana Six (Need For Speed)

Best Live Event – #Tubeathon 2013

Best Public Service – YouTube Stars Talk Health Care at the White House

Television

Best Television Show – Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Audience Choice

Entertainer of the Year – Tyler Oakley

Show of the Year – EnchufeTV

Photo by sham hardy/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0) | Remix by Fernando Alfonso III

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*First Published: Sep 8, 2014, 9:54 am CDT