Family wins People's Choice for Web video

The People's Choice Award included a Best Viral Video category this year

So if anyone else was vegging out to the People’s Choice Awards last night with a bottle of wine and a grilled cheese sandwich, you might have noticed a couple of interesting new developments this year.  For one thing, the awards ceremony did away with the traditional paper envelopes and revealed the winners via specially programmed Kyocera Zio smartphones.  But even cooler (I thought) was the new category for Best Viral Video.  Nominees included the Yosemite Mountain Double Rainbow video, Greyson Chance singing “Paparazzi,” Madison Square Park Proposal, Tarp Surfing, and “Single Ladies” Devastation.  (No Bed Intruder Song?)

The Whittaker family received a People’s Choice Award on stage for their 50-second video, “Single Ladies” Devastation, in which a toddler begins wailing when his father tells him he’s “not a single lady,” prompting the rest of the family to comfort him.  The Whittakers beat out my personal favorite, which was adorable little 13-year-old Greyson Chance with his cute little Bieber-cut belting out “Paparazzi” in his school auditorium (the video should have won the award if only for the looks on the faces of the kids behind him). 

 The award quite possibly marked the first time a non-celebrity won a People’s Choice Award.  But more importantly, it officially heralded the evolution of the media landscape.  Web video is no longer the bastard child of a self-absorbed, entertainment-oversaturated culture, but a legitimate media form on par with studio-produced TV and movies.

Shortly after becoming a YouTube sensation, Greyson Chance inked a record deal with Interscope Records, produced an album (“Waiting Outside the Lines”), appeared on “The Ellen Show,” and performed in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.  Another popular Web sensation—Antoine Dodson of the Bed Intruder video—also made an appearance in Times Square on New Year’s Eve, where he was interviewed by Carson Daly on NBC.  

So here are the nominees, including the winning “Single Ladies” Devastation.  Tell us which is your favorite!