Nominees Unveiled for 13th Annual Webby Awards

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Marking a year of historic achievements and global challenges, the 13th Annual Webby Awards today unveiled a slate of nominees that demonstrates the Internet's ability to thrive and innovate even in the most extraordinary of times.

Hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, online film and video, interactive advertising, and mobile Websites. The nominations were announced online this morning during a special episode of the Totally Rad Show, Revision3's hit pop culture program. The Totally Rad Show was winner of the Webby People's Voice in the 12th Annual Webby Awards. To view the announcement, visit http://revision3.com/trs/nubbins/#seek=2787:3132.

(To view/post a video on the 13th Annual Webby Awards nominees, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdFDXoicRfE)

Multiple nominees range from powerhouses like NYTimes.com (13 nominations), NBC.com (12), and The Onion (8) to upstarts like The Daily Beast (2), FAIL Blog (2), and Cookstr (2). The list also spans from social networking phenomena like Celebrity Tweet (Celebrity/Fan) and Digg (Best Practices) to commercially-produced, star-studded Web hits like FunnyorDie's "Prop 8: The Musical" with Jack Black and Neil Patrick Harris and The WB.com's "Children's Hospital" with Rob Corddry and Megan Mullally.

At the same time, the nominees reflect an eventful year dominated by economic upheaval - "Sad Guys on Trading Floors" (Weird) and Howcast's "How to Apply for Unemployment" (How-To; DIY-Video) - and a momentous U.S. election that spawned such breakouts as Sarah Silverman's "The Great Schlep" (News & Politics Video) and Ben Smith's Politico.com blog (Blog - Political).

A full list of all nominees can be found at: http://www.webbyawards.com/nominees. Unlike other awards shows, where only judges choose the winners, The Webby Awards also give the public an opportunity to decide who will take home a Webby. Starting today through April 30, fans can cast their votes in The Webby People's Voice Awards at http://pv.webbyawards.com.

"Even during challenging times the Internet has proven to be a breeding ground for experimentation and innovation," said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. "It's inspiring to see so many of this year's nominees harnessing the power of social networks, mobile, and video to push the medium in exciting new directions."

Other highlights of the 13th Annual Webby Awards nominees include:

  • Other multiple nominees include: BBC (8), The Onion (8), Guardian.co.uk (6), PBS (5), NPR (5), The Sundance Channel (5), Coraline (4), Wired.com (4), Discovery Communications (4), and ESPN (4).
  • The Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from more than 60 countries. Nominees hail from 20 countries, including The United Kingdom (58 nominations), New Zealand (17), Canada (13), Australia (11), The Netherlands (11), Germany (10), France (7), Japan (5), Belgium (4), Singapore (4), Hong Kong (3), Denmark (3), and India (2).
  • This year's new sensations include: Black Cab Sessions (Music), Blurb.com (Services and Applications), Yearbook Yourself (Viral Marketing), Whopper Sacrifice (Online Guerilla & Innovation), FAIL blog (Humor and Weird), Cookstr (Best Practices and Food and Beverage), and The Daily Beast (News and Best Practices).
  • Demonstrating the Internet's growing A-list cachet, nominees in the film and video categories boast powerhouse casts: "Prop 8 The Musical" (Jack Black, John. C. Reilly, Neil Patrick Harris, Allison Janney, Maya Rudolph); "The Great Schlep" (Sarah Silverman); "Children's Hospital" (Rob Corddry, Megan Mullaley, Lake Bell, Ed Helms); "Green Porno" (Isabella Rossellini); LStudio's "Web Therapy" (Lisa Kudrow); "Bag the Bag" (Ed Norton); and "Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad" (Paris Hilton).
  • This year's Best Viral nominees feed Internet addictions of all stripes: "Shiba Inu Live Puppy Cam"; "Bill O'Reilly Flips Out - Dance Remix"; The Website Is Down's "Sales Guy vs. Web Dude"; dancing sensation "Where the Hell is Matt?"; and the topical dark humor of "Wassup 2008."
  • Several agencies received multiple nominations for their client work including: R/GA (14) Wieden + Kennedy (8), Crispin, Porter + Bogusky (8), Hyperfactory (8), DDB (6), Razorfish (5), Goodby Silverstein + Partners (4), BBDO (4), Lean Mean Fighting Machine (3), Poke (3), and Euro RSCG (3).

This year's winners will be announced on May 5th, 2009 and honored at a star-studded ceremony in New York City on June 8th. The gala, hosted by Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers, will showcase the Webby's famous five-word speeches. Past headline-grabbing speechmakers include Al Gore ("Please don't recount this vote") and Stephen Colbert ("Me. Me. Me. Me. Me.")

For information on nominees in Webby Awards categories honoring film and video, interactive advertising, and mobile content, visit http://www.webbyawards.com/press/press-releases.php.

About The Webby Awards:
Hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Established in 1996, the 13th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Microsoft Silverlight; The Creative Group; .ORG; Getty Images; The Barbarian Group; Digital Kitchen; Variety; Wired; IDG; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail and Museum of the Moving Image.

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Gita Chandra
The Webby Awards
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