By Addison Smith and Rachel Loeb
Staff Writers
Amidst a global pandemic, many Americans across the country have been left with not much to do to ease their anxiety besides watching and/or listening to entertainment. Now more than ever, the People's Choice Awards (PCA’s) represented the bright side of 2020 for many people. This is an American show that awards entertainment based on the votes of the general public. Voting took place between October 1st and October 24th, and the winners were revealed November 15th. Each of the 48 different sub-categories in the People's Choice Awards encapsulates a different aspect of how people coped through the coronavirus, whether it was listening to different songs, watching movies and TV shows or scrolling through Tiktok. This year’s forms of entertainment helped to keep everyone sane, and each of the nominees certainly deserved these awards. However, only one nominee could get each award, and we, the authors of this article, predicted many of them. Several are worthy of special mention.
In the category of Movie of 2020, the nominations were: Bad Boys for Life, Extraction, Project Power, The Old Guard, Birds of Prey (and the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), Hamilton, The Invisible Man, and Trolls World Tour. This category is particularly important because it covers all different genres. The winner was an easy call for us, and Bad Boys for Life dominated the rest of the playing field. Ever since it came out, audiences received it with high regard. Viewers saw this movie as a new take on the franchise as it played directly into its strengths. Bad Boys for Life is the only nominee to have a 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the Movie/TV show rating website. All of these factors considered, Bad Boys for Life was the obvious choice for Movie of 2020.
Another movie category that deserves to be highlighted is Family Movie of 2020. The nominations included Doolittle, Onward, Sonic the Hedgehog, The Willoughbys, My Spy, Scoob!, The Call of the Wild and Trolls World Tour. This category is important because these movies are something that people of all ages can enjoy. All of the nominees were excellent choices as they each have insightful stories, and choosing one was a struggle. However, after a lot of deliberation, we correctly predicted Onward as the winner, because of its exciting and heartwarming nature.
Next is the most realistic category of this whole award show! So without further ado, these were the nominations for Reality Show of 2020: 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After?, Below Deck Mediterranean, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Love & Hip Hop: New York, Love is Blind, Queer Eye, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. These shows were great but one was just that much greater. That’s why we predicted Keeping Up With the Kardashians (KUWTK) as the winner. With all of the drama, fights, pranks, Birkins and the cutest children, this show was by far the best part of 2020!
The last of these categories is Drama TV show of 2020. The nominations were Grey’s Anatomy, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Outer Banks, Ozark, Power, Riverdale, The Walking Dead and This is Us. For this category, there was a clear winner just based on the fans’ reviews. Riverdale won because it kept you on your toes throughout the series. The third season in particular really ramped up the tension and kept viewers in constant suspense. Riverdale left a lasting impression about how far friends are willing to go to do the right thing. Considering all of this, Riverdale was the best show to win Drama TV show of 2020.
This next category definitely got us dancing this past year! All of these amazing artists definitely deserved these nominations. The choices for the Album of 2020 were: After Hours, by The Weeknd, Changes, by Justin Bieber, Chromatica, by Lady Gaga, Folklore, by Taylor Swift, Future Nostalgia, by Dua Lipa, High Off Life, by Future, Map of the Soul: 7, by BTS and lastly, YHLQMDLG, by Bad Bunny. For this category, it was a close call between After Hours, by The Weeknd, Changes, by Justin Bieber, Future Nostalgia, by Dua Lipa and lastly, Map of the Soul: 7, by BTS. All of the fans loved these albums which made it that much harder to pick a winner. But after further consideration, we agreed that the winner of the Album of 2020 should be Map of the Soul: 7, by BTS. Since this album came out, it has had all of the buzz on TikTok with people dancing and singing to all of her amazing songs.
In song after song, this year's artists tried to get us on our feet dancing to the rhythm, rather than thinking about this hectic world. The nominations for Song of 2020 were: “Break My Heart,” by Dua Lipa, “Dynamite,” by BTS, “Intentions,” by Justin Bieber, “Rain on Me,” by Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande, “Rockstar,” by DaBaby, featuring Roddy Rich, “Savage,” by Megan Thee Stallion, “Stuck with U,” by Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber, and “WAP,'' by Cardi B, featuring Megan Thee Stallion. These songs were all amazing at making the world feel that much more normal. But for the winner, the BTS army definitely came through and pulled out a win for “Dynamite.”
The first category within Pop Culture we chose to highlight was Social Media Star of 2020. The nominees included Addison Rae, Charli D’Amelio, David Dobrik, Emma Chamberlain, Jojo Siwa, Liza Koshy and Loren Gray. We chose this category specifically because we felt it most accurately represents what people like. There was no competition, and it should come as no surprise that Emma Chamberlain was our predicted winner. Emma appears as an icon and trendsetter to many young women across the country. Her calmness throughout the pandemic distracted viewers from the fear they were facing and helped them cope. Emma Chamberlain deserves this award because she exemplifies the spirit of Americans during 2020.
The last category that we focused on was the Animal Star of 2020. This category shows what one animal can do to brighten up someone's day. The nominees were Doug the Pug, Esther the Wonder Pig, Hosico, Jiffpom, Juniper the Fox, Nala Cat, Shinjiro Ono and Suki Cat. The star that we predicted to win this category definitely deserved this award. Even thought he’s an animal he demonstrated the kindness and humanity needed to help us get through this hectic year. Whether it was visiting children’s hospitals, helping patients cheer up, or just being plain cute, he deserved this award hands down, so we predicted Doug the Pug as the winner of Animal Star of 2020.
A big congratulations to all of this year’s well-deserved People's Choice Award nominees, and a big congrats to this year's PCA winners!
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