If you were not busy traveling home for the holidays or crying over finals, you might have tuned into the ninth annual YouTube Streamy Awards, which took place on Dec. 13, 2019. Just in case you’re unaware of what the Streamys are, they can best be described as YouTube’s version of the Oscars where the year’s most popular YouTubers receive accolades for their achievements in several different categories.
As of right now, the Streamy Awards YouTube video has 3 million views, with 13,000 likes and around 6,000 dislikes, which is a testament to the event’s divisive nature. The ceremony lasted around two hours, and to be completely honest, it was a chore to sit through. Nevertheless, for those of you who, like me, enjoy YouTube as an alternative form of entertainment, here’s what went down at 2019’s Streamys.
Comedy
To start, the first Streamy award handed out in 2019 was the award for comedy. The nominees in this category were Anwar Jibawi, CalebCity, Gus Johnson, Hannah Stocking and Jack Douglass, the creator who won the award.
Collaboration
Following Douglass’ win for comedy were the nominees for the collaboration category, which included David Dobrik and Kylie Jenner, Molly Burke and the Dolan Twins, Patrick Starr and Naomi Campbell, Rebecca Zamolo and The Game Master Network, and Sofie Dossi and Matt Steffanina. Widely regarded as one of the more recognizable faces on the site today, Dobrik took home the award.
Breakout Creator
Arguably one of the more prestigious awards presented at the ceremony, the breakout creator award was won by Jimmy Donaldson, otherwise known as MrBeast, who balances wildly expensive stunts with groundbreaking philanthropy; Donaldson teamed up with fellow YouTuber Mark Rober for a fundraising event dubbed “#TeamTrees,” which succeeded in raising over $20 million to plant a corresponding 20 million trees in several U.S. national parks.
Gaming
Within certain circles, YouTube is practically synonymous with gaming, and the nominees for this award — The Completionist, DashieGames, The Game Theorists, Girlfriend Reviews and PrestonPlayz — are some of the most acclaimed faces within the community. With 12 million subscribers and over 2 billion views to their name, The Game Theorists proudly received the gaming award.
First Person
The “First Person” award, given to creators that directly address the audience in their videos, marked David Dobrik’s second Streamy of the night, who, counting the best ensemble award, earned a trio of Streamys in 2019.
Notably, Dobrik triumphed over a surprisingly colorful cast of characters nominated in the first person category such as Gen Z superstar Emma Chamberlain, Jablinski Games (Hollywood actor Jack Black’s personal YouTube channel), the instantly lovable Simply Nailogical and the ever-controversial Tana Mongeau.
Dancing
Straying slightly away from the mainstream content creators, the dancing award went to Dytto, who delivered one of the more heartwarming and genuinely authentic moments of the night with a brief, but moving speech.
“I make videos all the time, and I do them last minute, so I’m forced to make them come so far from my heart because they’re not planned,” said the 21-year-old dancer. “I love to freestyle, I just love to express who I am. I love music, and I love that music is for everyone … it means the world to me.”
Fashion
As one of the more inclusive subgroups on YouTube, Patrick Simondac, better known to his fans as PatrickStarrr, was the recipient of the fashion Streamy award. A proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, Simondac’s win (alongside Nikita Dragun, a trans woman, winning the beauty award) showcases the progressive steps that mainstream entertainment platforms are taking to ensure that all voices are allowed to express themselves.
Show of the Year
The first of two audience choice awards presented at the Streamys, the YouTube creators eligible for show of the year included a staggering 10 nominees: “Chicken Girls,” “Escape the Night” Season 4, “The Game Master,” “Good Mythical Morning,” “Hot Ones,” “The Philip DeFranco Show,” “React,” “Red Table Talk,” the “Tiny Meat Gang” podcast and “The Try Guys.”
Admirably, the Streamy went to “Good Mythical Morning,” a program hosted by Rhett and Link, a pair of YouTube’s most enduring personalities, who had surprisingly never won until 2019 after being nominated for the past five years.
Creator of the Year
Finally, the concluding award of the night, the audience-voted creator of the year, was presented by daredevil, innovator and filmmaker extraordinaire Casey Neistat. Identical to the show of the year, the Streamy included 10 nominees: Collins Key, David Dobrik, Emma Chamberlain, Lilly Singh, Loren Gray, MrBeast, Ninja, Safiya Nygaard, Simply Nailogical and Tana Mongeau.
Ironically, as Neistat opened the envelope, the YouTuber addressed Dobrik’s recurring wins, saying, “I’m sorry David, but you’ve won every other award tonight.” From the crowd, David laughed and yelled, “Give it to Tana.”
And, following that prophetic statement (or possibly conspiratorial revelation of corporate trickery behind the scenes), Mongeau was the recipient of the award, although the 21-year-old Las Vegas native was seemingly shocked at her winning.
“I don’t feel like creator of the year. I’ve never felt like creator of the year. I feel like the misfit, the outcast, the f–k up — all those things,” Mongeau said. “I never thought this would happen.”
Additional Awards
On the less extravagant side of the ceremony, but worthy nonetheless included awards for lifestyle (won by Rickey Thompson), health and wellness (won by Jay Shetty), food (won by Binging with Babish), science and education (won by Mark Rober) and technology (won by Marques Brownlee) awards.
Surprisingly, a significant number of the awards were not broadcasted on the live show. In summation, the most eye-catching included Ninja winning the live streamer award, Lil Nas X earning breakthrough artist and “Impaulsive” stealing the Streamy Award for podcasting. While the specifics of their absence haven’t been clarified, my guess would be it was due to time.
And that about sums up the 2019 YouTube Streamy Awards. Now, the only thing left to do is see what happens in 2020.
