Anyone who watched the People's Choice Awards on Wednesday night was probably left disappointed, no matter which nominees they were rooting for. Broadcast on CBS and hosted by 2 Broke Girls stars Beth Behrs and Kat Dennings, the People's Choice Awards had some bright spots in an otherwise boring and confusing ceremony.
It's unfortunate, because the People's Choice Awards have the potential to be kind of great, in their own way. Since, as the name implies, the winners are determined by actual fans who vote online and not some snooty Academy of insiders, the nominees are filled with movies, TV shows and musical artists who won't be nominated anywhere else. That means more of your favorite celebrities will be there to present and accept awards, and with the more laid back atmosphere, they're free to be a little silly.
Though Behrs and Dennings had their problems, the People's Choice Awards had many more issues besides the hosts, and I would give the pair a second chance — if they are willing to change a few things. But that goes for everyone involved with the awards.
Here are some suggestions.
Even Out the Hosts
During the opening monologue, Dennings joked, "If you can't tell already, she's the Hathaway and I'm the Franco." It proved too true as the awards went on. Behrs was trying so hard, being very energetic, randomly yelling, while Dennings gave some deadpan delivery, made fun of her and seemed to think her material was dumb (though she was right about that). While the two women have different personalities, they were on opposite ends of the spectrum and each needed to move a little more towards the middle to work as co-hosts.
Don't Randomly Serve Burgers and Fries
Pretty early into the show, Behrs excitedly announced that they had burgers and fries for the whole audience after a joke about people thinking she's actually a waitress. Then a sea of women dressed up like her and Dennings' 2 Broke Girls characters appeared and began distributing the food to the audience — which was made up of celebrities in skintight dresses and suits.
I obviously don't support celebrities starving themselves to fit into dresses, what I'm saying is, have you ever worn an uncomfortably tight dress? Would you want to scarf down a burger in it? Then there's the whole messiness issue, since suits and dresses are expensive and/or borrowed and burgers aren't exactly neat — especially when eaten in theater-style seats with no table. Were there napkins? Ketchup?
Limit the Awards and Use Common Sense to Present Them
This year, the People's Choice Awards had 59 categories and a two-hour show. Since they couldn't announce all of those winners in that time, anyone who won multiple awards had their other wins quickly listed as they walked on stage. So instead of announcing the winner of Favorite Movie, what would usually be one of the night's biggest awards, when Robert Downey Jr. won Favorite Action Movie Star we learned via announcer that Iron Man 3 won Favorite Action Movie and Favorite Movie. A little anti-climactic.
It seemed that there was no logic behind which awards were announced either, as Favorite Movie Actress was announced but not Favorite Movie Actor, and we saw Favorite Pop Artist awarded but no other musical artist categories. Next year, cut out the unnecessary categories, combine some of the similar ones and maybe even add an extra hour so that we can actually see who wins.
Let This Year's Winners Present
Ellen DeGeneres, Justin Timberlake, Robert Downey Jr., Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev all killed it in their acceptance speeches and proved to be much funnier than the people who presented their awards. Maybe next year some of them should be on hand as presenters so we can laugh at the pre-award banter instead of cringe.
...And Michael B. Jordan
Jordan and his That Awkward Moment costars, Zac Efron and Miles Teller, presented an award and while their adorable banter was aimed at Efron, Jordan should've been the center of attention. Look at him in that suit, we can definitely use more of it next year—though he'll probably be a mega-celebrity by then, too busy to attend the People's Choice Awards.
Get More Exciting Performers
This year's performers were Brad Paisley, Sara Bareilles, and OneRepublic, all are perfectly talented and have popular songs out right now. All are also super boring. The most exciting musical moment of the night was when Paisley put his cowboy hat on Heidi Klum's head. The People's Choice Awards need someone who will give a whole show, not just sing a song. One of the big female pop stars would probably work best, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga. Sorry Bareilles, but you sitting at a piano just didn't cut it.
Images: Getty; innative-spirit/Tumblr, swedishfishrule/Tumblr, brynndowney/Tumblr, sandandglass/Tumblr
