MTV to host 2015 mtvU Woodie Awards during SXSW

By Jenny Tang on March 1, 2015 • ( Leave a comment )

Having attended the mtvU Fandom Awards last year at San Diego, during Comic-Con, I have a fairly good idea of what to expect from the upcoming mtvU Woodie Awards during the 2015 SXSW Festival.

Firstly, make sure to dress comfortably and appropriately; the 2015 mtvU Woodie Awards this year is set to air live, which means you and everyone else attending will more than likely appear on television screens across America on MTV from 9pm (ET) on March 20th, 2015. There will also be amazing on-stage acts and top-notch presenters including Big Sean.

Secondly, make sure to queue early to increase your chances of getting in as this event will undoubtedly be hugely popular this year.

Thirdly and most importantly have fun, this is what it’s all about.

The nominees for the 2015 mtvU Woodie Awards include Sam Smith, who has come a long way since his first SXSW debut last year as a relative unknown. Fast forward almost a year later and after winning countless awards, including four Grammys and most recently the Brit Awards for British Breakthrough Act and Global Success at the 2015 Brit Awards, it seems like the sky is the limit for Sam Smith. He is sure to be the frontrunner to win the Woodie Of The Year (Artist of the Year) award at the 2015 mtvU Woodie Awards.

For the Best Video Woodie (Best Video of the Year) award, I think the frontrunner will be Beyonce with 7/11, the song is infectiously catchy and the video is simple yet effectively laid back. Beyonce is a creative genius when it comes to some of her music videos, who would’ve thought that the black and white music video of her and her two back up dancers for the song Single Ladies would have such a huge impact. Anyone who doesn’t at least know some of the lyrics and dance moves by now, must have hidden deep in a hole somewhere.

Fans can vote for their favorites at woodies.mtv.com, voting closes on March 10th 2015. Winners will be announced during the ceremony set to air live on MTV on Friday, March 20th from the 2015 SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

2015 mtvU Woodie Awards:
Woodie of the Year (Artist of the Year)

J. Cole
Sam Smith
Charli XCX
Run the Jewels
Porter Robinson
FKA twigs

Artist to Watch Woodie (Best Emerging Artist)

Years & Years
Rae Sremmurd
Raury
MisterWives
Kygo
James Bay

Best Video Woodie (Best Video of the Year)

FKA twigs – “Pendulum”
Childish Gambino a.k.a. Donald Glover – “Sober”
Beyonce Knowles – “7/11”
Flying Lotus featuring Kendrick Lamar – “Never Catch Me”
Bad Suns – “Salt”
Vic Mensa – “Down on My Luck”

Cover Woodie (Best Cover Song)

Ed Sheeran, Sia Furler and Grouplove covering Beyonce Knowles – “Drunk in Love”
Kiesza covering Hozier – “Take Me to Church”
Lorde covering Jeremih – “Don’t Tell ‘Em”
Charli XCX covering Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off”
Taylor Swift covering Vance Joy – “Riptide”
Sam Smith covering Whitney Houston – “How Will I Know”

Next Level Performance Woodie (Finding New Ways to Reach Audiences)

Drake and Lil Wayne – created an app that allowed the audience to decide who performed first on their joint tour.
Childish Gambino a.k.a. Donald Glover – created an app that allowed users to display messages onto his tour stage.
Big Data – used social media during their performances to acknowledge specific audience members in real time in front of the entire crowd.
Sia Furler – performed in several TV appearances without showing her face by utilizing performance artists and actors to serve as a proxy for her.
Skrillex – performed Bonnaroo SuperJam session fusing EDM and live instrumentation with numerous surprise guests.

Co-Sign Woodie (Best Collaboration Between Artists)