“Net Oscars” Embrace will.i.am, Michel Gondry

The 2008 Webby Awards, dubbed the “Net Oscars” as they go into their twelfth year, gave special recognition this year to Black Eyed Peas’ frontman will.i.am as “Artist of the Year” for the songs and Internet videos he created in support of presidential candidate Barak Obama. His “Yes We Can” video has been viewed more than 17 million times since it rolled out in February.

While not as hip, Michael Gondry was recognized for stimulating “sweding” -- the practice of people (badly) recreating scenes from their favorite movies and sharing them online – through his “Be Kind Rewind” film shown at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Gondry scored bonus points for his series of Rubix’s Cube videos.

Other winners included The New York Times website with eight awards for its online and mobile news services and its online film service and The Onion picked up seven Webbys for its online film and podcasts.

Online video is credited with stimulating comedy innovation with shows such as “Tom Green’s House Tonight” and the “You Suck at Photoshop” series of how-to tutorials. Over 10,000 entries were received, with awards being made by a 550 person group of notables, including Vinton Cerf, Arianna Huffington, Matt Groening, and Harvey Weinstein.

Winners will be recognized in New York City on June 10 and get a five word acceptance speech.

For more:
- Read the 2008 Webby Award announcement
- For Hollywood’s take, Variety’s Webby winners revealed
- Geeks weigh in with WiredNews Bunny Parodies, Faux Tutorials and Westerns Nab Net 'Oscars'

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