Nitza of Cirque du Soleil (World Artist Nominee)

Hollywood, California – If there was ever a time music-lovers wished they were cloned, perhaps that time was this past weekend, as a slew of award shows honoring the creators of sound converged on all points Hollywood.

Before you inquire whether sheep-cloning technology is available for human use, Buzzine urges you to hold off until the Hollywood Music Awards deems itself worthy enough for the real version of you to attend.

In its inaugural year, eWorld Music officially launched the Hollywood Music Awards and Dinner Banquet on November 20th at The Highlands Hollywood in the Kodak Theater complex.

When executive producer Jim DeCicco envisioned this award show several months ago, he hoped to do something no other music awards show has ever done –- celebrating all aspects of music while giving equal attention to all musicians, whether signed with a label or not.

In a world where the Grammys, Billboards, and MTV Music Awards serve as the gold standard for recording success, the Hollywood Music Awards may be the orphan child capable of predicting the next generation of hardware-claiming artists.

As stated on the show’s website, the Hollywood Music Awards are “open to any and all music artists, because we believe it’s not ‘who you are,’ but rather ‘what you are.’”

A worthy cause indeed, as represented by the slate of artists ranging from modern pop to experimental rock and new-age hip-hop to contemporary Christian. Even musicians in the video game space were recognized with nearly a dozen artists nominated in three categories.

Most importantly, there was no obscure group of unknown individuals of who chose the nominees and selected the winners. Instead, all nominations were submitted through the HMA website and screened by an advisory board of well-known music industry insiders.

A novel concept for a music awards show, indeed.

Heck, the award show even featured a succulent dinner prepared by Wolfgang Puck (the restaurant, not the actual chef).

To be sure, many were thrilled to be hobnobbing with fellow musicians and some of Hollywood’s most recognizable faces in music, television, and film, including co-hosts Karyn Bryant, Phil Varone, and Scott Austin.

Yet, with any first attempt at a grand-scale award show, event, or party, the Hollywood Music Awards had its own share of kinks and growing pains. Surely, if DeCicco follows up on his intentions of making this an annual (telecast) event, the show will no doubt grow out of its infancy and truly blossom into a legitimately alternative venue for recognizing talented musicians.

Until then, all we have is an award show that was well-intentioned yet poorly executed, albeit there were a few cool musical performances by the likes of Nitza (Cirque du Soleil), David Longoria (Best Instrumental nominee) and Cindy Gomez (Best Pop Artist nominee).

With nearly 700 people packing the floor of The Highlands, it seemed at times as if the audience was more fixated on finding the best route from their table to the bar instead of listening to what the hosts or award-winners had to say.

Of course, one may have wondered if the first few artists ever knew they were announced a winner, considering, at the outset of the show, so few of them made it to the stage to accept their awards. Perhaps they too were busy ordering a round of shots -– though, once winning musicians realized they were actually collecting hardware, another trip to the bar was justified.

Speaking of awards, here is a list of Thursday night’s winners:

Best Original Score in a Video Game
Wataru Hokoyama – “Afrika”

Best Original Song – Video Game
Azam Ali – “Logan’s Shadow”

Outstanding Music Supervision – Video Game
Steve Schnur – Madden NFL 2008 (Electronic Arts)

Best Original Score – Film
Jeff Beal (Appaloosa)

Best Original Score – TV
Jim Dooley (Pushing Daisies)

Outstanding Career Achievement Award
Chuck Negron

Best Original Score – Video Game
Wataru Hokoyama (Afrika)

Best Original Song – Film
Marching Band – “Trust Your Stomach” (Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist)

Best Original Song – TV
Ronny Morris – “Every Time It Gets Real” (The Ghost Whisperer)

Best Original Song – Video Game
Azam Ali – Logan’s Shadow (Dark Mirror)

Outstanding Music Supervisor – Film
Dave Jordan (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk)

Outstanding Music Supervisor – Television
Gary Calamar (House, True Blood, Dexter, Swingtown)

Outstanding Music Supervision – Video Game
Steve Schnur (NFL Madden)

Best Adult Contemporary Artist
Jessie Sparks

Best Alternative Artist
Garden Party

Best Americana / Roots Artist
Or, The Whale

Best New Composer
Austin Wintory

Best Blues Artist
Frank Carillo and the Bandoleros

Best Contemporary Christian
Dave Rynkiewicz

Best Country Artist
Cooper Boone

Best Dance Artist
Cindy Gomez

Best Female Vocalist
Daydream on Autopilot (Emily Morris) 

Best Folk/Acoustic Artist
Tracy Lyons

Best Gospel Artist
Charles Dorsey

Best Instrumental Artist
David Longoria

Best Jazz Artist
Lance Crane

Best Latin Artist
Robert Chilingirian

Best Male Vocalist
Derren Raser

Best Music Video 
Garry Schyman

Best New Age Artist
Arek Religa

Best Pop Artist
David Thiele

Best Punk Artist
A Dull Silence

Best R&B / Soul Artist
Will Champlin 

Best Rap / Hip Hop Artist
Laura “Piece” Kelley-Jahn

The Seany Robins Rock Award (Best Rock Artist)
Starving for Gravity

Best Techno / Electronica Artist
Unique Monique

Best World Artist
Nitza

Best Political Song Of The Year
Ellen Bukstel 

Despite a ragged birth, the Hollywood Music Awards may actually mature into the rebelliously celebratory show it so yearns to become. DeCicco maintains the HMAs will return next year. If so, Buzzine will be there to report on its maturation.

Photos courtesy of Avani Parmar