NEW YORK (Billboard) - With three awards each, Gorillaz's "
Clint Eastwood" (Parlophone/Virgin) and Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice" (Skint/Astralwerks) were the big winners of the 2001 Billboard
Music Video Awards, which were presented last night (Nov. 2) at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.
"Clint Eastwood" - the animation video from the "virtual group" known as Gorillaz -- was bestowed the honors of the Maximum Vision Award (given to the video that best advances an artist's career), best modern rock new artist clip, and best rap/hip-hop new artist clip.
"Weapon of Choice" won the awards for best pop clip, best dance clip, and best modern rock clip. Fatboy Slim does not appear in the "Weapon of Choice" video. Instead, the clip stars actor Christopher Walken dancing to the song in an a deserted hotel.
Craig David's "Fill Me In" (Wildstar/Atlantic) earned two awards: best dance new artist clip and best R&B new artist clip. The latter award ended in a tie with India.Arie's "Video" ( Motown Records).
"Weapon of Choice" and "Fill Me In" were the top contenders going into the awards show, with four nominations each. The event was hosted by pop trio BBMak.
The annual Billboard Music Video Awards show was the grand finale of the 2001 Billboard Music Video Conference, held Oct. 31-Nov. 2 at the Beverly Hilton. This year, awards were given in 10 musical categories: adult contemporary, contemporary Christian, country, dance, hard rock, Latin, modern rock, pop, R&B, and rap/hip-hop. Videoclips eligible for the awards are those that were released between Sept. 1, 2000, and June 30, 2001.
Individual record companies submit clips for nominations. Nominees are then chosen by committees of judges from the music industry, including video programmers, independent promoters, video producers, and media experts.
Nominated clips are then eligible for the Maximum Vision and director of the year nominations, which are determined by a panel of Billboard editors. Billboard readers voted on the winners in the music video categories.
Local/regional music shows also received honors at the Billboard Music Video Awards, with final voting for the local show categories taking place at the conference.
