It’s not every day that an awards show takes place practically in your backyard, but that’s what happened on Sunday night when the 2019 Teen Choice Awards touched down in our little beach city of Hermosa Beach. There have been highs and lows leading up to the event with some locals thinking it was good for the city to have the event there while others definitely didn’t like how it practically shut down the pier and strand from the usual Sunday Funday foot traffic. Whatever your feelings were, there’s no denying that the target audience of kids and young adults had a blast at the show. At the end of the day, this was really for them and judging from their fan hysteria and smiles from ear to ear; I’d say they got the show they really wanted.
Before going into the specifics of the winners and special appearances at the show, I wanted to give you guys a little insight about Hermosa Beach. Unlike big beach towns like Santa Monica or Venice Beach, Hermosa is essentially this little hidden nugget of paradise that manages to be a bit under the radar. Most people will say they didn’t look into going to Hermosa Beach; they just happened to stumble upon it. Even though Hermosa manages to maintain a sense of privacy, so to speak, the city has seen its share of Hollywood traffic. Several episodes of The O.C. were filmed on the Hermosa Beach Pier to fake areas that were supposed to be Newport Beach. Even more famously than that, the Oscar-winning La La Land shot at a local bar in Hermosa Beach called The Lighthouse Cafe and the “City of Stars” scene with Ryan Gosling was also shot on the boardwalk in Hermosa Beach. Given that productions have been down there before, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that Hermosa Beach became the destination of the Teen Choice Awards, but it’s definitely one of the single biggest events to take place here and that is where the response to it has been a bit polarizing.
I’d say the first “issue” arose when it came to the locals’ wristband distribution at the Hermosa Beach Community Center. It was announced that 3,000 wristbands would be given to South Bay locals (Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach & Redondo Beach) beginning at 11 a.m. on the Thursday and Friday of the week of the show, which fell on Sunday. Apparently, people were so eager to get the wristbands that they began lining up as early as 4 a.m. so they would be one of the first people to get them. By 7 a.m., the line looked like the biggest line at Disneyland’s most popular ride. It became clear that if you weren’t in line by 8 a.m. the chances of getting a wristband were very slim. Judging from what I heard, by 9 a.m. they were out of wristbands for locals and not just out for the day, but also out for the planned second day on Friday for distribution. Initially, each person in line that could show proof of residence would get four wristbands a piece but eventually, down the line, only two were being given out. I don’t want to claim there was poor planning, but it feels like it could’ve been handled a bit better. Apparently, they didn’t anticipate such a huge rush for the wristbands, but maybe someone should’ve told him how obsessed kids are with Taylor Swift and that alone would’ve guaranteed a stampede of locals trying to gain access.
Another negative side effect of that rush to get wristbands was that within hours, these FREE wristbands were being scalped online for an insane amount of money. According to a friend that works at one of the local businesses in the area, he knew someone that sold four for $3,000. It may seem unbelievable, but we’re talking about a pretty wealthy beach town with parents desperate to get their kids into this event. Some didn’t knock people trying to make an extra buck off of this while others thought it should a very greedy side of the city that isn’t really the foundation of the area.
The big selling point for the Teen Choice Awards being in Hermosa Beach was that it could give exposure to the city and it could also potentially boost traffic for some of the local businesses. This became questionable when the road closures were announced, which essentially made it a bit hard to reach the bars and restaurants on the pier. Teen Choice production trailers had taken over two of the three downtown parking lots, and over two dozen black suburban limos lined Hermosa Avenue, where downtown business customers would normally park. A giant fence was constructed that ran the length of the pier to cover-up views of the celebrity blue carpet arrivals. If you were at a bar with a balcony, you had a nice view of the arrivals, but if you were anywhere else, you felt a little caged in and depending on which way you came from, you may not even know that some of the places were even open. This was another thorn in the side of some locals that thought this definitely wasn’t driving business there, at least not during the two-hour event.
Despite some of these issues, the actual execution of the event was relatively flawless. We were able to see the celebrity arrivals ahead of the show because we had a spot with a nice aerial view and despite the fences, some eager fans found ways to peek over or even get a view through gaps in the fences. Riverdale’s K.J. Apa got deafening squeals when he arrived on the carpet while Full House legend John Stamos proves he’s still got it by how crazy all the ladies got when he made his arrival. Most of the celebrities that took the blue carpet to head to the main stage were also kind enough to wave at the local bar patrons that were watching from the balcony. I feel like I got a direct wave from Jessica Alba, but that might’ve just been me but Zendaya, K.J. Apa, Tori Spelling, Candace Cameron Bure, John Stamos and the star of the night, Taylor Swift, also showed love to those watching them arrive. Taylor Swift didn’t exactly walk into the event from the blue carpet. She was ushered in one direction opposite the main stage in a golf cart and then was brought back before accepting her Icon Award. I guess when you’re Taylor Swift, you don’t walk.
The line to enter the Teen Choice Show began forming Sunday morning and ran for two blocks along Hermosa Avenue and halfway down Pier Plaza. Another 100 teenagers were lined up on the sidewalk in front of the Comedy and Magic Club. They were children of the show’s crew and their friends who had been selected for their camera appeal to fill the area directly in front of the stage.
The show, at least the live show, is really geared towards music more than film and TV. Live musical performances included rock band One Republic, singer Zhavia, South Korean pop group Monsta X, Latin American boy band CNCO, duo Sarah Hyland and Jordan McGraw and country rapper Blanco Brown. Robert Downey, Jr. did win Choice Movie Actor: Drama/Action for Avengers: Endgame and he did show up with a slew of mini-Iron Kids which got a nice adorable reaction from the crowd. The Marvel duo of Tom Holland and Zendaya won Choice Summer Movie Actor and Actress for Spider-Man: Far From Home, although Zendaya was the only one on hand to accept her award.
This is definitely an awards show where you need to know the audience. Movies like The Perfect Date and After dominated a lot of the wins. After was ripped apart by critics this year but looks like the kids loved it. Noah Centineo won Choice Movie Actor: Comedy for The Perfect Date and it’s clear that the kids LOVE him. That being said, having seen him in person, I’m wondering when he plans on bulking up for his role as He-Man in Masters of the Universe because it looks like he’s still rocking romantic comedy weight.
Lucy Hale and YouTuber David Dobrik took on hosting duties for the event, and they did their job by keeping the energy up. I wasn’t familiar with Dobrik until Sunday and having seen some of his YouTube stuff now, I can see why he was chosen for this, but I’m a little outside of the age range to check out his stuff consistently.
The last thing I want to point out before listing the winners is the thing that really struck me was how kind a lot of the celebrities were with their young fans. Many of them took selfies with kids who were lucky enough to be close to the mainstage, and many people took pictures with locals as they exited the arena to head out. Clearly, a lot of them wanted to get in and out of there because I haven’t heard from anyone that they saw anyone hanging out after the show was over but the fact that they took even a moment to satisfy their fans was admirable in my opinion. I’m not sure if Hermosa Beach will be the destination for this again. There were some logistical issues (apparently the area could hold 10,000 people, but the aerial shots make it look like it was much less, more like a number in the hundreds that filled the beach behind the corral designed forth show) and I’m sure some of the locals will throw a fit with the city about what an inconvenience it was for some of them but the show brought a bit of sunshine and joy to the city. The important thing is that our young Hermosa Beach locals had a blast and it gives them something to talk about as they wrap up their summer.
Check out the list of the winners below:
MOVIES
Choice Action Movie
“Avengers: Endgame”
Choice Action Movie Actor
Robert Downey, Jr. — “Avengers: Endgame”
Choice Action Movie Actress
Scarlett Johansson — “Avengers: Endgame”
Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie
“Aladdin”
Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie Actor
Will Smith — “Aladdin”
Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie Actress
Naomi Scott — “Aladdin”
Choice Drama Movie
“After”
Choice Drama Movie Actor
Hero Fiennes Tiffin — “After”
Choice Drama Movie Actress
Josephine Langford — “After”
Choice Comedy Movie
“Crazy Rich Asians”
Choice Comedy Movie Actor
Noah Centineo — “The Perfect Date”
Choice Comedy Movie Actress
Laura Marano — “The Perfect Date”
Choice Movie Villain
Josh Brolin — “Avengers: Endgame”
Choice Summer Movie
“Spider-Man: Far From Home”
Choice Summer Movie Actor
Tom Holland — “Spider-Man: Far From Home”
Choice Summer Movie Actress
Zendaya — “Spider-Man: Far From Home”
TELEVISION
Choice Drama TV Show
“Riverdale”
Choice Drama TV Actor
Cole Sprouse — “Riverdale”
Choice Drama TV Actress
Lili Reinhart — “Riverdale”
Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show
“Shadowhunters”
Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor
Jared Padalecki — “Supernatural”
Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress
Katherine McNamara — “Shadowhunters”
Choice Action TV Show
“MacGyver”
Choice Action TV Actor
Stephen Amell — “Arrow”
Choice Action TV Actress
Gabrielle Union — “L.A.’s Finest”
Choice Comedy TV Show
“The Big Bang Theory”
Choice Comedy TV Actor
Jaime Camil — “Jane the Virgin”
Choice Comedy TV Actress
Nina Dobrev — “Fam”
Choice TV Villain
Cameron Monaghan — “Gotham”
Choice Reality TV Show
“America’s Got Talent”
Choice Throwback TV Show
“Friends”
Choice Summer TV Show
“Stranger Things”
Choice Summer TV Actor
Noah Schnapp — “Stranger Things”
Choice Summer TV Actress
Millie Bobby Brown — “Stranger Things”
MUSIC
Choice Male Artist
Shawn Mendes
Choice Female Artist
Billie Eilish
Choice Music Group
Why Don’t We
Choice Country Artist
Dan + Shay
Choice Latin Artist
CNCO
Choice R&B/Hip-Hop Artist
Cardi B
Choice Rock Artist
Panic! At The Disco
Choice Song: Female Artist
Lauren Jauregui — “Expectations”
Choice Song: Male Artist
Louis Tomlinson — “Two of Us”
Choice Song: Group
BLACKPINK — “DDU-DU DDU-DU”
Choice Pop Song
Ariana Grande — “thank u, next”
Choice Country Song
Dan + Shay — “Speechless”
Choice Electronic/Dance Song
Ellie Goulding, Diplo, & Red Velvet — “Close to Me (Red Velvet Remix)”
Choice Latin Song
CNCO — “Pretend”
Choice R&B/Hip-Hop Song
Lil Nas X (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus) — “Old Town Road [Remix]”
Choice Rock Song
Panic! At The Disco — “Hey Look Ma, I Made It”
Choice Breakout Artist
Billie Eilish
Choice International Artist
BTS
Choice Collaboration
BTS (feat. Halsey) — “Boy With Luv”
Choice Summer Song
“Señorita” — Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello
Choice Summer Female Artist
Halsey
Choice Summer Male Artist
Shawn Mendes
Choice Summer Group
Jonas Brothers
Choice Summer Tour
BTS — “BTS World Tour Love Yourself: Speak Yourself Tour”
Choice Song From A Movie
“A Whole New World” (End Title) (from “Aladdin”) — ZAYN & Zhavia Ward
Choice Ship
Lili Reinhart & Cole Sprouse — “Riverdale”
Choice Comedian
Ethan & Grayson Dolan
Choice Male Athlete
Stephen Curry
Choice Female Athlete
Serena Williams
DIGITAL
Choice Female Web Star
Emma Chamberlain
Choice Male Web Star
David Dobrik
Choice Comedy Web Star
The Dolan Twins
Choice Social Star
Noah Centineo
Choice Fashion/Beauty Web Star
Hannah Meloche
Choice Gamer
PewDiePie
Choice YouTuber
Sam and Colby
Choice Fandom
#BTSARMY
Choice Music Web Star
Annie LeBlanc
Teen Choice Take Note Award — Presented by Crayola
Kayva Kopparapu
Sebastian and Brandon Martinez
Marsai Martin
Leon “Kida” Burns (Kida the Great)
Celai West
Braxton Moral
Mari Copeny
Logan Guleff
