#11thannualshortyawards

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#RECAP: The 11th Annual Shorty Awards

Another year, another MOMENTOUS #ShortyAwards in the books! On May 5, 2019 the 11th Annual Shorty Awards hosted by Kathy Griffin and with musical guest Tank and The Bangas was a night full of energy, inspiration, and unforgettable moments. Let’s walk down memory lane as we re-live the good times from start to finish.

You can watch the full 11th Annual Shorty Awards Ceremony here: https://shortyw.in/watchs11now

THE VIP COCKTAIL PARTY

Thank you to our partners at Ainsworth FiDi, New Amsterdam, Bacardi, and Baked by Melissa! 💜

We started Shorty Weekend off on a high note with our signature VIP Cocktail Party. With attendees ranging from Academy members, brand finalists, to creators, it was a good time getting to mix and mingle the night before the show.

And helloooo who can say no to Baked by Melissa mini-cupcakes?! 🧁

THE PINK CARPET

Yaaaasss Rickey!! 😎

We changed it up this year and brought you a hot pink carpet! 🔥 Our attendees came prepared rain or shine (spoiler alert: it was rain) and were serving us looks on looks.

Tinkerbelle came dressed to impress and color coordinating...YES!! 🐾

THE PRE-SHOW

The photo-ops don’t stop after the carpet! 😄📸

We enjoyed surprising our guests with our fun bathtub photo installation zone this year! Along with opportunities to meet and pose with a few of our former Emojis of the Year, we also got to interview our brand & organization winners near the trophy bar about their Shorty Award-winning work. 🐳🏆

THE SHOW

So many magical moments both on stage and off

Great presenters, great speeches, and amazing support and energy. The 11th Annual Shorty Awards truly made its mark in history. (Stay tuned for our blog on #IconicShortyMoments)

And have you seen the GIFs?? If you haven’t, i’m gonna need you to check them out ASAP (please)!

Three Shorty Award winners from the night pose in a trio: Shane Dawson (L), Ryland Adams, Kathy Griffin 🏆🏆🏆

The excitement spilled over backstage as we interviewed our winners and got to hear more about their journeys, unique talents, interests, and the creative process.

No lie: this performance was everything.

At the end of the ceremony we were graced by Tank and The Bangas who gave a spectacular and moving performance ending us on a high note. With crowd calls and adlibs, expand your music palette and give a listen if you haven’t already, they’re AMAZING!

THE AFTER PARTY

Living for these kind of Shorty interactions 💜

As we drew a close to our Shorty Weekend we were so happy to be able to gather such talented, creative and inspirational people to celebrate not only the best of social & digital, but each other. Thank you all so much for being a part of our community, and see you next year!

Watch the full 11th Annual Shorty Awards Ceremony here: https://shortyw.in/watchs11now

View ALL the winners from the 11th Annual Shorty Awards here: https://shortyw.in/s11winners

Thank you Carbon Stories for the Recap Video!

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Tank and The Bangas are performing at the 11th Annual Shorty Awards!

Make some noiseeee!! The #ShortyAwards are excited to announce that Tank and The Bangas is the musical guest for the 11th Annual Shorty Awards!

Coming from New Orleans, Tank and the Bangas are surrounded by plenty of grand musical traditions. And the five-piece group has a rare knack for combining various musical styles—fiery soul, deft hip-hop, deep-groove R&B and subtle jazz—into one dazzling, cohesive whole that evokes the scope of New Orleans music while retaining a distinctive feel all its own.

“It’s music that can’t really be put in a box,” says singer and poet Tarriona “Tank” Ball. She fronts the band with vivid charisma that helped Tank and the Bangas win NPR’s 2017 Tiny Desk Concert Contest by unanimous acclaim, standing out among 6,000 entrants because of what Bob Boilen called “the depth of their lyricism and the versatility of their players.” Those same qualities also attracted the attention of Verve Records, which has signed the band.

Ball’s lyrical depth has been years in the making. She came up in the strong local slam poetry scene before meeting her bandmates: Merell Burkett on keyboards, Joshua Johnson on drums, Norman Spence on bass and synth keys and, eventually, Albert Allenback on alto sax and flute. “Growing up, I always could sing, but I wrote better than I sang, so I focused on writing,” she says. After her team won the National Poetry Slam Championship two years in a row, Ball turned her full attention to Tank and the Bangas.

What started as a loose collaboration at an open-mic night in 2011 has grown into a mesmerizing musical force that’s only picking up speed. After a featured set at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival early in the band’s career, the musicians built a reputation outside their hometown by grinding it out on the road, honing their live show and releasing the 2013 album Think Tank, all the while converting audiences into passionate fans and garnering critical acclaim, from the New Orleans Advocate to The New York Times. “It made us work hard,” Ball says of playing Jazz Fest. “It made us want to feel deserving of it.”

Their hard work is paying off: The Huffington Post says Tank and the Bangas defy description onstage, adding, “It’s music that you have to experience.” The experience is subject to change from one night to the next.

“One show will feel very electronic, or hip-hop, and another show will feel slow and vibe-y and jazzy, and then another show will just be poetry and off-the-cuff riffs,” says Johnson. “As a band, we don’t like to hear ourselves do the same thing for too long, so we might change a small thing here or there, and if we change enough small things, it seems like a big change.”

Tank and the Bangas won the Tiny Desk contest with “Quick,” a riotous single they released in 2017 (and soon accompanied with a cheeky, not entirely safe-for-work video). There’s more new music where that came from as the group works on the follow-up to Think Tank. “It’s going to be awesome,” Ball says. “It’s going to be fun, and a little vulnerable at the same time.”

The band’s ongoing evolution involves more than just music: Ball continues to grow and develop as a performer and writer. Even back in the open-mic days, she was a force of nature. “I don’t know if there’s such a thing as too free, but it was totally uninhibited. She was inspired,” Spence says, laughing at the memory. More recently, Ball has become less of a dervish onstage—“I was running around so much I didn’t have time to sing at all,” she say—while finding new ways of expressing herself as a writer.

“I don’t just think about myself when I write now,” she says. “Just being with my bandmates taught me to think more about other people. And when you have an audience of people ready to listen to you, you’re excited to connect with them, you really are.”

We can’t wait to see their performance, check out some of our favorites below:

Love thissssss and it led to their NPR Tiny Desk Concert Win in 2017!

2019 and energy still remains always on 💯

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11th Annual Shorty Awards Influencer Finalists Announced

Congratulations to all the finalists in the 11th Annual Shorty Awards influencer competition! Finalists were determined through a combination of public voting and scores from our Real Time Academy members.

View all Influencer Finalists here: https://shortyawards.com/11th/influencer/finalists

Winners will be announced at this year’s Shorty Awards ceremony on May 5, 2019. Follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our newsletter for updates on how to live stream the show!

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Kathy Griffin is hosting the 11th Annual Shorty Awards!

We are proud to announce that Kathy Griffin will be hosting the 11th Annual Shorty Awards on Sunday, May 5th in NYC!

Two-time Emmy and Grammy award-winning comedian Kathy Griffin is a towering figure on television, on tour and in publishing. She breaks through the entertainment clutter with her universally recognized brand of pull-no-punches comedy. Griffin will debut her concert film “Kathy Griffin: A Hell Of A Story” at this year’s SXSW which was taped from one of her sold-out stand-up shows that received rave reviews throughout the United States and Europe.

A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Griffin has written two books “Kathy Griffin’s Celebrity Run-Ins: My A-Z Index” and “Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin.”  In 2014, Griffin made history with her 6th consecutive Grammy nomination and first win for Best Comedy Album (Kathy Griffin: Calm Down Gurrl), joining Whoopi Goldberg and Lily Tomlin as the only other female comedians to ever win Grammy awards for Best Comedy Album. In 2013, Griffin was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for writing and starring in an unprecedented 20 televised stand-up specials - more than any comedian in history. Buoyed by her dedicated and engaged fans, Griffin’s live standup performances are legendary and in a class of their own. Hundreds of thousands of people flock to see her perform sold out shows everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House.

As a host, Griffin is one of television’s go-to hosts for premier live events. She hosted CNN's New Year's Eve Special for ten years, The Billboard Music Awards LIVE three years in a row, 41st annual Daytime Emmy Awards LIVE and AARP's Movies for Grownups Gala.   Griffin's sure-fire hosting success led to her own LIVE late night talk show, Kathy. where the biggest celebrities went to have the most fun.  Griffin won two Primetime Emmy Awards for her hit reality series, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, which aired for six years on Bravo. It was nominated every single year of its run. The show also won the GLAAD Media Award for Best Reality Program and was nominated six consecutive times by the Producers Guild of America. Late last year Griffin released her comedy library on iTunes and includes twenty-three of her specials and six seasons of her “My Life on the D-List” series.  

On television, Griffin was also a cast member on NBC's Suddenly Susan and guest starred on Seinfeld and Law & Order: SVU. She lent her unique voice to animated characters in Shrek Forever After and the award-winning television shows The Simpsons, American Dad, and Dilbert.

The Official Kathy Griffin online store is very successful featuring unique products that reflect Griffin’s sense unique sense of humor.  

Griffin's other awards and honors include The Human Rights Campaign's Ally for Equality, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America's Leadership in Entertainment honor, GLAAD's Vanguard award, The Trevor Life Award from the Trevor Project and a Gracie Award for Outstanding Female Lead.

We’re so thrilled to have Kathy joining us this year! Watch the show LIVE on YouTube or the Twitter livestream starting at 6:30pm ET.