Monthly Archives: September 2015

Famous Trophies: The Billboard Music Awards

We love the Billboard Music Awards, not just because it celebrates some of the best music produced throughout the year, or because it’s put on by Billboard, which is an enduringly cool source for the hottest music – but because we also love their trophy!

billboard

(photo credit: The Wall Street Journal)

One of the more unique awards we’ve ever seen, when viewed from the side this award features the profile of a singer mid-action, which curves gently into a 3-D replica of an old-fashioned microphone. Mounted on a block which display the winner’s name and category, this award does an excellent job of representing the exact theme it celebrates. This trophy was designed by Society Awards, a NYC company that is known for its high-end statuettes; it also designed the Emmys, MTV Music Video Awards, American Music Awards, Golden Globes and more.

The awards themselves have gone through several redesigns, though the ceremony got its start in 1989. Unique to music awards, the winners of Billboard awards don’t go through a complicated vetting process by professionals in the industry, or votes from listeners – rather, finalists are based on their year-end chart performance as recorded and interpreted from sales, downloads and airplay data – which does make the awards vote-based, in a way, since listeners “vote” for the candidate each time they listen to, request or purchase their song.
The most important categories in the Billboard Music Awards are easily the Top Artists, Top Hot 100 Song, Top New Artist and Top Billboard 200 song – though the awards also feature around 38 other categories, including a truly fan-voted selection titled the Billboard Chart Achievement Award.

Just in case you weren’t keeping up with this years’ Billboard Music Awards, here were the top winners from the May 17, 2015, awards, hosted by Ludacris and Chrissy Teigen:
Top Artist: Taylor Swift
Top Billboard 200: 1989, Taylor Swift
Top Hot 100: Meghan Trainor, “All About That Bass”
To celebrate a musical achievement of your own (even if it’s just “Best Office Karaoke 2015”), take a look at our extensive inventory of unique, customizable awards. We’ve been the go-to local company for trophies and awards in NJ and PA since we got our start in 1929, and now we’re a nationwide supplier of medals, pins and patches, sculptures, awards, trophies and more.

Famous Awards: The ESPY

The ESPY, which is short for “Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly,” is given out each year by the cable sports network ESPN in order to recognize, as per the organization’s own words, “excellence in sports performance and achievement.” There are currently around 39 categories for which individuals and teams can be awarded an ESPY, with more added yearly and some retired, discontinued, superseded or suspended. The ESPY is a fairly new award, having started in 1993; because they are held on a major network and hosted by celebrities, however, they quickly picked up speed and are now popular viewing amongst sports aficionados. The ESPYs used to be entirely selected based on voting by fans, but since 2004 have been decided by experts in the field.
Some recent winners of the ESPY award, in some of our favorite categories from June 2015, include:

Best Record-Breaking Performance: Payton Manning
Best International Athlete: Lionel Messi, Barcelona/Argentina
Best Female Tennis Player: Serena Williams
Best Bowler: Jason Belmonte
Best Male/Female Athletes with Disabilities: Krige Schabort, Triathlon/Becca Meyers, Swimming
ESPY Icon Award: Derek Jeter
Arthur Ashe Courage Award: Caitlin Jenner

About the Award

espy_trophy

It may not have as rich of a history as some of the other awards in our blog series, but we still love the ESPY’s unique and easily-recognizable form. This sleek, modern trophy features a perfect steel ball suspended on top of a post reminiscent of that used in monuments; both the ball and post feature the word “ESPY” on opposing sides, while a plaque with the award category and winner’s name is prominently displayed on front. This award was designed by the sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, who is known for his statues of famous athletes and several well-known memorials. Certainly minimalistic but nonetheless striking, we’re sure the ESPY looks great on these athletes’ mantelpieces!
If you’ve got your own courage, determination or achievement award in mind, let Spike’s Trophies guide you through the selection and customization process with our huge selection of unique inventory, perfect for every imaginable sport and occasion. Providing trophies and awards to NJ and PA since 1929, Spike’s Trophies ships nationwide and offers exclusive discounts and deals to new clients and loyal customers alike. Check us out!