My Visit to the 2008 mtvU Woodie Awards

Last week mtvU recognized the hottest acts on college campuses in 2008 at the fifth-annual Woodie Awards in New York City. College students across the country cast over 5 million votes online to determine the winners and Paramore, the pop-punk band from Tenn., took home the big prize—Woodie of the Year.

Tyson Ritter, lead singer of the All American Rejects announced the winner by tearing his shirt to reveal the winner’s name written on his bare chest.

“I’m the first girl in a band to get a Woodie!” exclaimed Paramore’s lead singer, Hayley Williams, upon accepting the award from the All American Rejects.

Other Woodie winners included There For Tomorrow (Breaking Woodie), Chromeo (Left Field Woodie), Motion City Soundtrack (Best Video Woodie), and Jack’s Mannequin (Good Woodie).

The Nov. 22 show featured powerful performances from the likes of Vampire Weekend, Santogold, Chromeo All Time Low, Lykke Li, The Cool Kids, Asher Roth, DJ A-Trak, and a surprise performance from Q-Tip.

Andrew McMahon, the brains behind Jack’s Mannequin and leukemia survivor, won the Good Woodie for the Dear Jack Foundation he began to fund cancer research.

McMahon said he established the charity when he realized he had a lot of fans who were very passionate about the cause of blood leukemia.

“We just try to do our best to make sure that someone who encounters what I encountered that they’ll be closer to a cure,” said McMahon.

Motion City Soundtrack’s “It Had to be You” award-winning music video was unique because it was directed by a Texas A & M student who won a music video contest.

When indie kings, Vampire Weekend performed their newest single “Kids Don’t Stand a Chance,” P-Thugg (Patrick Gemayel) of Chromeo was right alongside them on keyboard fully-equipped with a talk-box. Vampire Weekend finished their set with “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.”

Hip-hop artist Asher Roth kicked off the night with “I Love College” before crowd-surfing to the Cool Kids’ performance of “Delivery Man.” Lykke Li was joined on stage by surprise guest, Q-Tip, for a hip-hop collaboration of “Can I Kick It” by Tribe Called Quest of which Q-Tip was a member. Pop-punk upstarts All Time Low were joined by scantily clad dancers for “Dear Maria” and “Poppin Champagne.” Woodie of the Year nominee, Santogold performed her hit “L.E.S. Artistes” before Naeem Juwan of Spank Rock joined her for “Shove it.”

A half-hour special “Best of the mtvU Woodie Awards” will air on Nov. 21 at 7 pm on MTV2 and Nov. 22 at 10 pm on MTV.

Read more about Joe's and my night here.