2007 YouTube Awards: The Tubies

There are two days left to vote for your favorite YouTube videos of 2007.  Among the 12 categories this year are Series, Comedy, Politics, Sports, Instructional and Commentary. The Tubies are a mix of such all-time classics as "Leave Britney Alone" and "I Got a Crush ... on Obama" and lesser-known but equally good-to-watch-once entrants such as "What Song Is This?" and "How to Charge an iPod Using Electrolytes and an Onion."  There's also some quality scripted content represented, including "The Guild" and "Wainy Days."

Needless to say, this is online video — none of it's going to make you cry.  And little of it is going to make you think.  Considering these limitations, one might be tempted to say: And this is the best they've got?

Well, yes.  And why not?  These clips, collectively, are a pretty good representation of the genre — its low-budget amateurishness, its profit-free pizazz, and its ability to draw outside the lines.  This is only the second annual Tubies, keep in mind.  Online video doesn't have 90 years of tradition and industry behind it like the movies, so there's nowhere to go but up. 

Fairness sequel tomorrow: the Yahoo Video Awards.