This year's DAYS Online Awards were pretty much a mixed bag. The final vote tally in many categories was extremely close and no single performer dominated the field.
That said, there were several performers who earned wins in more than one category.
Peter Reckell (Bo Brady) eeked out a close win over Drake Hogestyn (John Black) in the Outstanding Leading Actor category. John Aniston finished third with one-fifth of the votes cast.
Among the women, Kristian Alfonso (Hope Brady) was an easy winner with nearly half of the total vote falling in her favor. Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady) and Arianne Zuker (Nicole Roberts) came in tied for second with 19% of the vote.
In the Outstanding Supporting Actor category, Matt Cedeño (Brandon Walker) easily took the award. Jensen Ackles (ex-Eric Brady) finished second, Austin Peck (Austin Reed) third and Josh Taylor (Roman Brady) finished fourth.
Newcomer Kirsten Storms (Belle Black) picked up the first of her four awards wins in the Supporting Actress field. Storms edged out Patrika Darbo (Nancy Wesley) for the honor. Storms was also named Days of our Lives' Outstanding Younger Performer over Jensen Ackles, Alison Sweeney and Jason Cook (Shawn 'D' Brady).
Cook's loss in the Younger Performer category was only a temporary setback. The actor was named Most Attractive Male Performer in a very tightly contested battle. Kyle Lowder (Brady Black) placed second, following by Matt Cedeño and Drake Hogestyn.
Lowder, too, made up for his loss by toppling Kirsten Storms in the Outstanding Newcomer field. Storms seemed a shoo-in for the award, having garnered over one-half of all the nominations made in the first phase of the voting process. She finished second. Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe Lane) and Jason Cook (Shawn 'D' Brady) finished third and fourth in the category.
Repeatedly named one of the most beautiful people on daytime television, Kristian Alfonso won Most Attractive Female Performer honors. Alfonso earned half the total number of votes cast, placing ahead of Kirsten Storms, Deidre Hall (Marlena Evans) and Alison Sweeney.
Storms and Alfonso went head-to-head in the Favorite Character field, with Storms' Belle Black coming out ahead. After Alfonso's Hope Brady came Nancy Wesley and Sami Brady. It is worth noting that all of the nominees for Favorite Character were female, a feat not reproduced in any of the other soaps' balloting.
The Least Favorite Character was a lot closer. The dubious honor fell to Kate Roberts.
The closest battle in this year's Dankies came in the Most Missed Performer. Jensen Ackles and Louise Sorel (ex-Vivian Alamain) battled back and forth throughout the voting. By the final week, Ackles had amassed a sizeable lead, but Sorel came back to tie the votes. On the final day of voting, Ackles squeaked ahead to win by the final total of just two votes.
Though he's no longer with us, Macdonald Carey proved that he is and always will be a fan favorite. The late actor's special Christmastime appearance via computer-generated editing helped Carey win the award for Special Recurring Role or Special Guest Appearance. Sorel was also nominated in this category, where she finished second.
The most lopsided win, if you will, came in the Least Favorite Storyline category. 73% of the total votes went to "Virtual Hell," the storyline in which Greta and Austin battled the Biblical forces of nature in a virtual Garden of Eden. The storyline earned thumbs down throughout its run, but it was the overwhelming choice for worst plot of the year.
In the Outstanding Overall Performer category, each of the nominees in the Outstanding Leading Actor and Actress and Outstanding Supporting Actor and Actress categories were placed in a single category. Voters were then asked to pick one of those performers that turned in the best overall performance in the past twelve months.
Kirsten Storms took the top honor of this year's awards, finishing four percentage points ahead of second-placed Kristian Alfonso. Josh Taylor (Roman Brady) earned the unique distinction of being the only performer to receive zero votes in this category.
