On screen, Sarah Brown (Carly Corinthos) and Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) share a fiery, passionate relationship. In this year's Dankies, that passion took a back seat as the two performers battled against each other in several key awards categories.
Maurice Benard coasted to the biggest win by any performer in any category within this year's GH Online Awards. In fact, his win margin was also the largest margin in any of the ten Soap Central sections holding Dankies this year. Benard scored 81% of the vote in the Outstanding Leading Actor field. His nearest competitor, Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer) finished some 73-percentage points behind.
Brown's win in the Outstanding Leading Actress category was closer, but she still managed an easy win. Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis) placed second with 30% of the votes. Also in the running was Genie Francis (Laura Spencer) and Jacklyn Zeman (Bobbie Spencer Jones).
Though he's been plagued by rumors touting his impending departure from General Hospital, Billy Warlock (AJ Quartermaine) won honors as Outstanding Supporting Actor. The field finished very close. Warlock grabbed 35% of the vote, compared to 25% for Wallace Kurth (Ned Ashton), 24% for Jacob Young (Lucky Spencer) and 14% for Stephen Nichols (Stefan Cassadine).
Amber Tamblyn (Emily Bowen Quartermaine) earned high marks and took the title of Outstanding Supporting Actress. Tamblyn also took honors as Outstanding Younger Performer. In both categories, Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth Webber) placed second.
Marisa Ramirez (Gia Campbell) drew three total nominations, but fell short on each. However, she faired remarkably well in the Outstanding Newcomer and Outstanding Younger Performer categories, considering that she's been with the show a much shorter time than some of her fellow nominees.
Tambyln's on-screen love interest, Chad Brannon (Zander Smith) took the title of Outstanding Newcomer, a category in which three of the four nominees were also Younger Performer nominees.
Benard picked up his second award in the Most Attractive Male Performer category. Steve Burton (Jason Morgan), Coltin Scott (Nikolas Cassadine) and Jacob Young (Lucky Spencer) finished second, third and fourth respectively.
Young's loss made him perhaps the unluckiest nominee of this year's Dankies. Young had earned five nominations, but he failed to win even one award. Young did manage a remarkable feat in defeat. In Young's four nominations outside of the Outstanding Overall Performer arena, he earned no less than 11% of the vote in each category.
Speaking of 11%, that was the margin separating first from fourth in the Most Attractive Female Performer category. Sarah Brown squeaked out a three-percentage point victory of Rebecca Herbst. Herbst edged out Tava Smiley (Chloe Morgan) for second place by two points. Kristina Wagner (Felicia Jones) placed fourth in the field with nearly one-fifth of the total vote. The margin of victory separating first and fourth place was less than one hundred votes.
There was a surprise of near-epic proportions in the Favorite Character category. Frontrunners Carly Corinthos and Sonny Corinthos were expected to battle each other for the title of most liked General Hospital character. In the end, the pair had cancelled each other out and Alexis Davis earned the title. Alexis earned 32% of the total vote to Sonny's 29% and Carly's 27%. On the flip side, Juan Santiago earned the dubious distinction of the Least Favorite Character. Juan and his portrayer, Michael Saucedo, were written out of the show last week.
Fans of Kin Shriner (Scott Baldwin) will no doubt be pleased when the actor makes a full-time return to General Hospital next month. The actor was honored for the Best Recurring Role or Special Guest. Shriner topped Linda Dano (Rae Cummings) and Kimberly McCullough (Robin Scorpio) for the honor.
Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) was named Most Missed Performer even though the actor had returned to active duty on General Hospital during the course of voting. To clarify this somewhat odd occurrence, at the time of the nomination, any performer who had vacated their role on General Hospital within the previous twelve months was eligible for a nomination. The fact that Burton returned to the show after the nominations were made did not disqualify him from the field.
GH viewers were not at all pleased by Luke and Felicia's romance, as the pair grabbed the less-than-desirable Least Favorite Storyline and Worst Moment trophies. The moment in which Luke and Felicia made love was named the worst moment 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.
Again the battle highlighted this year's top nominees - Sarah Brown and Maurice Benard. Capturing a full third of the total vote, Benard earned the distinction as the top GH performer of 2000. His co-star, Brown, finished in second place. Nancy Lee Grahn
