For its third year, the Music Video Portland Awards moved from One Longfellow Square to Bayside Bowl for an all-ages show Jan. 23 featuring dozens of locally produced music videos interspersed with live performances from unlikely musical pairings: symphonic indie psych rocker Jeff Beam and soul singer Kenya Hall; alternative pop rock band SeepeopleS with jazz singer Viva; and rap act aLunarLanding with R&B singer Angelikah Fahray.

“All the live performances are fusions of two different acts that aren’t usually together – to bring something new to the stage,” said Music Video Portland founder Victoria Karol of the blog Hot Trash Portland. For the 2020 awards ceremony, the biggest yet, she collaborated with Sterling and Cait Salzberg, the couple behind the Maine music scene mobile app Rad Plaid.

“Tonight is incredibly eclectic, and all we’re doing is curating,” said Sterling Salzberg. “The scene has given us the content.”

Partygoers saw snippets of 46 videos, voted for their favorites and mingled with other musicians and fans.

“Portland needs things like this,” said poetic rapper Myles Bullen of duo Planetary Access (with Sarah Violette), awarded best indie video for “More than Imagined.”

The crowd-vote grand prize went to Big Daddy Gang for “Should’ve Been Loving You” (directed by Uther Dadaleares), also named best R&B video.

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Best rock video went to Rustic Overtones for “Black Shirt,” directed by Dave Gutter, and best heavy metal video went to Heart Shaped Rock for “Spyder Mylk,” directed by Mimi Feld and Peter Giordano.

One of the most enthusiastic crowd responses was for 66-year-old songwriter Anni Clark, whose environmental tribute piece “I’m With You Greta” won best folk video.

“This is a great way for artists who wouldn’t normally be in one room to interact with one another,” said Mike Cooper, lead singer of Don’t Panic, which won best punk video for “A Fish Named Dan.”

“The artists bring people together,” said Mary Allen Lindemann of event sponsor Coffee by Design. “Forget the differences; music shows what we have in common.”

Amy Paradysz is a freelance writer and photographed based in Scarborough. She can be reached at amyparadysz@gmail.com.

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