THE HUNGER GAMES Wins 'Fandom of the Year' Award at Comic-Con

MTV last night named fans of The Hunger Games, Jurassic World, "Pretty Little Liars," "iZombie," "Arrow," Big Hero 6, Fifth Harmony, The Twilight Saga and YouTube star Superwoman as winners of the "MTV Fandom Awards" during Comic-Con San Diego. The "Fandom Awards" is the ultimate celebration for diehard fanboys and fangirls to honor their favorite shows and movies of THE PAST year, with all winners selected by fans through online and social voting. MTV will premiere the 60-minute "MTV Fandom Awards Special" on Sunday, July 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, celebrating the winners and showcasing some of the best moments from the show

Taking place during Comic-Con: San Diego, the epicenter of fandom, THE HUNGER GAMES was bestowed with the night's biggest honor, the "Fandom of the Year" award. Willow Shields, who plays Primrose Everdeen in the franchise, accepted the award from Ian Ziering. The Tributes put their favorite movie into the winning district of the epic 32-nominee bracket in the "Fandom of the Year" category, which also included finalists "Teen Wolf," "Keeping up with the Kardashians" and"Orange is the New Black."

One of the most highly anticipated awards of the evening, "Ship of the Year," which celebrates the unspoken relationships that fandoms are dying to see and received more than 28 million votes on Tumblr, was given to "Olicity" (Felicity and Oliver) from "Arrow" by Orlando Jones and Lyndie Greenwood, a Ship from "Sleepy Hollow."

"I am just so happy, so I'm sitting in the bathtub in case the waterworks happen, so we're safe," said Emily Bett Rickards, who plays Felicity, in a taped message to fans. "I just wanted to thank you a lot and hopefully we're gonna have a lot more 'Olicity' this year. Well, we're gonna have it anyway whether you like it or not. So, happy 'Olicity' shipping."

The "MTV Fandom Awards" opened with co-host Tyler Posey ("Teen Wolf") crowd surfing to the stage on an inflatable raft to join co-host Bella Thorne ("Scream"). The energetic and enthusiastic Posey used Petco Park as his personal playground throughout the evening, singing with All Time Low, skateboarding around the stage and stripping down in homage to Magic Mike.

Posey and Thorne started the show by introducing Austin Butler of MTV's upcoming series "The Shannara Chronicles,"who handed the first award of the evening, "Best New Fandom," to The CW's "iZombie," which was accepted by the series cast. It marks the second big "Fandom Awards" win for co-creator Rob Thomas, whose series "Veronica Mars" claimed "Fandom of the Year" in 2014.

Comedians Taran Killam and Natasha Leggero then presented the "Feels Freak Out of the Year" honor to the "Pretty Little Liars" fandom, which was accepted by series stars Ashley Benson and Tyler Blackburn. Of all the moments that caused fandoms to freak over THE PAST year, fans voted for the "Who is Charles?" moment in "Liars," when the much anticipated reveal of A's Secret Identity sent shockwaves through the Internet.

The cast of "The Originals" then introduced rock juggernauts All Time Low as they performed a powerful set full of pyro and dancing zombies for the fans at Petco Park, including hit single "Something's Gotta Give."

Fans were also treated to several exclusive sneak peeks, highlighted by Paul Rudd providing an early look at the upcoming Marvel blockbuster ANT-MAN and "Teen Wolf" star Dylan O'Brien presenting a clip from his September film Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. The stars of Hitman: Agent 47, Rupert Friend and Hannah Ware, were also there to provide an exclusive preview of their film, while clips from next week's all new episodes of "Teen Wolf" and "Scream," presented by couple Bella Thorne and Greg Sulkin, were screened for rabid fans at the awards show.

In a winking tribute to the fallen pop-culture stars of THE PAST year, Dylan Bruce and Ed Skrein presented a satirical "In Memoriam" short that honored killed-off characters from series such as "Game of Thrones," "Grey's Anatomy," "The Vampire Diaries," "Sons of Anarchy," "Mad Men," "Revenge" and Bruce's own "Orphan Black."

Leading man of THE MOMENT Chris Pratt sent in a taped message to accept the "Best Revival Fandom of the Year" award for Jurassic World, while other winners included The Twilight Saga for "Best Fandom Forever;" Fifth Harmony's Harmonizers for "Fandom Army of the Year," BIG HERO 6 for "Animation Fandom of the Year;" and YouTube starSuperwoman for "Social Superstar of the Year."

"We would say this is for us, but this is 110 percent for you. We love you guys so much. This is amazing," said Fifth Harmonyin a taped message to their fans. "None of this would be possible if it weren't for you guys. We love your dedication, your hard work and everything that you put into it and you just make us smile."

The 2015 "MTV Fandom Awards" closed with an energetic set from genre-busting music superstar Flo Rida, who was introduced by Mel B. Flo Rida played a career-defining set including hits "GDFR," "Low," "Club Can't Handle Me" and "Whistle."

THE DAY of fandoms began at 7 p.m. locally with the "MTV Fandom Fest," a free party at Petco Park with food, drinks, games and giveaways.

The winners of the "MTV Fandom Awards" are:

Fandom of the Year

• The Hunger Games

Ship of the Year

• "Arrow" - "Olicity" (Felicity and Oliver)

Best New Fandom of the Year

• "iZombie"

Feels Freakout of the Year

• "Pretty Little Liars" - Who is Charles?

Best Fandom Forever (BFF)

• The Twilight Saga

Fandom Army of the Year

• Fifth Harmony - Harmonizers

Social Superstar of the Year

• Superwoman

Animation Fandom of the Year

• Big Hero 6

Best Revival Fandom of the Year

• Jurassic World

Official sponsors of the "MTV Fandom Awards" and "MTV Fandom Fest" include Coca-Cola, Kit Kat, LG G4, Pizza Hut, and The U.S. Air Force.

Ryan Kroft and Eric Conte are the Executive Producers of the "MTV Fandom Awards" and Andria Parides serves as Supervising Producer. Wendy Plaut is the Executive in Charge of Celebrity Talent. Gina Esposito is the Executive in Charge of Music Talent. Joe Buoye is the Executive in Charge of Production.

For more information on the "MTV Fandom Awards," visit FandomAwards.MTV.com or MTVPress.com.

About MTV:

MTV is the world's premier youth entertainment brand. With a global reach of more than a half-billion households, MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming for young people. MTV reflects and creates pop culture with its Emmy®, Grammy® and Peabody® award-winning content built around compelling storytelling, music discovery and activism across TV, online and mobile. MTV's sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unparalleled customized content for young males, music fans and college students, and its online hub MTV.com is a leading destination for music, news and pop culture. MTV is a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.

Photo courtesy of MTV

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