owned by Viacom, who also owned Paramount Pictures, MTV, Big Ticket Television and Worldvision Enterprises, producer Ken Ehrlich stated the awards "bent over backward" to avoid any connections with Paramount, in order to give the awards more credibility. Paramount productions were nominated for only 5 of the 49 nominations, though coverage of the awards switched from CBS to the United Paramount Network. Unlike the first awards, which were taped and aired later, the 2nd awards were aired live. The 3rd Blockbuster Entertainment Awards were held on March 11, 1997 at the Pantages Theatre. Over 11 million votes were cast, which made it the largest publicly voted awards presentation in history at the time. The 4th Annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards were held on March 10, 1998 at the Pantages Theatre. Once again over 11 million votes were cast. Live performances at the awards included Boyz II Men, Garth Brooks, Mariah Carey and Savage Garden. The 5th Blockbuster Entertainment Awards were held on June 16, 1999 at the Shrine Auditorium. Approximately 6.5 million people watched the awards on television. Harry Connick, Jr. described his nomination for Best Actor for the critically panned film Hope Floats as "absolutely insane". The 6th Blockbuster Entertainment Awards were held on May 9, 2000 at the Shrine Auditorium, and for the first time presented awards for video games in addition to music and film. Christina Aguilera and the Backstreet Boys both received two awards. The 7th and final Blockbuster Entertainment Awards were held on April 10, 2001 at the Shrine Auditorium. Approximately 4.5 million people watched the awards on television. Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, Joe, Mystikal, LeAnn Rimes and Ricky Martin performed live at the event. Cancellation In November 2001, after having run for seven consecutive years, Blockbuster announced they were canceling the awards following concerns after the September 11 attacks, stating: "Due to the uncertainty of the times, we can't predict consumer response to our show, nor audience behavior—especially media viewing habits—all of which are being affected by world events." Blockbuster stated their decision to cancel the awards was influenced by the fact that the 53rd Primetime Emmy Awards had to be rescheduled twice following security concerns after the September 11 attacks, and that when they did air, their ratings were 22% lower than the previous year. Ratings References 1995 establishments in California 2001 disestablishments in California Awards established in 1995 Awards disestablished in 2001 Impact