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The 31st People's Choice Awards

Welcome to DigitalHit.com's coverage of the 31st People's Choice Awards. Our live coverage will commence below starting at 9pm ET.

This year's ceremony is slightly different from years past. Before this year, the People's Choice Awards were chosen by a Gallup poll. This year, the producers chose a less expensive way to find the winners. The nominees were compiled by Entertainment Weekly, the People's Choice production team, and pop culture fans. Fans could vote for their faves online at www.pcavote.com. This has led to charges that the process was easily swayed by internet voting campaigns that allowed supporters of Fahrenheit 9/11 and The Passion of the Christ to earn wins for their films.

It's a loosely held secret that PCA winners are notified in advance — we've made fun of the fake looks of surprise for years — and this year the producers have apparently arranged for West Wing prez Martin Sheen to present Michael Moore with his PCA for Fahrenheit 9/11.

9:00 PM ET

Tonight's telecast is hosted by Jason Alexander and Malcolm Jamal Warner, who star on the sitcom Listen Up.

9:02 PM ET

After the usual lead ballon opening joke, the pair headed into the audience to ask celebrities questions. The first question was for Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. It was about their marriage and the schtick had Jason answering. He also answered the next question for the Will & Grace cast. When asked if they like each other Jason answered "no." The next question was for Crow, man, this joke is being driven into the ground as the segment keeps going...

9:11 PM ET

Eleven minutes in before the first award is presented by Prince. He's there to present the PCA for Favorite Leading Lady. And the people chose: Renée Zellweger. The newly brunette actress did the usual "I don't know what to say" speech...despite the fact that she knew she won beforehand. Now that's acting.

9:17 PM ET

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey take to the stage next to present the PCA for Favorite TV Comedy. And the PCA goes to...red state fave Will & Grace. The cast takes to the stage to accept the award. Eric McCormack spoke for the cast who and mentioned that they hadn't been there since they won favorite new comedy.

9:21 PM ET

William Shatner was up next and had to deal with the usual PCA shoutouts from the fans in the audience. He said it was night to have at least one fan. He then presented the PCA for Favorite Female TV Star to CSI's Marg Helgenberger. She said she was touched and grateful for the recognition. Then she proceeded to thank the entire LA phonebook.

9:28 PM ET

After mentioning how viewers can help support the tsunami victims online, Malcolm Jamal Warner introduced Leah Remini who had the task of presenting Favorite Daytime Talkshow Host. The winner: Ellen DeGeneres...whose name I had already bolded before the announcement was made...since only the winners hsow up to this thing. After screams from the audience, she suggested they'd need lozenges afterwards.

9:32 PM ET

Poppy Montgomery and Phil Koegan strolled out next to present the PCA for Favorite Male TV Star. And the winner is Joey's Matt LeBlanc. He said it was great to come to work each day and play a character that cracks him up.

9:40 PM ET

After doing some schtick about awards handed out before the telecast — Best Stunt: Fitting the women of The View on that little couch — Jason Alexander introduces Eva Mendes who has the assignment of presenting Favorite Male Action Movie Star to Will Smith...who is in the audience and is therefore the winner. See how this works. Will does a little bit of schtick in the audience with Mike Myers before taking to the stage.

9:46 PM ET

Jeff Foxworthy then lampoons reality before handing out the award for Favorite Reality Show (Makeover) to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Wow...reality has two separate categories. What is the world coming to?

9:50 PM ET

Ellen DeGeneres then discussed the science of comedy before presenting the award for Favorite Movie Comedy to Shrek 2. Mike Myers slaps hands on his way up to the stage and then dedicated the award to his wife before giving props to Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer, calling themselves "tuxedo clad deliverymen", presented the PCA for Favorite New TV Comedy to Joey.

10:01 PM ET

59 minutes to go. Tom Selleck is here to present the award for Favorite TV Drama. The PCA goes to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. It appears that half the audience is heading to the stage and they still give the mic to the previously verbose Marg Helgenberger.

10:05 PM ET

Craig Ferguson comments that "More people work on CSI than watch my show." He then presented the award for Favorite remake (There's a category for that?!?) to Sheryl Crow for "The First Cut is the Deepest". She thanked the fans and then paid tribute to writer Cat Stevens and also gave props to Rod Stewart, who she felt did a better remake of it than her.

10:13 PM ET

Sean Hayes says that people do animation work because they get a ton of cash to work in their pajamas. He then presents the PCA for Favorite Animated Movie to Shrek 2 which, a voiceover announces, has also won Best Sequel.

10:16 PM ET

Show creator Army Arched and NCIS's Sasha Alexander then quickly announced the winners of 14 awards that weren't being shown on the telecast. I guess a lot of these winners couldn't make it, because I've never seen this many before. I'll have the list shortly.

10:19 PM ET

Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney talk about onscreen chemistry before awarding the PCA to Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. Sandler said that, "Chemistry is good when used to make love; bad when used to make crack."

10:29 PM ET

Wilmer Valderamma and Christina Milan are here to present the Best New TV Drama PCA to Desperate Housewives. Marcia pulls a prepared speech from her producer out of her cleavage.

10:33 PM ET

And now it's time for Martin Sheen to present the PCA to Michael Moore...but let's open the envelope first. Okay, so going along with the surprise, the winner is: Fahrenheit 9/11. Moore gets about half an ovation from the crowd. I guess we know who the Democrats are. "We live in a great country and we all love our country very much...I'm honored and gratified." Moore then dedicated the award to the troops overseas. "Don't give up. This country is all of ours."

10:43 PM ET

Jason Alexander pulls a shaking girl out of the audience to introduce Josh Duhamel who's here to present Favorite reality show (other) to Newlyweds. Jessica said, "I was a cheesy pop star. Nick was in a boy band. We weren't supposed to get married because it would ruin our careers. And now here we are."

10:48 PM ET

Sheryl Crow then presented Favorite Male Movie Star to Johnny Depp, who addresses the crowd live from satellite. He thanks the people saying, "You are our boss."

10:52 PM ET

Here to present the final award of the evening: Renee Russo, who'll award old pal, Mel Gibson, with the PCA for The Passion of the Christ. oops, but let's open the envelope first. And the winner is: The Passion of the Christ. Mel Gibson gets an ovation as he takes to the stage. "When you circumvent the system, I depended on you. And you were there."

10:57 PM ET

That's all folks. Don't forget to join us next week for the Golden Globe Awards.

Here are the nominees and the winners, marked with an "**":

Favorite female movie star

Favorite male movie star

Favorite female action movie star

Favorite male action movie star

Favorite leading man

Favorite leading lady

Favorite Movie

Favorite Movie Drama

Favorite Movie Comedy

Favorite Animated Movie

Favorite Sequel

Favorite Animated Movie Star

Favorite Villain Movie Star

Favorite On-Screen Chemistry

Favorite group

Favorite male singer

Favorite female singer

Favorite remake

Favorite combined forces

Favorite Country Group

Favorite Country Female Singer

Favorite Country Male Singer

Favorite new TV comedy

Favorite new TV drama

Favorite TV comedy

Favorite TV drama

Favorite female TV star

Favorite male TV star

Favorite late-night talk show host

Favorite funny male star

Favorite funny female star

Favorite daytime talk show host

Favorite reality show (competition)

Favorite reality show (makeover)

Favorite reality show (other)

Favorite Smile

Favorite Hair

Favorite Look