One-of-a-kind live presentations. Bumpin’ music. Unedited presenters. Amazing special guests. A heartfelt Unlocking Hope Award. A surprise gift for Mary. Anybody in the beauty biz knows we’re talking about behindthechair.com’s Stylist Choice Awards. And this wasn’t just any Stylist Choice Awards—it was BTC’s 10th anniversary and also the first time we’ve ever hosted our annual shindig in the Windy City, so we threw one helluva party for the ABS crowd.    

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We entertained a SOLD OUT crowd of over 2,500 attendees with jaw-dropping live model performances from Anthony Mascolo for TIGI, Nick Arrojo, Mark Hayes for Sassoon, Shear Genius All Stars sponsored by P&G Pro Beauty, Tabatha Coffey for Matrix, TIGI Makeup, Farouk, PureOlogy, American Crew and Kenra! Plus, over 50 presenters let their hair down for what was definitely a not-to-be-missed event. Topped off with a knee-slapping BTC Breaking Newscast from Mary and a heartfelt Hairdressers Unlocking Hope Award presentation to Mr. John Frieda AND a surprise 10th anniversary award to Mary, the few crazy hours we spent at the McCormick Place Skyline Ballroom turned out to be what everyone said was the most entertaining, most high-energy awards show BTC has ever produced. 

The real reason for BTC’s annual party is to celebrate professional products, education and companies and this year, more than a half million loyal behindthechair.com members chose the deserving winners. On Sunday, March 28, 2010, the victors claimed their shiny crystal trophies in front of an audience of more than 2,000 salon pros and company VIPs at the hottest party of the year.

TIGI proved to be the big winner of the night, taking home the award for Favorite New Styling Product for Catwalk Thickening Gel Crème, Favorite Volumizing Product for Catwalk Root Boost Spray, Favorite Professional Make-up Line, Favorite Bookstore Award in the Collection Category for Unity and the grand daddy award of the night—Favorite Overall Professional Products Company—for the second year in a row. Another big winner was Mr. Nick Arrojo, who for the second year in a row won the SCA for Favorite Platform Artist. Redken dominated once again in the color categories, snagging trophies for Favorite Permanent and Demi-Permanent Color Lines for Color Fusion and Shades EQ, respectively. Redken Color Extend also took home the win for Favorite Shampoo. PureOlogy Hydrate won big again, tallying wins for Favorite Conditioner, Favorite Prestige Shampoo/Conditioner and Favorite Color Protecting Product. Farouk Systems was the big winner in the tool category, bringing home more wins for Favorite Blow Dryer and Favorite Flat Iron for CHI Turbo and CHI Ceramic. Sebastian snagged wins for Favorite New Shampoo/Conditioner with Volupt and Favorite Styling Product with Whipped Crème. New SCA winners included Scruples Blazing for Favorite Highlightening System and UNITE Haircare for Favorite Small Company.

SEE THE ENTIRE LIST OF WINNERS HERE!

Everyone agreed that the special live performances were the hits of the night! Anthony Mascolo presented Cirque de TIGI—a lively, colorful, explosive presentation that put Siegfried and Roy to shame. Nick Arrojo got the crowd rockin’ to some Jay Z during his edgy model presentation. Kevin Givens and the TIGI Makeup team’s DOT presentation was like nothing we’ve ever seen before, and Mark Hayes for Sassoon’s dark, graphic performance gave us chills. The Shear Genius All Stars, sponsored by P&G Pro Beauty, showed us up-to-the-sky wigs, fierce updos and edgy cute, Patrick Kalle and the Farouk team presented Contradiction, and PureOlogy’s Wendy Belanger showed us some brilliant upstyles. Finally, Tabatha Coffey for Matrix talked business and American Crew and Kenra presented awesome Hall of Fame videos.

The Stylist Choice Awards is always known as the event where all of the coolest people in the beauty biz can get together and party for a few hours. Special guests and presenters included industry superstars Anthony Mascolo, Nick Arrojo, Mark Hayes, Tabatha Coffey, Ken Paves, Kim Vo, Ted Gibson, Beth Minardi, Dean Banowetz, Sam Villa, James Morrison, Charlie Price, Nicholas French, Eva Scrivo, John Simpson, Edwin Johnston, Rafe Hardy, Kris Sorbie, Sue Pemberton, Stephen Moody, Patrick Kalle, David Raccuglia, Lisa Marie Garcia, Damien Carney, Darian Bishop, Chris Baran, Shauky Gulamani, Suzie Bond, Wendy Belanger, Anthony Cristiano, Eric Fisher, Mia Liguori McHugh, Natasha Sunshine, Rene’ Antonio, Karrie Fonte, George Papanikolas, Brett Butcher, Melissa Nelly, John Moroney, Veronique Morrison, Darico Jackson, Paula Malloy, Pamela Gold, Martino Cartier, Jessica Bowen, Jason Schwind, Linda Langley, Pamela McNamara, Eric MacLemore, Michelle Blaisure, Andrew Dale, Jared Trombetta, Travis Parker and Larry Soloman. The presenters shared well-timed jokes, kind words of praise and plenty of laughs, making for an all-out blast of a night!

No Stylist Choice Awards is complete without a little bit of heartfelt emotion, and this year it came in the form of a touching Hairdressers Unlocking Hope presentation to John Frieda, whose initiative “HairRaising” is raising money for one of the most progressive hospitals in the nation—Children’s Hospital in Boston. Ken Paves and the BTC team also presented Mary with a surprise award, thanking her for her many years of devotion to the beauty biz.

Finally, Mary’s hilarious Breaking News newscast had the crowd roaring with laughter, especially when Ken Paves pulled a “Kanye West” on her and stormed the stage after she announced that Taylor Swift had the best hair of 2009. Ken thought Beyonce deserved the win, so he joined Mary for what some people said was her most hilarious newscast to date!

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We couldn’t put on such a non-stop blast of a show without the support of our sponsors, so here’s a big THANK YOU! to American Crew, American Crew, Bosley Professional Strength, Clairol Professional, Farouk Systems, Goldwell, Great Lengths, JCPenney, Joico, ISO, Kenra, Keratin Complex, KMS California, L’Oreal Professionnel, Matrix, Mizani, Moroccanoil, Nioxin, PureOlogy, Redken, Scruples, Sebastian, Sexy Hair, TONI&GUY, TIGI, Unite Haircare and Wella.

SPECIAL THANKS: Once again, Mary’s makeup man Kevin Givens kept her looking fab and glam all night long. Next, thanks to Charlie Price for making Mary’s hair look hawt!! Thanks guys, as always, for making Mary stage-ready and FABULOUS throughout the night! Another big thanks to the ABS team who helped make our 10th anniversary memorable.

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