Sarah Brown takes top video award

Sarah Brown in the video clip for her song Hands.

Haunted houses, Kiwi road trips and school uniforms all featured in this year's winning videos at the Juice TV Awards, but it was the carefully choreographed puppetry of Sarah Brown's Hands clip that took home top honours - Video of the Year.

Broadcast live from Auckland's St Matthew-in-the-City, the Marlborough songstress claimed the prize at tonight's awards ceremony for her sultry, whimsical clip.

Now entering their sixth year, eight of the award categories were determined by public voting, while Video of the Year was selected by a panel of music industry insiders.

Head of Juice TV, Daniel Wrightson, was one such insider and said it was the creative concept of Brown's video that really stood out to judges.

Of the nine finalists, he added, it was fantastic to see such massive diversity and outstanding technical excellence.

"In the last couple of years, we've come so far and can do so much now. The quality of New Zealand videos is really up there," said Wrightson.

Filmed in a theatre setting, Hands features a cobweb covered Brown performing as both puppet and puppeteer in the vintage-themed video.

Retro was a theme of the evening, with Odessa's 50s-inspired video Promises taking the Best Indie Video title, and Don McGlashan's classic Kiwiana video, Miracle Sun, winning Best Solo Video.

The Tutts colourful party video K cut through the competition to claim Best Breakthru [sic] Video, while Minuit's crazy, schoolgirl dance in Suave As Sin stood out to take Best Electronic Video.

Stellar beat out tough competition in the Best Group Video category, with their Whiplash video, featuring a mildly dazed-looking Boh Runga wandering city streets at night.

King Kapisi's burlesque-inspired Lollipop video won the Best Hip Hop Video category, while Best Roots Video went to The Black Seeds for the free-falling clip, Sometimes Enough.

Finally, punk rockers Goodnight Nurse took out the Best Rock Video for their house-on-a-haunted-hill-inspired video for the song Death Goes to Disco.

Winners & Nominees
(Click on links to view videos)

Best Electronic Video
Minuit / Suave As Sin *WINNER*
Shapeshifter / Bring Change
Concord Dawn / Broken Eyes
Recloose / Manas Bounce
Agent Alvin / Whos Your Daddy

Best Breakthru Video
The Tutts / K *WINNER*
Spacifix / Sunshine Day
Atlas / Is This Real
Starlett / What I Had
MC Mas / Musicman

Best Roots Video
The Black Seeds / Sometimes Enough *WINNER*
Opensouls / Turn It Up
dDub / Comfort
Solaa fest Hollie Smith & USouljah / Chance
Mt Raskill Preservation Society / Bathe in the River

Best Hip Hop Video
King Kapisi / Lollipop *WINNER*
PNC / Just Roll
Tyree / Ladies & Gentlemen
Frontline / What Was You Thinking?
Juse feat Smashproof / Ride Till I Die

Best Rock Video
Goodnight Nurse / Death Goes To Disco *WINNER*
Elemeno P / Burn
The Bleeders / Silhouettes
Blindspott / Drown
The D4 / Feel It Like It

Best Group Video
Stellar* / Whiplash *WINNER*
Evermore / Running
Pluto / Broken Hearted
OpShop / Oxygen
Nesian Mystik / If Its Cool

Best Solo Video
Don McGlashan / Miracle Sun *WINNER*
Carly Binding / So Radiate
Aaradhna / Shake
Sarah Brown / Hands
Luke Thompson / Morning Light

Best Indie Video
Odessa / Promises *WINNER*
Stylus / I Was Alone Until Tonight
Autozamm / Ways To Run
One Million Dollars / New Worlds
Motocade / Spectacular

Video of the Year
Sarah Brown / Hands