Steps Tragedy Smash Hits Poll Winners Party 1998

The Smash Hits Poll Winners Party was a British awards ceremony which ran from 1979 to 1987 as the Smash Hits Readers' Poll, then on television from 1988 to 2005. Each award winner was voted by readers of Smash Hits magazine. It ended with the closure of the magazine in February 2006. The event was initially produced by Harvey Goldsmith and Janet Street-Porter. Tim Byrne also worked on the show. He now works alongside Simon Cowell.

When it moved to television, the awards ceremony was shown on BBC1 from 1988 to 2000 then later on Channel 4 from 2001 to 2005; it was then renamed T4 Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. Past presenters have included Phillip Schofield, Simon Mayo, Andi Peters, Toby Anstis, Lily Savage, Ant and Dec, Will Smith, Melanie Sykes, June Sarpong, Margherita Taylor and Vernon Kay. Past group winners have included Bros, New Kids on the Block, Take That, Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, Boyzone, Westlife, Busted and Girls Aloud.

The event was notorious for the incident in 1991 involving Phillip Schofield and Carter USM, when the band's performance was cut short, causing them to trash up the stage. Following this, when Schofield made a remark about the band's behaviour, their guitarist Les "Fruitbat" Carter rugby tackled Schofield. The band was temporarily banned from performing on television, but ticket sales for its tour soared. The award itself was seen as a gimmicky object by many outside the magazine's readership, including winners such as rock bands (who only ever won their own genre-based category "Best Rock", although Coldplay were once nominated for Best Band). The trophy was an oversized fake gold disc bearing the magazine's logo, turned slightly by 45 degrees to the left and placed in a black stand.

The ceremony was publicised by Anita Strymowicz for several years. The Smash Hits Poll Winners Party Party, a post-show bash gained almost as much coverage as the event itself with most of the artists and bands attending.