It’s a societal performance either way. I’m not sure it would be ‘just as effective’ it would be different, and that other thing happens all the time. There is something to be said for laying aside the ‘prom queen’ mentality we’ve inherited from the post war west… but I’d like to think that the awards are tongue ‘n cheek enough to poke fun at themselves as much as ‘reward the ‘winners”. Primarily… they’re fun for those who participate. Like (spoiler alert) the invention of a mythical fatman who brings presents in order to create ‘wonder’ we have the invention of ‘supposedly’ important prizes to generate ‘excitement’. As long as everyone is in on it, and everyone realizes that while the admiration is genuine, the format is staged… then all is well.