All My Children may not have been the big winner at this year's Soap Opera Digest awards, but that doesn't mean that the show wasn't a big winner.

In total, AMC took home four awards on the night. Only General Hospital won more awards---six. The SOD awards are voted on by readers of Soap Opera Digest.

Cady McClain's return as Dixie Cooney was named Favorite Return by SOD readers. In her acceptance speech, Ms. McClain thanked AMC Pages users Marie-Helene Gratton for starting a write-in campaign to bring Dixie back to All My Children. McClain has made it well known that this petition was the primary impetus for her return to AMC.

Shortly thereafter, Vincent Irizarry (David Hayward) received the award for Best Villain from, ironically enough, co-stars Esta Terblanche and Cameron Mathison (Gillian and Ryan Lavery). The win was Irizarry's first in four nominations. "Every villain's dream" said Irizarry, "is to be handed an award by his two latest victims."

Mathison would make a return to the stage---not as a presenter, but as an award winner. Mathison was named Outstanding Male Newcomer. It was the actor's first nomination and first win.

For months, AMC viewers have been head over heels for the unlikely pairing of Stuart and Marian. Last week's Dankie Awards named the couple's romance as the top storyline of the year. SOD readers also agreed, naming the couple (played by David Canary and Jennifer Bassey) the Favorite Couple on daytime television. They beat out the likes of AMC alum Grant Alexander and Beth Ehlers (Phillip and Harley on Guiding Light) and Susan Ward and Clive Robertson (Meg and Ben on Sunset Beach).

The final two nominations came in the Outstanding Supporting Actor and Best Show categories. Michael E Knight (Tad Martin) was passed over for the nod as Ian Buchanan of The Bold and The Beautiful took home the award. Buchanan left B&B in January. Knight, however, was not in attendance, but his wife Catherine Hickland appeared as a nominee and a presenter. General Hospital took home the award for top show.

Since the winners are determined by fans (who are also readers of the soap magazine), usually GH, Days of our Lives, and The Young and The Restless take home the most awards. These soaps have a larger fan base and usually a larger base of younger fans who are more likely to take time out to fill out the ballot and mail it back to the magazine. This year, Days won three awards and Y&R took home only one award.