Comedian Doug Stanhope co-hosted the show for the first time with adult film star Chloe.

Lexington Steele's third win as Male Performer of the Year was also a record; previously, he, Rocco Siffredi and Tom Byron had each won twice.

These awards[3] were announced, but not presented, in a pre-recorded winners-only segment shown on the ballroom's video monitors during the event.

Trophies were given to the recipients off-stage: AVN Hall of Fame inductees for 2003 were: T. T. Boy, Mark Davis, Felecia, Dave Hardman, Heather Hunter, Jill Kelly, Chasey Lain, Madison, Jonathan Morgan, Alex Sanders, Julian St. Jox, Kirdy Stevens, Tony Tedeschi, Teri Weigel[3] The following releases received the most nominations.

The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers or comedy.