One of this year’s biggest cliffhangers wasn’t whether or not General Hospital’s Jason Morgan would reunite with Liz or survive the latest Port Charles explosion, but whether or not the 36th annual Daytime Emmy Awards would air. After CBS, ABC, and SOAPnet turned down the opportunity to air the telecast, the future of the Emmy kudofest was undeniably in question.
Thankfully, due to Emmy telecast producer James Romanovich and NATAS’s hard work, this Sunday, Aug. 30, the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards will finally air on teen-centric network The CW at 8 p.m. ET (the Emmycast will not air on a Canadian network this year; viewers will have to tune into their CW affiliate).
Hosted by Ugly Betty star Vanessa Williams, the Daytime Emmy Awards will feature a Guiding Light tribute, prime-time and daytime presenters, a 40th anniversary salute to Sesame Street, which earned this year's Lifetime Achievement Award; a fashion show honouring iconic daytime costumes; and a special dance performance with Dancing With The Stars’ Gilles Marini and Williams.
Romanovich previews, “We’re doing a green-screen opening similar to what Billy Crystal used to do at the Oscars, but with a Hugh Jackman-like delivery. One of the big questions about the ceremony is if Otalia will be represented in the show. All I can say is, GL’s Otalia fans should tune into the opening of our show.”
Before the Emmycast, The CW will air a red carpet show hosted by Kevin Frazier and Lara Spencer. During the pre-show, Daytimeconfidential.com’s Jamey Giddens, Soap Opera Digest editor Stephanie Sloane and myself will handicap the top races.
TV Guide Canada encourages all soap fans to tune in to what could be the last Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony (although Romanovich reports he’s already working on next year’s telecast).
For a more in-depth analysis, click here to hear Daytimeconfidential.com’s Jamey Giddens, Luke Kerr, theenvelope.com’s Tom O’Neil, and myself sound off on what to expect on the biggest night in daytime.
Click here for my Daytime Emmy Awards show predictions based on the same reels the Academy voted on!
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Nelson Branco is a Toronto freelance entertainment journalist, who regularly contributes to Hello! Canada, The National Post, The Los Angeles Times' theenvelope.com, TV Guide USA, tvguide.com, Inside Entertainment, OUT, and fab magazine, along with spearheading the soap coverage for TVGuide.ca's popular daytime TV hub. After graduating from Ryerson University in 1997, he moved from Toronto to New York in 1998 to take on the roles as senior news editor at Soap Opera Update. Branco first freelanced for Soap Opera Weekly as an intern in 1994, and after leaving Soap Update to help create and launch Bauer Publishing's In Touch Weekly in 2003, Branco continued to freelance occasionally for its sister publication, Soaps In Depth. Most recently, he helped create and launch Canada's first celebrity magazine, Weekly Scoop in 2005 as its news and entertainment director. Branco is also a contributor to a new TV show titled Planet Soap to air in Canada and America.
