Beyond the Gates
Daytime Emmy Awards Reveal Lead Performer Nominees Ahead of Tuesday’s Full List
Daytime Emmy nominations are rolling out early, and five familiar soap stars are already in the running for Lead Performer.
DAYTIME EMMY AWARDS REVEAL LEAD PERFORMER NOMINEES
TL;DR: The Daytime Emmy Awards have released the Outstanding Lead Performer in a Daytime Drama Series category ahead of Tuesday’s full nominations announcement. Eric Braeden, Christian LeBlanc, Scott Clifton, Thorsten Kaye, and Steve Burton are this year’s nominees, with the complete slate arriving Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET.
The First Soap Category Is Out Early
The Daytime Emmy Awards have released the Outstanding Lead Performer in a Daytime Drama Series category ahead of the full nominations list. Five actors from three different soaps made the cut this year, and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will announce every remaining category, including Outstanding Drama Series, Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET.
Got a theory about who takes home the trophy this year? Send it our way at amber@soapoperamagazine.com, we want to hear your predictions.
Five Actors, Three Soaps, One Category
Eric Braeden, who plays Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless, landed a nomination this year alongside longtime castmate Christian LeBlanc, who plays Michael Baldwin. Both actors have been fixtures on the Genoa City canvas for decades, and the joint nomination gives Y&R two shots at the trophy in the same category.
The Bold and the Beautiful also landed two nominees: Scott Clifton, who plays Liam Spencer, and Thorsten Kaye, who plays Ridge Forrester. That puts the L.A.-based soap on equal footing with Y&R heading into October.
General Hospital rounds out the field with Steve Burton, who returns to Port Charles this summer as Jason Morgan, giving GH its lone nominee in the category this year.
The category recognizes the actor whose work as a series regular stood out most over the qualifying period, and this year’s five names span a wide range of storytelling, from long-running patriarchal power players to a returning fan favorite stepping back into a role fans have followed for years.
Still Plenty of Unknowns
There is still a lot up in the air regarding this year’s ceremony. The 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards are set to take place October 30, but a venue has not been announced, and there is no confirmed broadcast partner yet either. Streaming the ceremony through NATAS’s own platform remains an option, the same way it has been handled in recent years when a traditional broadcast partner wasn’t locked in ahead of time.
Fans are also still waiting to hear who will host the ceremony, along with who will be honored as this year’s Lifetime Achievement recipient and which industry veterans will be inducted into the Gold and Silver Circle.
New Eligibility Rules Are Reshaping the Categories
This year also brought new eligibility rules into play across every category, including the one these five actors just landed in. NATAS instituted a cap for the Guest Performer in a Daytime Drama Series category, limiting eligibility to 19% of episodes aired or streamed during the qualifying period. Performers who appear in more episodes than that threshold compete in Leading, Supporting, or Emerging Talent instead, which is part of why the Lead Performer field looks the way it does this year.
The Drama Writing and Drama Directing categories are shifting to a team-based structure as well, with eligibility tied to that same 19% threshold, and a waiver required if an episode submitted in either category was written or directed by someone who doesn’t meet the mark. The full slate of nominees, covering every remaining category, arrives Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET.
Which of these five actors do you think deserves the trophy this year? Head to the comments and let us know.
The Countdown to Tuesday Is On
Five actors, one trophy, and three different soaps all with something to prove when the ceremony finally rolls around in October. Join us on our Facebook page and tell us who has your vote once the rest of the nominations drop.
WATCH THIS:
@soapoperamag 🔥 Team Bill Or Team Ridge? We Picked A Side 🔥 🎥 HIT PLAY FOR OUR FULL BREAKDOWN 🎥 We are firmly, unapologetically Team #BillSpencer in this one 😤 #RidgeForrester has spent this whole storyline acting like Forrester Creations owes him a shrine, and we are exhausted on his behalf. Bill wins this round, easy. Are you riding with us, or are you still holding out hope for Ridge? 🍿#BB #BoldandtheBeautiful ♬ original sound – Soap Opera Magazine
