The 72nd Emmy Award ceremony, or as the host Jimmy Kimmel likes to call it - “PandEmmys”, was held online due to COVID19 restrictions. The show started with the illusion that all the nominees and guests were in the Staples Center with the host, (the audience in the theater was edited with the help of footage of last year’s ceremony) but in some 4 minutes we see that the host is indeed alone, accompanied by the “online audience” of all the expected guests including: Zendaya, Catherin O’hara, Mark Ruffalo, Eugene Levy, Regina King, Billy Crudup, Annie Murphy, etc. Since the 2020 Emmys were held in “lockdown,” the Emmy statuettes were also received differently: In front of every nominee’s house was a driver, who in case of the nominee’s win would throw the Emmy statuette into their windows, which made everything even more epic.
This year, some of the nominees made history, some dominated the ceremony with their success and some made really important and unforgettable speeches. The group who ended the night with the biggest success were the representatives of “Schitt’s creek”. Altogether, the team received most of the prizes, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Supporting Actor (Daniel Levy), Supporting Actress (Annie Murphy), Lead Actor (Eugene Levy), Lead Actress (Catherine O’Hara). The limited TV series - “Watchmen” also received a lot of recognition by having the highest number of nominations, winning the Outstanding Limited Series, Lead actress in Limited Series (Regina King), Supporting actor in limited series (Yahya Abdul-Mateen), and Writing for a Limited Series. Speaking of “Watchmen,” Regina King made a speech about the elections and the importance of voting, the point on which Mark Ruffalo, the winner of Leading Actor in Limited Series, agreed. But the biggest sensation, historical moment, and the highlight of the “PandEmmys” was the winner of the Leading Actress Drama Series - Zendaya. She is the first 24-year-old to receive the Emmy award. Instead of thanking her loved ones from the stage, she had her family in the room with her, celebrating this amazing prize together. Social media was full of posts and stories about her award; she definitely was one of the most celebrated Emmy winners of all time.
I think it would be interesting to hear what some of our students think about this new and different style of hosting the Emmy ceremony, and also what their feelings about the winners are.
Respondents - Ruska Tskhvediani and Anuka Ninua
(interviewer) What did you enjoy the most while watching this new format of Award Ceremony?
(Ruska ) I definitely did not enjoy this year's ceremony because of it’s virtual format. It was a bit alarming for me to watch. It felt like watching that one episode from black mirror, where the crowd of a talent show was made up of bit mojis that were controlled by people. Even so, after many productions and events getting cancelled in this terrible year, I was glad that at least Emmy awards took place.
(Interviewer)How do you feel about this year's winners? Do you agree with the final results, or were you rooting for someone else?
(Ruska) It was great to see some “fresh blood” being nominated this year, especially Zendaya, who was nominated and ended up winning the Emmy for outstanding lead actress. It was a pretty amazing category and a well deserved win for Zendaya because of her striking performance as Rue in “Euphoria,” which also was such a departure from her acting comfort zone, so I was pretty pleased with the final results of this year’s ceremony.
(Interviewer) Who were you rooting for on this year’s Emmys?
(Anuka) I loved almost all the tv series that were nominated, but still I was rooting more for the “Watchmen.”
(Interviewer) Are you happy with the awards that “Watchmen” won? Or were you expecting something more/less ?
(Anuka) Of course I was happy that the winner of awards was "Watchmen'', because it really shows the story of true problems that are active nowadays. I also love the fact that this series is based on DC Comics popular in 1989 with the same title. The people who made this huge project (comics) are really talented and one of the biggest figures in comics history. These people, who I love and respect with my whole heart are Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
Generally everyone who watched this series is now more sure in their goals and what to do with their lives. Watchmen is one of the best series in having realistic, problematic, and truly thoughtful themes. And one more thing, I think the title of this series is perfect: it fits in itself the idea in the best way possible.
As for the future of the winning projects: the final season of “Schitt’s Creek” already hit Netflix, and, as we know, the team is not planning to continue the series. However, “Euphoria” has already started filming the second season, which most of us cannot wait to see.
To sum up, even though Covid19 was standing in the way, the academy still managed to give us one of the most unforgettable and fun ceremonies.
Edited by: Mashiko Lortkipanidze
Comments