Creative Arts Emmys: Three EGOTs achieved; RuPaul goes 3/3
No less than three new EGOTs (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) were achieved last night when Tim Rice, John Legend and Andrew Lloyd Webber earned their ‘E’ when Jesus Christ Superstar Live won Outstanding Variety Special. They join just 12 other individuals, including Lena Horne, Whoopi Goldberg and, Mike Nichols to earn that distinction. John Legend, who completed his EGOT [stas to be updated later] in just 12 years (the second fastest after Robert Lopez), became the first black man to do so.
The second night of the 2018 Creative Arts Emmys also became a de facto tribute to two major industry figures who suffered tragically premature deaths this year, Anthony Bourdain and Craig Zadan. Bourdain’s Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown and Zadan’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert taking home five trophies apiece. Bourdain’s program took the top prize for Informational Series, while the latter closing out the ceremony with a win for Outstanding Variety Special.
Creative Arts Emmys: Tiffany Haddish, Katt Williams, Ron Cephus Jones, Samira Wiley Make History in Guest Acting Categories
Saturday Night Live was the top overall winner, tying Game of Thrones’ haul from Night 1 with seven trophies, including for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for Chance The Rapper’s “Come Back Barack.” Coincidentally well timed with a speech by the former President marking his re-emergence on the political stage this week, the win for Chance was one of a couple of occasions where politics came up on the Creative Arts stage, with Outstanding Reality Host winner RuPaul urging onlookers to “drive down to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!” in his acceptance speech. This was RuPaul’s third consecutive win for Host, one shy of the category’s record of four consecutive wins by Survivor’s Jeff Probst.
Netflix had a strong night in the Program categories overall; it’s Queer Eye took home Structured Reality Program, and it claimed tandem documentary wins, for Strong Island in Documentary Filmmaking and Wild Wild Country in Documentary Series. However, overall HBO maintained its lead in wins by all networks and platforms, notably winning Writing for a Variety Series for Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and, in one more instance of the awards paying tribute to late industry icons, The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling winning Documentary or Nonfiction Special.
HBO has a narrow lead with 17 total wins coming out of Creative Arts Awards. Netflix is right behind with 16, followed by NBC (15), CNN (8) and FX Networks (7).
The stage has now fully been set for the Primetime Emmys on September 17th, when the major categories including Outstanding Comedy and Drama Series will be determined.
The full list of winners from night two of the Creative Arts Emmys:
Variety special (live): “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”
Host for a reality competition program: RuPaul Charles, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Directing for a reality program: Nick Murray, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Cinematography for a reality program: “Life Below Zero”
Casting for a reality program: “Queer Eye”
Variety special (pre-recorded): “Dave Chappelle: Equanimity”
Sound mixing for a non-fiction program (single- or multi-camera): “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”
Sound editing for a non-fiction program (single- or multi-camera): “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”
Technical direction, camerawork, video control for a series: “Saturday Night Live”
Makeup for a multi-camera series or special (non-prosthetic): “Saturday Night Live”
Hairstyling for a multi-camera series or special: “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Informational series or special: “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown”
Short-form non-fiction or reality: “Anthony Bourdain: Explore Parts Unknown”
Creative achievement in interactive media within a scripted program: “Conan Without Borders”
Interactive program: “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”
Music direction: Gregg Field, “Tony Bennett: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song”
Narration: David Attenborough, “Blue Planet II”
Original music and lyrics: “Come Back Barack,” “Saturday Night Live”
Picture editing for a structured or competition reality program: “Queer Eye”
Picture editing for an unstructured reality program: “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell”
Unstructured reality program: “United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell”
Structured reality program: “Queer Eye”
Documentary or non-fiction series: “Wild Wild Country”
Directing for a documentary/non-fiction special: Brett Morgen, “Jane”
Documentary/non-fiction special: “The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling”
Technical direction, camerawork, video control for a limited series, movie or special: “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”
Choreography: Mandy Moore, “So You Think You Can Dance”
Short-form variety series: “Carpool Karaoke — the Series”
Picture editing for variety program: “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”
Production design for a variety special: “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”
Production design for a variety, reality or reality competition series: “Saturday Night Live”
Lighting design/lighting direction for a variety special: “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert”
Costumes for variety, non-fiction or reality programming: “Rupaul’s Drag Race”
Cinematography for a non-fiction program: “Jane”
Picture editing for a non-fiction program: “Lagos”
Writing for a non-fiction program: Anthony Bourdain, “Parts Unknown”
Lighting design/lighting direction for a variety series: “Saturday Night Live”
Directing for a variety series: Don Roy King, “Saturday Night Live”
Writing for a variety series: “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
- 2024 North Texas Film Critics Association (NTFCA) Nominations - December 24, 2024
- 2024 Online Association of Female Film Critics (OAFFC) Winners: ‘The Substance” Dominates - December 23, 2024
- 2024 Greater Western New York Film Critics Association (GWNYFCA) Nominations - December 23, 2024
2024 North Texas Film Critics Association (NTFCA) Nominations 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 78 – ‘The Holiday’ (Nancy Meyers, 2006) 
Hollywood Biopics and Mental Health Through the Lenses of ‘The Aviator’ (2004), ‘A Beautiful Mind’ (2001) and ‘Love & Mercy’ (2014) 
2024 Online Association of Female Film Critics (OAFFC) Winners: ‘The Substance” Dominates