Here’s When Variety Special & Music Awards Will Be Presented at 2022 Emmys (Hint: Not on the Main Telecast)
If the Super Bowl halftime show wins an Emmy for outstanding variety special (live), it won’t be on the main Emmy telecast on Monday, Sept. 12. It will be a full nine days earlier, on Saturday, Sept. 3, at the first of two Creative Arts Emmy Awards presentations.
That’s a shame, because this year’s halftime show, officially called The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent, was a celebration of hip-hop music and culture that felt like an overdue recognition by the entertainment establishment that hip-hop is the music of a generation.
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It’s presumed to be the front-runner in the category, which also includes The 64th Annual Grammy Awards, The Oscars, The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back! and Live in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes.
This would mark the first time the Super Bowl halftime show or the Grammys have won an Emmy for outstanding variety special (live) – or in any of its predecessor program categories. Both shows have won Emmys in technical categories, but neither has ever won the top program award.
The Emmys have far too many categories to present them all on the main telecast – unless you want to watch a nine-hour show. The Primetime Emmys will present awards in 118 categories this year, making the Grammys look like a model of restraint. Grammys will be awarded in 91 categories on Feb. 5, 2022, up from 86 last year. Where the Grammys present the bulk of their awards at the Premiere Ceremony the day of that evening’s telecast, the Emmys split up their awards over three different nights.
The Emmys will present 45 awards at the first Creative Arts presentation on Saturday, Sept. 3; 48 at the second on Sunday, Sept. 4; and 25 on the main telecast on Monday, Sept. 12.
All seven music categories will be presented at the Creative Arts awards. Two will be presented on Sept. 3; five on Sept. 4.
The 2022 Creative Arts Emmy Awards will take place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles over those two nights. An edited presentation will air on Saturday, Sept. 10, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FXX.
The 74th Emmy Awards will be broadcast live from that same venue on Monday, Sept. 12, (8-11 p.m. ET/5-8 p.m. PT) on NBC. It will also stream live for the first time on Peacock.
Here is a partial list of awards to be presented during each of the three ceremonies, focusing on music and variety categories.
2022 Creative Arts Emmy Awards categories (partial list)
Saturday, Sept. 3
Outstanding music composition for a documentary series or special (original dramatic
underscore)
Outstanding music direction
Outstanding variety special (live)
Outstanding variety special (pre-recorded)
Outstanding choreography for variety or reality programming
Outstanding costumes for variety, nonfiction or reality programming
Outstanding directing for a variety series
Outstanding directing for a variety special
Outstanding hairstyling for a variety, nonfiction or reality program
Outstanding host for a reality or competition program
Outstanding lighting design/lighting direction for a variety series
Outstanding lighting design/lighting direction for a variety special
Outstanding makeup for a variety, nonfiction or reality program
Outstanding picture editing for variety programming
Outstanding production design for a variety special
Outstanding production design for a variety, reality or competition series
Outstanding short form comedy, drama or variety series
Outstanding sound mixing for a variety series or special
Outstanding writing for a variety series
2022 Creative Arts Emmy Awards categories (partial list)
Sunday, Sept. 4
Outstanding music composition for a limited or anthology series, movie or special (original
dramatic score)
Outstanding music composition for a series (original dramatic score)
Outstanding music supervision
Outstanding original main title theme music
Outstanding original music and lyrics
Outstanding stunt coordination for a comedy series or variety program
74th Emmy Awards telecast categories (partial list)
Monday, Sept. 12
Outstanding variety sketch series
Outstanding variety talk series
Outstanding writing for a variety special
Outstanding competition program
