It’s Awards Season Again: A Recap of the First Shows of 2023
The cast of Abbott Elementary accepts the Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy Series | Photo Credit: Earl Gibson III/Shutterstock via Us Weekly
In the first three months of the year, major entertainment awards occur. Here is a recap of the 2023 Award Show season:
The 65th Annual Grammy Awards
The 65th Annual Grammy Awards happened this year on Feb. 5. The Grammys are awards presented to recognize achievements made in the music industry. For each category, recordings and music videos are submitted to be evaluated by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), who then pick nominees, the winners being announced on live television.
An estimated 12.4 million people tuned in to watch the awards, a huge rise from the 8.9 million that tuned in to watch in 2022. With artists like Lizzo, Bad Bunny, Sam Smith, Kim Petras, Adele and Harry Styles performing the awards ceremony, many fans just wanted to watch their favourite songs be played.
This year was a milestone for the Hip Hop community and included a tribute for the 50 years of the genre. Many artists who have contributed to the genre, like LL Cool J, Grandmaster and the Furious Five, Ice-T, Busta Rhymes, Lil Uzi Vert, Queen Latifah, and Missy Elliot performed a huge mashup of songs in a performance with 33 different artists.
With artists like Kendrick Lamar, ABBA, and Adele releasing their first albums in over five years, and in ABBA’s case, many decades, fans hoped for their comebacks to come bearing the award of Album of the Year. But in the end, Harry’s House, which topped charts globally, won the prestigious award. Harry’s House also won Best Pop Vocal Album, which meant it won both categories it was nominated for.
Many songs that have reached streams in the billions on Spotify were in contention to win Record of the Year. Lizzo’s record, About Damn Time, won the award and became the fourth addition to Lizzo’s Grammy collection. About Damn Time was also nominated along with many other hits for Song of the Year, but Bonnie Raitt’s song Just Like That won the award. Samara Joy, whose debut album released in 2021, won the Grammy for Best New Artist, her name joining the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, John Legend and Mariah Carey.
In more specific performance and media categories, Adele won Best Pop Solo Performance for Easy on Me, Sam Smith and Kim Petras won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for Unholy and Taylor Swift won the title of Best Music Video for All Too Well: The Short Film. For genre-specific albums, Beyoncé won Best Dance/Electronic Music Album for Renaissance, Kendrick Lamar won the Grammy for Best Rap Album for Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, and Bad Bunny won Best Música Urbana Album for Un Verano Sin Ti.
Beyoncé took home four of her nine nominations and broke the record for the most Grammy wins in history, beating George Solti with her 32 Grammy Awards. Beyoncé along with Maverick City Music received the most awards during the night with four each, and artists Brandi Carille, Kirk Franklin, Kendrick Lamar and Bonnie Raitt won three awards each. Beyoncé was not the only one who made history at the Grammys, as Kim Petras won Best Pop Duo/Group Collaboration and became the first transgender woman to receive a Grammy in the category.
The next Grammys will take place in early 2024, and though many albums, including chart-topping album Midnights by Taylor Swift didn’t qualify for this year’s Grammys, next year’s Grammys are sure to come by with many big winners.
Beyoncé accepts her 32nd Grammy Award | Photo Credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images via CBC
The 80th Golden Globes Awards
The 80th Golden Globe Awards happened this year on Jan. 10. Presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), many submissions for nominations are screened by the HFPA and then nominees are chosen, with the winners being announced on live television.
Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Top Gun: Maverick, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Elvis and The Fabelmans were some of the films that were in contention to win Best Picture in their respective categories.
Names like Hugh Jackman, Cate Blanchett, Austin Butler, Viola Davis, Michelle Williams, Margot Robbie, Michelle Yeoh and Colin Farrel were in contention to win Best Actor/Actress. Cate Blanchett and Austin Butler won the award for Best Actor in Motion Picture for Tár and Elvis respectively.
For the Television category of the awards, Better Call Saul, The Crown, House of the Dragon, The Bear, Wednesday and Abbott Elementary were in contention to win Best Television Series.
Some names competing for the title of Best Performance by an Actor/Actress in a Television Series include Kevin Costner, Bob Odenkirk, Zendaya, Emma D’Arcy, Jenna Ortega, Selena Gomez, Donald Glover, Steve Martin and Jeremy Allen White. Kevin Costner and Zendaya won for the Best Performance by an Actor/Actress in a Television Series– Drama for Yellowstone and Euphoria respectively.
The films with the most nominations were The Banshees of Inisherin with eight and Everything Everywhere All at Once with six. The television series with the most nominations were Abbott Elementary with five nominations and many other series tying with four nominations, including The Crown, Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Only Murders in the Building, Pam & Tommy and The White Lotus.
The Banshees of Inisherin won three awards—the most out of all films—Best Picture - Musical/Comedy, Best Screenplay - Motion Picture, Best Actor in Musical/Comedy for Colin Farrel. Everything Everywhere All at Once tied with The Fabelmans with two awards each. Best Actress in Musical/Comedy and Best Supporting Actor went to Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan respectively for Everything Everywhere All at Once, while The Fabelmans won the award for Best Picture - Drama and Best Director - Motion Picture for Steven Spielberg.
In television, Abbott Elementary took home the most wins with three and The White Lotus came second with two awards. Abbott Elementary won Best Television Series in Musical/Comedy, as well as Best Performance by a Supporting Actor and Best Performance by an Actor/Actress in a Television Series – Musical/Comedy for James Williams and Quinta Brunson respectively. The White Lotus took home Best Limited Series and Best Supporting Actress - Television Limited Series for Jennifer Coolidge.
Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu on the red carpet of the Critics’ Choice Awards | Photo Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images via Forbes
The 28th Critics’ Choice Awards
The 28th Critics’ Choice Awards happened this year on Jan. 15. The Critics’ Choice Awards honours the achievements of filmmaking and television. The awards are presented by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association who pick the nominees for which the winners are broadcast live.
Some of the film contenders for Best Picture were Everything Everywhere All at Once, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, The Fabelmans, and Top Gun: Maverick. The winner for this category was Everything Everywhere All at Once, whose directors, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Sheinart also won the title of Best Director for the movie. They also won for Best Original Screenplay.
The Best Actor/Actress award also had many contenders but Cate Blanchett took the award for Best Actress again for her performance in Tár and Brendan Fraser took the award for Best Actor for his performance in The Whale. Best Supporting Actor/Actress was won again by Ke Huy Quan and Angela Bassett in their respective roles in Everything Everywhere All at Once and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
For television, Better Call Saul won in the category for Best Drama Series, beating series like Euphoria, The Crown, House of the Dragon, and Yellowstone. Abbott Elementary won for Best Comedy Series beating Barry, The Bear, Hacks, and Reboot. Best Actor/Actress in a Drama Series went to Bob Odenkirk and Zendaya for their roles in Better Call Saul and Euphoria respectively. Best Supporting Actor/Actress in a Drama Series went to Giancario Esposito for Better Call Saul and Jennifer Collidge for The White Lotus. Best Actor/Actress in a Comedy Series went to Jeremy Allen for The Bear and Jean Smart for Hacks. Best Supporting Actor/Actress was won by Henry Winkler for his role in Barry and also to Sheryl Lee Ralph for her role in Abbott Elementary.
The most awards of the night went to Everything Everywhere All at Once which won five awards in the film category, and Better Call Saul which won three awards in the television category.
Everything Everywhere All at Once had the most nominations of the night, with 14 in the film category, and Abbott Elementary had six in the television category.
There are still more big awards shows that are set to take place in the next few months. For film, television and theatre, the Oscars will take place on Mar. 12, the Tony Awards will take place on Jun. 11, and the Emmy awards will take place sometime in September. For music, the Kids Choice Awards are set to take place on Mar. 4 and the American Music Awards will take place in November.