The Year So Far: Best/Worst Awards Show Moments
Before we dive into the highlights and lowlights of 2023 so far, allow us to begin with a disclaimer: we here at The Couch understand that over half a year has passed by now, and mid-August might be a strange time to do a status check on the pulse of the year. But between the happiness of summer dayz, big vacations, and big life changes, we got a little behind. So sue us! It may just about be the end of #hotgirlsummer, but it's not quite #thotumn, so I think a mid-year check in is still in order.
Besides, in case you haven't heard, actors and writers are now all striking, Boo. It may be a while yet before we get new television and movies-- and if that's what it takes, so be it! Pay them what they deserve!! All this to say, maybe this series can fill the little void between now and whenever these disputes are settled and the fall sports schedule really swings into full gear.
Perhaps no one facet of the entertainment industry has been demonstrably affected by the SAG and WGA strike than awards show themselves. The Primetime Emmys already have been postponed to an undetermined date, and one can imagine the same will be true for the Golden Globes and the film awards circuit if studio executives don't meet demands soon. That's to say nothing of the makeup of the shows themselves; with the amount of TV show and film releases being postponed, we may be looking at some of the more stripped-back fields for the prestigious awards than we have in a while.
That said, with the foremost awards for Film, Music, Theatre and Sports behind us already, and the list of nominees already announced for the Television equivalent, there is no shortage of "awards show 2023" content to analyze. I have mentioned before, I am a massive sucker for awards shows, and do my best to watch every minute of every major one, even if I know it's going to end in disappointment. The strikes have thrown a spanner in the works for upcoming awards shows, but the ones we already had in 2023 have, at long last, felt like a return to normalcy after multiple years of COVID-affected programs.
Here is my rundown of the the premier awards so far this year:
Best Awards Show Moment:
Everything Everywhere's big night at the Oscars
To be honest, the year in cinema 2022 deserved a better Academy Awards. For the most part, the 95th edition of the most prestigious film awards were fine, but not the most memorable. Jimmy Kimmel did a serviceable job as host, but was a pretty uninspired selection for the first solo host of the show in 5 years-- the first since... Jimmy Kimmel in 2018. The various musical performances ranged from shabby to good, but not great. Most of the big winners were anticlimactic.
But, even if it had hurdled towards the Oscars with an air of inevitability, it can't be understated what a delightful Cinderella story Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All At Once was. When the A24 absurd comedy debuted in March 2022, it had little fanfare and a cast chock-full of talented actors, but short on big names. In testament both to its quality and its deep originality, though, it set Twitter and film circles abuzz, so much so, that it became the de facto 'must-watch' of the year. Even with its immense popularity by year's end, it was seen as an underdog entering the awards circuit, and it's not hard to see why. The film, an absurdist multiverse part-comedy, part-family drama, which centered around an almost-entirely Asian or Asian-American cast, co-directed by two men who had never received any Academy Award nominations in their lives, didn't exactly scream 'Oscar bait.'
Yet, it barnstormed the awards circuit, too, and by Oscar night, entered as heavy favorites to win top honors. It did win Best Picture, and so much more: the Daniels became first-time Oscar winners, and only the third-ever pair to win Best Director. Michelle Yeoh won her first Oscar, becoming the first Asian and only the second-ever woman of color to win Best Actress in the process. Ke Huy Quan won his first Oscar, becoming the first Vietnamese and only the second-ever Asian to win Best Supporting Actor in the process. Regardless of whether or not you thought it deserved Best Picture or the other awards it won (and, full disclosure, in some cases I did not), seeing a majority-minority cast and a ridiculously original breed of movie this heavily rewarded is worth celebrating, and one can only hope its success points to a new trajectory for future Academy Award winners.
Honorable Mentions: Beyoncé becoming the most-awarded Grammy winner ever; J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell becoming the first-ever non-binary Tony winners; Brendan Fraser's Oscar triumph; the United States women's soccer team receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage award at the ESPYs; Abbott Elementary's, The Banshees of Inisherin's, and The Bear's wins at the Golden Globes; Lizzo's and Samara Joy's surprise major Grammy victories (and emotional acceptance speeches); the deserving amount of Succession and The Bear in the Emmy nominations; Ariana DeBose's unscripted hosting gig at the Tonys amidst the writers' strike; Jarrod Carmichael's Shelly Miscavige joke at the Golden Globes
Worst Awards Show Moment:
The Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar snubs continue
In case this particular blog post exits the tight circle of loyal readers and lands somewhere in the toxic realms of the Internet that foster unhinged stan culture, I want to make something clear: I have nothing against Harry Styles. In fact, I like Harry Styles a lot. Harry's House was among my favorite listens in the year 2022. So this is not an anti-Harry, nor in fact an anti-anyone commentary. Rather, it's an anti-Recording Academy commentary. And pro-Beyoncé and pro-Kendrick Lamar commentary.
For literal decades now, Beyoncé has been THE standard for pop stars. As a viral tweet I saw the other day put it, at the dawn of her solo career, the pop culture debate was "Aaliyah vs. Beyoncé." Soon it became "Christina vs. Beyoncé," then "Britney vs. Beyoncé." In the 2010s, it was "Gaga vs. Beyoncé," then "Rihanna vs. Beyoncé." Now, some 25 years later, the debate du jour is Taylor vs.....you guessed it, Beyoncé. She is the greatest entertainer we've seen since at least Michael Jackson, has given us nearly 30 years' worth of hits, and with each album, becomes more and more musically inventive and critically-acclaimed.
For a decade-plus now, Kendrick Lamar has been changing the Rap game. If his debut album Section.80 got hip-hop heads paying attention, his 2012 breakthrough good kid, m.A.A.d city put the entire music world on notice. The Compton rapper's storytelling ability was the best anyone had heard since Nas in the 90s, his genuine message and deft lyricism the most profound we'd heard since Tupac, his delivery-- with its wildly alternating tones and rhythms --the most original since early Eminem. With each ensuing album, he's continued to couple radio-ready beats and musicality with increasingly thoughtful lyrics examining himself, his peers, Black culture in America, his Christian faith, and the trials and tribulations of this nation. You know, to just name a few simple concepts.
And the Grammys have noticed! Each of Beyoncé's and Kendrick Lamar's last several albums have garnered a plethora of Grammy nominations, including for the top awards of the night. Kendrick has collected 17 Grammy statues in his career, while Beyoncé this year became the most-awarded artist ever in Grammy history, thanks to wins #28-32. So why all the complaining from me and so many others about disrespect? Because nearly all of these wins have come in the genre-specific fields. Or, to put it more bluntly, the predominantly 'Black' awards. K-dot has made a meal out of the Rap categories, with all but two of his Grammy wins (both for Best Music Video) coming exclusively for Rap Album, Rap Song, and/or Rap-Sung Performance. Queen B has the bulk of her record haul thanks to R&B and 'Urban Contemporary' (whatever the hell that means) awards. When it comes to the major general awards? That's where the largely white, largely older voting members say they are not welcome. Despite a combined 40 (40!!! For-tee!!!) nominations in their careers for the Big 4 categories-- Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist --the duo have combined for a grand total of....1 major Grammy win. ONE. Were it not for "Single Ladies" winning Song of the Year all the way back in 2010, two of the greatest artists of our lifetime would have a big fat goose-egg to show from the Grammys' most prestigious awards.
Which brings us to 2022, wherein Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé once again dropped two of the most acclaimed releases of the year. The former an album essentially borne out of therapy, with groundbreaking vulnerability and honesty about such topics as abuse, family strife, and queer and trans allyship. The latter another wild pivot from anything the Queen had done before; an almost-exclusively dance hall album, whose seamless transitions, addicting hooks, and thumping beats play like an inch-perfect tribute to Beyoncé's beloved Uncle Johnny, but more significantly to the black LGBTQ+ culture writ large. Unsurprisingly, each album was nominated for Album of the Year, and its lead single for both Record and Song of the Year. And unsurprisingly, just as was the case in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014, Kendrick and Beyoncé won none of them, the Academy opting instead for the much more "palatable," surface-level tunes from Harry Styles, Lizzo, and Bonnie Raitt.
One day, surely, the snubbery will end. But even if it does, at that point, whichever honors one or both of these icons will not have been worth the years of denial.
Dishonorable Mentions: Zero Oscars for The Banshees of Inisherin and The Fabelmans; no Beyoncé or Kendrick Lamar performance at the Grammys (perhaps snub-related); Jamie Lee Curtis beating out four incredible performances for Best Supporting Actress; the Grammys choosing James Corden to give Beyoncé her record-breaking trophy and DJ Khaled to close out the show; Patrick Mahomes winning the ESPY for Best Male Athlete over Lionel Messi; the undeserving amount of Ted Lasso (way too much!) and Shrinking (way too little!) in the Emmy nominations; Ariana DeBose's BAFTAs rap; everything else about Jarrod Carmichael's hosting stint at the Golden Globes
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