Get ready to pop some Champagne, because the countdown to the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards has officially begun with the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' announcement of this year's acting pre-nominations.
There were changes made to this year's process. Any actor or actress who submitted themselves for Emmy consideration this year could submit scenes from up to four episodes, but the total running time of all the submitted scenes could not exceed 20 minutes in length. Previously, performers could only include material from two episodes. The reason for the change was to allow performers to show a greater range of material and to not be confined to showing an entire episode in which they may have only had a significant presence in a single, memorable scene.
Out of all the performers who submitted themselves for Emmy consideration on The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, Days of our Lives, and General Hospital, a round of voting has narrowed down this year's list of contenders to the following performers:
Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos, GH)
Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott, Y&R)
Scott Clifton (Liam Spencer, B&B)
Billy Flynn (Chad DiMera, DAYS)
Roger Howarth (Franco, GH)
Vincent Irizarry (Deimos Kiriakis, DAYS)
Christian LeBlanc (Michael Baldwin, Y&R)
John McCook (Eric Forrester, B&B)
Kristoff St. John (Neil Winters, Y&R)
Jason Thompson (Billy Abbott, Y&R)
Kristian Alfonso (Hope Brady, DAYS)
Sharon Case (Sharon McAvoy, Y&R)
Melissa Claire Egan (Chelsea Newman, Y&R)
Mary Beth Evans (Kayla Brady, DAYS)
Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis, GH)
Jen Lilley (Theresa Donovan, DAYS)
Gina Tognoni (Phyllis Summers, Y&R)
Heather Tom (Katie Logan, B&B)
Jess Walton (Jill Abbott, Y&R)
Laura Wright (Carly Corinthos, GH)
John Aniston (Victor Kirakis, DAYS)
Obba Babatundé (Julius Avant, B&B)
Steve Burton (Dylan McAvoy, Y&R)
Sean Carrigan (Stitch Rayburn, Y&R)
Chad Duell (Michael Corinthos, GH)
Bryton James (Devon Hamilton, Y&R)
Wally Kurth (Justin Kiriakis, DAYS)
Jeffrey Vincent Parise (Carlos/Joe Rivera, GH)
James Reynolds (Abe Carver, DAYS)
Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri, GH)
Eileen Davidson (Ashley Abbott, Y&R)
Judi Evans (Adrienne Kiriakis, DAYS)
Stacy Haiduk (Patty Williams, Y&R)
Amelia Heinle (Victoria Newman, Y&R)
Elizabeth Hendrickson (Chloe Mitchell, Y&R)
Finola Hughes (Anna Devane, GH)
Anna Maria Horsford (Vivienne Avant, B&B)
Kate Mansi (Abigail Deveraux, DAYS)
Michelle Stafford (Nina Clay, GH)
Kelly Sullivan (Sage Warner, Y&R)
Jared Breeze (Max, Y&R)
Bryan Craig (Morgan Corinthos, GH)
Rome Flynn (Zende Forrester, B&B)
Pierson Fodé (Thomas Forrester, B&B)
James Lastovic (Joey, DAYS)
Kyler Pettis (Theo Carver, DAYS)
Tequan Richmond (T.J. Ashford, GH)
Anthony Turpel (R.J. Forrester, B&B)
Lexi Ainsworth, (Kristina Davis, GH)
Camila Banus (Gabi Hernandez, DAYS)
Reign Edwards (Nicole Avant, B&B)
Hayley Erin (Kiki Jerome, GH)
Olivia Keegan (Claire Brady, DAYS)
Hunter King (Summer Newman, Y&R)
Chloe Lanier (Nelle Hayes, GH)
Alyvia Alyn Lind (Faith Newman, Y&R)
Paige Searcy (Jade, DAYS)
So how are the pre-nominations determined? First, a performer had to submit their name for consideration. If they chose not to, they could not receive a pre-nomination no matter how brilliant their work of the last year may have been. DAYS' Melissa Reeves (Jennifer), GH's Maura West (Ava), and Y&R's Justin Hartley (Adam) are just three of the performers who did not submit themselves this year.
From there, here are the technical details, courtesy of NATAS: An online judging ballot containing all entrants in each of four performer categories (Lead Actor and Actress and Supporting Actor and Actress) was sent to all registered, eligible peer judges. The ballot contained a randomized order of performers in each category, regardless of their show affiliation. Judges were required to view clips online containing the work of each performer entry before selecting their top 10 performer choices in each category.
The candidates who received the highest number of votes are deemed "pre-nominees." These performers will now advance to the blue ribbon screening round, scheduled to begin on February 20, 2017, which will determine both nominees and recipients.
Due to the smaller pool of eligible performers, the entrants for the Younger Actor and Actress categories will proceed directly to the Blue Ribbon Round.
The final list of official nominees who will compete during this year's Daytime Emmy Awards on Sunday, April 30, is scheduled to be announced live during an episode of CBS' Emmy-winning talk show The Talk on March 22, 2017.
The Daytime Emmys event will be held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Southern California. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has yet to release information on whether the ceremony will be televised.
What do you think about the list of actors prenominated for a Daytime Emmy this year? Who are you most excited to see on the list? Which actors are you disappointed to see not included in the pre-noms? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
