HBO and Beyoncé dropped Lemonade on Saturday night to deafening roar of approval and a potential Emmy win
Now that the dust has settled from Saturday’s unveiling of Lemonade, Beyoncé’s visual album premiering on HBO to much acclaim, it’s time to take a look at the Emmy possibilities for this pop culture milestone. When unveiled, the top-secret production, which many consider Beyoncé’s working through her heavily rumored past marital issues, had many viewers gasping for praise. Indeed, the hour-long special recalled the work of the great Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) with its intense, dreamlike visuals and spoken poetry that linked together her new songs.
So, what will Emmy make of all this? Beyoncé was Emmy nominated twice before, so she’s not a newbie although she has yet to win. Her previous nominations came in 2013 for the Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show and for last year’s Beyoncé and JAY Z On the Run.
With Lemonade, Beyoncé will compete in the variety special category, according to an article posted in Variety. Last year’s winner in the category, The Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special, received a total of seven nominations, a feat Lemonade will be hard-pressed to match. That special hailed from the heavily revered house of SNL which has obviously proven exceedingly Emmy friendly over the years. The SNL 40th special received many technical nominations that Lemonade likely won’t receive.
Still, Lemonade should receive recognition for Outstanding Lighting Design / Lighting Direction for a Variety Special given the astounding, Malick-inspired imagery. Co-director Kahlil Joseph worked on Malick’s 2013 To the Wonder. A direction nomination wouldn’t be out of the cards either, although HBO has to decide which of the many directors involved in the project would receive attention.
Whatever the total haul, if the Emmys were held next week, then Lemonade would stand to further complete Beyoncé’s quest for the infamous EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards). As the album heads toward Grammy season, it will undoubtedly only continue to either maintain or build steam in the heat of Emmy voting season.
Who run the world? Beyoncé, and it’s time Emmy took notice.
Guaranteed Nominations
Variety Special
Probable Nominations
Lighting Design / Lighting Direction
Possible Nominations
Sound Mixing
Makeup
Direction
Will SHE win the award, or will the cinematographers and creative people win the award? If SHE were to be nominated it would be in the performance category, right?
If it’s nominated in the Variety Special category, then she would win as a producer.
I think she has a chance to be nominated as a producer or director – among those 156 directors who were working on the special. 😉
As for winning… there’s a little special called ADELE LIVE IN NEW YORK which will compete in the same category.
Thanks for the comment, and I like both Adele and Beyoncé. But… artistically, there’s no comparison between the two specials. 🙂