It’s that time of year again! Award season is upon us, bringing emotional acceptance speeches and moments that create endless talk among fans and critics alike. This is the season where the entertainment industry takes center stage to honor the best in film, television, music, and more. This guide will walk you through the must-know dates and biggest names to keep an eye on this award season!
Grammy Awards
The GRAMMY Awards is an annual award ceremony that serves to recognize achievements in the music industry. The Recording Academy, aka the organization behind the GRAMMY Awards, votes to select the winners. Back in the day, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was nominated and won a GRAMMY Award for Best Spoken Word Album in 2007.
The host of this year’s spectacle will be Trevor Noah. Nominees include Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, and Charli xcx. Find all the nominees on the award ceremony’s website! This 67th GRAMMY Award show will take place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. It will be broadcast live on CBS and Paramount+.
Critics Choice Awards
Presented by the Critics Choice Association (CCA), these awards are given annually to recognize and honor the best in cinema and television. The Critics Choice trophy is a clear, star-shaped award that stands out from traditional gold or silver statuettes. Chelsea Handler will be the host at this year’s ceremony.
Nominations include Conclave and Wicked, with 11 each (bragging rights)! Dune: Part Two and Emilia Pérez aren’t far behind with 10 nominations each, and The Brutalist has nine. Anora and The Substance received seven nominations each. For TV, Shogun received six nominations, including Best Drama Series. Other shows include Abbott Elementary, The Diplomat, and What We Do in the Shadows, which all received four nominations.
The Critics Choice Awards, originally scheduled for Jan. 12, were pushed to Jan. 26 due to the L.A. wildfires. They have been moved again to Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. (EST). This award show will take place at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, and will be broadcast live on E!
NAACP Image Awards
The NAACP Image Awards celebrate the achievements and performances of people of color in the arts and those who promote social justice creatively. NAACP members and the public vote for this award. You can vote for your favorites online until Feb. 7. If you have a favorite show, movie, or artist, show your support!
Despite the undetermined host of the ceremony, some of the biggest stars are up for Entertainer of the Year. From Cynthia Erivo, Keke Palmer, and Kendrick Lamar to Kevin Hart and Shannon Sharpe, it’s going to be interesting to see who takes home the award.
In the movie categories, The Piano Lesson is leading with 14 nominations, including Outstanding Motion Picture. Other movies competing in this category are Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Bob Marley: One Love, The Six Triple Eight, and Wicked. For the Outstanding Actor or Actress in a Motion Picture, we have André Holland, Colman Domingo, Cynthia Erivo, Kerry Washington, and Lupita Nyong’o, just to name a few. For the full list of nominations and more details, check out the official NAACP Image Awards voting website.
The NAACP Image Awards will be held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. (EST), broadcast on BET.
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards honor excellence in TV and film with 13 awards. Voted on by over 130,000 SAG-AFTRA members (professional actors, journalists, dancers, etc.), it has the largest voting body in the awards circuit and has been a favorite in the industry since 1995. Interestingly, the first SAG Awards ceremony wasn’t even on TV. It was later televised in 1998, and since then, the awards have become a huge part of Hollywood’s awards season.
Nominations include Timothée Chalamet, Jonathan Bailey, Ariana Grande, and Ted Danson. Leading the film categories, Wicked received five nominations, including Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. A Complete Unknown followed with four nominations, while Anora and Emilia Pérez received three. Shogun topped the list with five nominations for television. Both The Bear and The Diplomat secured three nominations each.
With Kristin Bell as the host, the SAG Awards will take place in the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. (EST). You can stream it live on Netflix!
The Oscars
The Oscar Awards are a set of awards given annually to recognize outstanding achievements in the film industry.
Nominees include Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, The Substance, and Wicked for the Best Picture Category. For Best Director, nominees include Sean Baker, Brady Corbet, Jacques Audiard, and Coralie Fargeat. Meanwhile, in the Best Actress category, nominees include Cynthia Erivo, Karla Sofía Gascón, Mikey Madison, and Demi Moore. Other notable categories include Best Supporting Actress, with nominees like Ariana Grande, Felicity Jones, Isabella Rossellini, and Zoe Saldaña.
The Brutalist earned nominations in categories like Best Cinematography, Production Design, and Original Score. Dune: Part Two and Wicked are also major contenders in multiple technical categories, including Sound, Visual Effects, and Costume Design.
The Oscar nominations were announced on Jan. 23, and the main ceremony is still scheduled for March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood at 7 p.m. (EST). It will be streamed live on Hulu and aired live on ABC with their designated host, Conan O’Brien, leading the show. This will be the first time the Oscars have been streamed on a streaming service.
Other Notable Awards
As the year goes on, host and nominee details about other award ceremonies slowly arise. May 18 welcomes the American Music Awards, a fan-voted awards show that recognizes the year’s top musical artists, songs, and albums. BTS holds the record for the most consecutive wins for Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group at the AMAs, winning four years in a row until 2022. You can watch the AMAs on CBS and Paramount+.
The Tony Awards on June 8 are annual awards that recognize excellence in American theater. The awards are presented to Broadway plays and musicals. The 2025 Tony Awards nominations will be announced on May 1. You can watch it on CBS and Paramount+.
Lastly, award season will close with the Emmy Awards in September. The Emmy Awards recognize excellence within various areas of television and emerging media. The first time the show was hosted, its tickets were only $5. The nominees will be revealed on July 15. You can watch it on CBS and Paramount+.
What a great season of awards we have ahead of us! Tune in.
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