Beyoncé has received eight Emmy nominations over the year but the most-award artist in Grammy history is still searching for a TV win.
The Cowboy Carter star will have another crack at an Emmy this year after her Netflix NFL halftime show Beyoncé Bowl was nominated in Outstanding Variety Special (Live), going head-to-head with both SNL50: The Anniversary Special and SNL50: The Homecoming Concert.
It marks an interesting battle between one of the biggest pop stars in the world and a TV special that featured more A-list celebrities and former SNL stars than could fit in Studio 8H.
Other nominees in the category include The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show
Starring Kendrick Lamar and The Oscars.
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Last year, The Oscars, which was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, won the award, beating out The Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show Starring Usher, The 66th Grammy Awards, The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady and The 76th Annual Tony Awards.
NFL halftime shows do have some recent form when it comes to winning Emmys; in 2022, The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, which starred Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent won the award.
Beyoncé has been previously nominated for her Lemonade special in 2016, which lost out to The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Prime Time Special in the Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special category, and her Homecoming documentary in the Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) in 2019. She was also nominated for Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program in 2013 for her Super Bowl halftime show, in 2015 for Outstanding Special Class Program for her On The Run Tour special, while Lemonade also picked up an Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special nomination in 2016 and Homecoming was also nominated in that category in 2019, as well as picking up noms for Outstanding Music Direction and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special.
One of the small controversies during this year’s Emmy season was the fact that Netflix invited TV Academy members to screen the 13-minute special last month in L.A at a suite at SoFi Stadium before one of her Cowboy Carter dates with voters able to stay and watch the show, a move that upset NBC and SNL creator Lorne Michaels.
But NBC should take solace in the fact that SNL50: The Anniversary Special, the live, three-hour celebration that took place on February 13, picked up a total of XXX nominations.