Confessions of an Awards Show Fanatic

A recent view of E! Entertainment's repeat broadcast of the red carpet show at the SAG Awards has caused me to reflect on my fixation with Awards shows. I have been watching awards shows for many years. Early on, my main interest was in the celebrity performances at events such as the BET music awards, Lady of Soul awards, MTV music video awards and of course, The Grammys. While the editors of People magazine were determining who the best and worst dressed celebrities were, I was trying to learn new dance moves and sing along with artists like Boyz ll men, Monica and TLC.

I was not concerned with the awards themselves. However, I did pay attention when rapper Jay-Z decided to boycott the Grammy Awards. It wasn't until that incident that I became aware that the hip-hop music genre was not celebrated much at the Grammy awards. Since I listened to various genres of music, the boycott news did not affect me. I still watched and enjoyed the Grammys. However, it becomes irritating to have to sit through award presentations that you care nothing about.

That is one downside to award shows. Numerous categories are included. Those who are waiting for Whitney Houston or Justin Timberlake to perform will still have to watch Tim McGraw or Sheryl Crow receive an award for their respective categories or perform one of their hit songs. This is not to say that one artist or genre is more appealing than another. This example could work both ways, using the same artists. When watching an awards show, you will either have to tough it out, or turn the channel.

Unfortunately, turning the channel may cause you to get sucked into a prime time television show such as Grey's Anatomy or The Simpsons. By doing so, you could possibly miss that great Beyonce performance that you were waiting to see. If you really wanted to know who won in a particular category, you could miss that as well. In the end, you will end up having to wait and read about it in the newspaper or online. That is not a fun awards show experience.