Al Calderon, the OG Javi Hernandez, scored his first ever Daytime Emmy nomination last Tuesday when the nominations were unveiled in full by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards.

Now, Calderon will be vying for the gold in the Outstanding Emerging Talent in a Daytime Drama Series category. Nominated alongside Al were: Braedyn Bruner (as Emma Scorpio-Drake), General Hospital, Alice Halsey (as Rachel Black), Days of Our Lives, Giovanni Mazza (as Gio Palmieri), General Hospital, Ambyr Michelle (as Eva Thomas), Beyond the Gates and Arielle Prepetit (as Naomi Hamilton Hawthorne), Beyond the Gates.

Tomorrow on Tuesday, July 21, Al will chat live on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel in a special conversation, not only to get his reactions and thoughts to becoming an official Emmy nominee, but also to talk about his run as DAYS Javi, which came to an end last month on-screen (Days of our Lives tapes ten months ahead of dropping new episodes, and Calderon had exited the series in 2025).

Photo: JPI

AL CALDERON WRITES HEARTFELT POST TO HIS LATE MOTHER

Previously Al shared the news of his nominations on his Instagram with a special acknowledgement to his late mother. Calderon expressed, “Hi mom, it’s me. I got nominated for an Emmy today. I hope you can be my date while you’re watching over me.
I’m honored to be recognized and even considered to be able to put my name in the ring. Thank you to my family Days of Our Lives family. for the opportunity. Latino gang baby.”

Currently on DAYS, Jacob Martinez has taken over the role of Javi starting with the June 30th episode. When Calderon exited his time on the Peacock streaming soap, he stayed within the NBCUniversal family nabbing the role of nurse Nico Silva on the second season of the medical drama, Brilliant Minds starring Zachary Quinto.

Photo: NBC

FROM DAYS OF OUR LIVES TO BRILLIANT MINDS TO AN EMMY NOMINATION

Before the back-half of the last six episodes of the season of Brilliant Minds began to air at the end of May, NBC decided to cancel the show and the possibility of a renewal for a third season came to an end.

Currently, Calderon is continuing to also pursue a career as a musical artist through his singing and songwriter; having released in 2026, the single and music video to his track, SMOKE and more.

If you have a question or comment for Al, but cannot be with us during the live broadcast, you can drop it in the comment section below and we may just ask it while on-air.

The live chat begins tomorrow at 8 pm ET/5pm PT, and if you haven’t “subscribed” to the Michael Fairman Channel for upcoming celebrity features, livestreams and special event coverage, we urge you to do so, that way you can be notified ahead of our guest appearances.

So, were you thrilled for Al that he received a Daytime Emmy nomination for his work as Javi on DAYS? Have you enjoyed his performances on the soap opera and on primetime in Brilliant Minds? Let us know via the comment section below.

There was not a dry eye in the house when in June of 2025, Paul Narita (Christopher Sean) gets up to eulogize his father, John Black (Drake Hogestyn), after the iconic character passed away and his funeral brought Salem together for one last goodbye.

In real life, Drake Hogestyn had passed away of pancreatic cancer at the age of 70 back on September 28, 2024. When DAYS taped the funeral episode, Drake was still alive and had given his blessing to the series longtime executive producer, Ken Corday, that it was OK with him to kill off his character and to have a memorial. Sadly, shortly after the cast filmed the scenes, Drake died leaving a lasting legacy on DAYS that will never be matched.

Earlier this week on Tuesday, Christopher Sean received the bittersweet news that he had received a Daytime Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Guest Performer category for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards for his performances. Christopher appeared shortly after the news of his nomination on the Michael Fairman Channel’s Daytime Emmy Nominations Special 2026 were he shared his emotional reaction. Here’s part of what he expressed below.

Photo: JPI

WHAT DID CHRISTOPHER SEAN SUBMIT?

“I submitted Paul’s lowest moments in his life, and Paul’s highest moments, meaning the eulogy with John Black, his father, and for my hero, Drake Hogestyn, and Paul getting married to Andrew (Colton Little). So it was two very opposite ends of his life. But what a great culmination of 12 years of being on Days of Our Lives it was.”

ALWAYS BEING GRATEFUL TO DRAKE HOGESTYN

“Even talking about it now, I have so much love for Drake. I’ve got him here on my wall and I wake up every day and I try to make him proud. It’s hard to talk about it, but I feel that my life is on the path that I am because of him, because of him being my role model, because of him loving and guiding me, because of everything that he has taught me on and off the set.”

Photo: JPI

THE EARLY STRUGGLES WITH PAUL’S EULOGY AND HEARTFELT ADDITIONS TO THE DIALOG

“I had been texting back and forth with Drake and I was actually pretty angry, because I felt that we shouldn’t exploit this, but Drake was so attached to the fan base that when Ken Corday spoke with him and gave him the permission to allow the fans to grieve with us, that’s when I said, ‘OK, if that’s what he wants, then I’m going to go full throttle with it.’ In Paul’s eulogy and monologue I’d read it and without asking the writers, I added a few lines and they allowed me to keep them.”

Christopher continued, “One of the lines was, ‘anytime I see a rainbow in the sky’ and I said, ‘and a baseball up high, or a rainbow in the sky,’ because I wanted to attribute it to baseball and to Drake. It was already perfect the way it was written, but that was my nod to Drake. We all loved him and there’s not a person I know who didn’t love him. Drake lit up any room he was a part of. I would not be here, again, without Drake.”

You can catch Christopher’s conversation on the Daytime Emmy Nominations Special at the 2:14:25 mark below.

The 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be handed in a ceremony on October 30 from the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood California. Current plans are for the event to stream live on the National Academy Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), watch.theemmys.tv and associated apps.

So, will you be rooting for Christopher to take home the gold for his heartbreaking performance of Paul’s grief over losing John and then marrying Andrew? Were you touched by how much Drake Hogestyn had meant to his life and career? Let us know via the comment section below.

Now that this year’s 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Nominations have been announced, several of the acting nominees will share their reactions and more to learning they are going for gold when the ceremony rolls around on October 30.

However, tonight on Tuesday July 14 beginning at 8pm ET/5pm PT, Michael Fairman once again host his 12th annual Daytime Emmy Nominations special live on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel.

Scheduled to appear thus far are: Beyond the Gates stars, Lead Actress nominee: Karla Mosley (Dani), Supporting Actress nominee: Trisha Mann-Grant (Leslie), and Supporting Actor nominees: Mike Manning (Smitty) and Timon Kyle Durrett (Bill).

From The Young and the Restless: Lead Actress nominee Michelle Stafford (Phyllis), Lead Actor nominee Christian LeBlanc (Michael), Supporting Actress nominee Camryn Grimes (Mariah) and Supporting Actor nominee Sean Dominic (Nate).

In addition look for General Hospital’s Supporting Actress nominee Amanda Setton (Brook Lynn), from Days of Our Lives, Outstanding Guest Performer nominee, Christopher Sean (Paul) and from The Bold and the Beautiful Lead Actor nominee Scott Clifton (Liam) and Supporting Actor nominee Lawrence Saint-Victor (Carter) plus more featured guests.

So, what did you think of this year’s Emmy nominations for Beyond the Gates, General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless?

Be with us in the live chat with your questions and comments on this year’s nominations and for our special guests.

For upcoming celebrity features, livestreams, special event coverage and more, make sure to “subscribe” to the Michael Fairman Channel.

So, looking forward to tonight’s special show with the nominees? Let us know via the comment section below and if you can’t be with us live, if you have any questions you want posed to our special guests and we just might ask during the broadcast.