On-Air On-Soaps is getting ready for the 43rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards to be held on Sunday.

While the ceremonies unfortunately will not be televised live, which we know has dampened the spirit of daytime drama fans; there will be plenty of coverage coming your way.  To get you in the mood for Emmy weekend 2016, we have looked into our crystal ball, watched all the nominated performances and episodes, and have come up with our choices.

The Daytime Emmys can be a tricky game to play … it all comes down to the selection of the reels, peer voting, and the competition in the respective categories.  Emmy night can also be tricky to predict, and to try to make sense of, especially when there are many worthy nominees.  With deep thought, a dash of Emmy karma, and gut instinct, On-Air On-Soaps’ Michael Fairman will attempt to predict the winners.  He will also offer his picks for who he thinks Should Win, and the Don’t Count Out nominee(s) in each category, plus analysis.

To the nominees and our colleagues: your work continues to inspire, and is compelling and powerful, and to succeed in a medium that can be this daunting is truly an outstanding accomplishment in its own right.  Enjoy these final days in the race to the finish line. You are all winners no matter what the envelope may say.  And yeah, it sure feels good to go home with the gold!  After reviewing our picks, share your thoughts, and let us know who you think Will Win and Should Win in the major daytime drama categories.

Here now are On-Air On-Soaps fearless predictions for the 43rd Annual Daytime Emmys. 

Outstanding Drama Series

Courtesy/ABC

Who will win:  The Bold and the Beautiful

Who should win:  General Hospital  (for the 52nd Anniversary episode)

Don’t count out:  The Young and the Restless

This is a race impossible to predict, as you can make a case for all four shows winning the golden statuette on Emmy night.  One thing is for sure; we have been assured by the new voting rules of the academy that this year will not end in a tie like last year.  So, one show is going away the victor.  But who will it be?  The Bold and the Beautiful, because it is a half hour show gets to submit four episodes according to the rules instead of two episodes that the hours soaps get to submit.  If topical and socially relevant issues of our time are what Emmy voters are touched by, then B&B should have this.  The exceptionally written and performed episodes included: Maya and Rick’s wedding and the Avant family confrontation, as well as Maya disclosing to Rick, provided the drama and forward thinking – harkening back to the soaps of old when they were known for pioneering the way to bring tough topics such as: abortion, HIV/AIDS, and crib death, to the consciousness of its audience.  B&B took a risk in turning the character of Maya into a trans character, and it paid off.  However, 4 episodes of the same story theme could be a demerit to some who voted.  As for General Hospital, who has had trouble in recent years coming up with the right combination of a one-two punch of Emmy submissions, once again, they got the one of the two.  However, we don’t think there was a finer hour of daytime television this past year than GH’s 52nd Anniversary episode – from black and white to color, how they integrated the show’s genesis in 1963 into the story of Luke’s childhood past, and how when watching it you feel like you are sitting inside an intimate stage play watching performances that are spellbinding.  This was a case where acting, writing, producing, and directing all came together in an episode that will definitely be talked about in the annals of soap opera.  The problem came with GH’s second choice, which features other cast members, and heavy stakes drama including Patrick finding Robin alive and rescuing her, and Nikolas going off a balcony after a fight with Jason.  So if we could go on one reel GH is the choice.  Then we come to the juggernaut that is The Young and the Restless, and actually when you think about the criteria of having two shows that bring riveting drama to the table, Y&R could very easily win another Emmy.  There were not two episodes that were more emotionally compelling last year than the Adam reveal, and its fallout, played to perfection by the cast, and written in a way that everyone found out, everyone had a reaction, and it set off a domino effect that is classic soap story telling.  So, for the continuum Y&R could take this.  Days of our Lives celebrated their 50th anniversary kicking their show into high gear with dark intense drama, and no more was that amplified than in killer Ben’s capture, and Abigail pleading with him to tell her where he took her son, plus Aiden getting ready to end the life of his new bride, Hope, amidst the backdrop of the Salem bicentennial celebration, and Bo’s return.  Good drama.  Again, this category is too tough to truly call.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Courtesy/ABC

Who will win: Maura West

Who should win:  Maura West

Don’t count out:  Mary Beth Evans, Kassie DePaiva, Finola Hughes

In a difficult category to call, and in a year that the gold statuette could end up in any of these ladies hands; it all comes down to the selection of the reels.  And from where we are sitting, Maura West could very well take home the lead actress prize for the second year win a row for her performance as Ava Jerome on General Hospital, but this time with a touch of Denise DeMuccio thrown in for good measure!  In her nominated performance, West’s Ava is dying of cancer, and wants Silas (Michael Easton) to end her life, only the opposite occurs.   Ava is given a new lease on life, thanks to a bone marrow transplant from her baby girl.  When Denise comes into the story, complete with flashbacks, the audience learns the lengths the mob gal will go to, as well as giving the voting panel a complete story arc, which always has “E-M-M-Y” written all over it. Then, there is the amazing Finola Hughes as Anna Devane on General Hospital, as Anna watches her beloved Duke die from a mob hit, and then sits in her first therapy session with her new psychologist and finally unloads all her pent up guilt and rage she has for Carlos Rivera, the man she thought she had murdered to avenge Duke’s death.  The only thing standing in Hughes’ way of an Emmy may be the jarring cuts in the first half of her reel, which has nothing to do with her, but how the scenes actually aired.  Days of our Lives veteran Mary Beth Evans has a hankie-inducing reel.  As Dr. Kayla Brady tells her brother Bo that he is dying, and then turns around and tells the love of her life, Patch, that his best friend does not have long to live,  Evans was perfection, and made us cry right along with her.  She towed the line of playing a doctor delivering the news to her patient, and then breaking down that it’s her brother’s fate.  In the later part of her reel, Kayla gets a little high off the fumes in a supply closet while trapped with Patch, which showed a nice balance, but might it off-set her chances?  For Kassie DePaiva, a win would be bittersweet.  She never received an Emmy for her performances as Blair Cramer on One Life to Live, and is the sentimental favorite and was let-go by DAYS after turning in terrific performances in the role of Eve.  This Emmy season fans and critics have raved about her performance as a mother who tries to come to terms with the fact that her daughter has been murdered, and she must bury her.  In the process, she is reunited with Paige’s father, Eduardo played by Daytime Emmy winner A Martinez.  DePaiva played the notes of the scenes from A to Z, and she could win the Emmy alone just based on the final moment of her reel when Eve lets loose on the citizens of Salem post-funeral.  Tracey E. Bregman last won a Daytime Emmy over 30 years ago in the then Outstanding Younger Ingénue category.  The scene in which she submitted this year speaks to every woman who has ever gone through a divorce, and obviously spoke to the voters. But will this Y&R vet’s work be enough against the other performances?

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Courtesy/ABC

Who will win:  Anthony Geary

Who should win:  Anthony Geary

Don’t Count Out: Tyler Christopher, Kristoff St. John, Justin Hartley, Christian LeBlanc

It’s hard to beat the master when he delivered what may be his most masterful performance of his legendary career.  If he wins, Anthony Geary will tie Cloris Leachman with the most Emmy wins in history with 9 victories.  The General Hospital icon played both Luke, and his father Tim Spencer, in his nominated work in the series 52nd anniversary episode, which finally unlocked the secret that Luke had been harboring and buried deep in his psyche’- he murdered his father, and accidentally killed his mother.  It was a classic performance that still has you in tears by the time you get to the episode’s final moment, and what a way for Geary to end his daytime career with the gold come Emmy night.  But in the most intriguing match up of Emmy night, Geary is up against four other exceptional performances.  Could one of these gents be crowned the new daytime king?  Let’s start with Geary’s longtime cast mate, Tyler Christopher, who broke our hearts in the most compelling work of his career as Nikolas watched his son Spencer fight for his life after being badly burned in a fire at Wyndemere.  Christopher shared with the audience a rare moment of the dark prince, a scared father who doesn’t’ know what to do if he loses his only child.  As for Y&R’s Justin Hartley, the Adam reveal did not disappoint, in fact it surpassed expectations due in large part to Justin’s nuanced, subtle, and disarming portrayal of the vengeful Adam, who finally has to let his guard down and admit to his wife Chelsea his duplicity in assuming another man’s identity so he could come back to her and their son.   Christian LeBlanc is a three-time Daytime Emmy winner, and so he certainly knows how to pick an Emmy reel.  This time as Michael tries to come to terms with his diagnosis of prostate cancer, he enlists the assistance of a call girl.  But instead of having sex with her, ends up having an emotional purge.  Finally, Kristoff St. John, the sentimental favorite in this category had the opportunity to take longtime good guy Neil Winters and turn him bad.  No one played being wronged, and turning it into a revenge plot better than St. John, and Neil being alcoholic and drinking again, didn’t hurt either.   St. John could become the only second performer, (the first being B&B’s Heather Tom) to win in all three daytime drama performer categories in his career.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Courtesy/NBC

Who will win:  Melissa Reeves

Who should win:  Melissa Reeves

Don’t Count Out:  Jessica Collins

America’s soap sweetheart, Jennifer Rose Horton, has developed a backbone!  And, there was nothing more delicious to watch than DAYS Melissa Reeves slap-heard-around-the-world as she lashes out at her arch-nemesis, Eve Donovan (Emmy-nominated DePaiva).  Reeves performance was unrelenting, and she let it all out as Jennifer found out the sordid truth – catching her young son JJ in bed with Eve in an ongoing fling.  The fallout from the moment gave Reeves the material, in our opinion, that is hard to beat.  Then there is Jessica Collins, who certainly ended her Y&R run with finally some material worthy of her talent.  Collins, who played Avery Clark, had a reel that centered on her insufferable relationship with her ex Joe Clark, who she believes raped her.  Jessica delivered in spades!  Y&R’s Lauralee Bell, has previously won a Daytime Emmy, but not for her acting work.  Could Bill and Lee Bell, creators of the iconic soap’s daughter, take home the gold?  In some of her best work to date, Lauralee plays Christine’s angst upon finding her baby died after Nikki ran her down and then seeking justice, and in the meantime being jealous of Paul and Nikki’s relationship – since the two have a son together, Dylan.  On The Bold and the Beautiful, Linsey Godfrey had an incredible year, and it is none more illustrated then in her nominated work, where Caroline admits to Ridge that she slept with his son Thomas, and that Thomas is her baby daddy!  Great, powerful scenes!  Finally, Days of our Lives veteran Peggy McCay is in the running once against (last year in lead) but this time as Caroline, who has psychic visions as she sees her beloved late husband Shawn, and then in real time sees her wayward son Bo, has come back to Salem.  But it’s Reeves and Collins who stand out among the lot!

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Courtesy/CBS

Who will win:  Jacob Young

Who should win:  Jacob Young or Dominic Zamprogna

Don’t count out:  Bryton James

To us, this is a two-person race when it comes down to the reels.  The Bold and the Beautiful’s Jacob Young has a one-two punch of a gun toting paranoid, and vengeful Rick Forrester catching Caroline and his brother Ridge making out on the Forrester Creations couch, and then showing his dramatic prowess in the key scenes where Maya discloses her truth to Rick that she is transgender. The poignant moment when Rick does not shun her, but stands by her is TV at its best, and Young at its best.  But hot on Young’s heels is General Hospital’s Dominic Zamprogna who played ‘betrayed angst’ like no other male actor on the soaps this past season … even though, hot-head Dante Falconeri had it all wrong, and cheated on his beloved Lulu when believing she cheated on him!  The turn in the story, and the two episodes Zamprogna chose, were some of his best work to date.  Y&R’s Steve Burton chose simple, touching scenes where Dylan and Avery have their big break-up.  Burton, who has an Emmy already, is always a stalwart.   For Bryton James, another former Emmy winner, he chose scenes where Devon wises up and figures out just what his duplicitous father, Neil Winters, did to his wife Hilary.  It could be the gold ticket for Mr. James. And for, General Hospital’s Sean Blakemore, he had the opportunity in his reel to show strength, tenderness, and anger as Shawn is hauled off to prison, but first says goodbye to the son he never knew he had.  Young for the win, Zamprogna a length behind, and one of the Y&R guys in an upset – that’s how we are going to call it.

Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series

Courtesy/CBS

Who will win:   Hunter King

Who should win:  Brooklyn Rae Silzer

Don’t count out:   True O’Brien

This is a category that could go several ways, but it looks like Y&R’s Hunter King will emerge as a three-peat in the category.  This time a scorned Summer lets Abby have it for sleeping with her late husband behind her back.  It gave King material to sink her teeth into.  Will the voters give it to her three years in a row?  General Hospital’s Brooklyn Rae Silzer is the youngest nominee of all.  However, her scenes tugged at the heartstrings as little Emma finds out her father Patrick, and his lady love Sam, have broken up. All Emma wants is to have a mother figure in her life, and is desperate for her real mom, Robin, who she believes in Paris unaware she has been kidnapped.  If emotional tugging is the deciding factor Silzer could win, but if her relentless cries of “mommy” turned off the voters, she might not.  Former DAYS star True O’Brien has a strong reel, also.  She turned in a performance where Paige finally learns the truth – her boyfriend JJ was sleeping with her mother.  That set the stage for fireworks when the truth came out.  The Bold and the Beautiful’s Ashlyn Pearce really had the opportunity to shine shortly before she found out the news she was let-go due to storyline, when Aly went nutso on Steffy.  And another B&B star, Reign Edwards, showed us why simply stated is sometimes more in her scenes with her on-screen parents, Emmy nominees Anna Maria Horsford and Obba Babatunde.  For Edwards, we think next year will give her stronger material in which to enter, and is an actress to keep a close eye on.

Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series

Courtesy/ABC

Who will win:   Bryan Craig

Who should win:  Bryan Craig

Don’t count out:  Tequan Richmond and Pierson Fode’

Consistently throughout this past Emmy season, General Hospital’s Bryan Craig turned in raw performances as Morgan Corinthos, who tries to come to terms with the fact that he suffers from bipolar disorder, the same mental illness as his father, Sonny.  In a manic and drunken state in his Emmy-nominated reel, Craig’s Morgan ran the gamut of emotions highs and lows that is hard to bet against on Emmy night.  Craig’s recurring GH castmate, Tequan Richmond, also had a very solid reel as TJ watches the man he looked up to, and who turns out to be his dad, Shawn Butler, being sent to prison.  Richmond brought the tears and the dimension to make his performance believable.  Newcomer Pierson Fode’ could fall in line with other young gents of The Bold and the Beautiful who have won this award.  Pierson showed strength, betrayal, and anger in his reel where Thomas rails on his father Ridge and punches him, after dad has some choice words for his son.  Then we come to GH’s scene-stealing machine, Nicolas Bechtel, who is adorable, and well beyond years in moments leading up to the fire at Wyndemere that scarred Spencer as he tries to woo the girl of his dreams, Emma Drake.  Later Bechtel, shares a two-person scene with his on-screen dad, Tyler Christopher.  Finally, perennial nominee Max Ehrich returned for some time to The Young and the Restless, and delivered another strong emotional turn as the misunderstood, never-can-quite do-right Fenmore Baldwin.  This one should be Craig’s.

Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series

Courtesy/CBS

Who will win:  Obba Babatunde

Who should win:  Dee Wallace

Don’t count out:  It’s Obba or Dee for the win!

This past Emmy season gave us two incredibly memorable pieces of work from two extraordinary performers, and having to choose between them is like picking between apples and oranges.  When we first saw The Bold and the Beautiful’s Obba Babatunde’s (Julius) stirring portrayal of a judgmental father in his confrontation with Karla Mosley (Maya) during Maya and Rick’s wedding, we knew right then and there it had Emmy-written all over it.  The scenes where Julius unloads his disappointment on Maya for being transgender, and the price he also paid in his life because of it, stands out as one that will be remembered for time to come …  and let’s not forget those tears that Obba shed, too … yes, soap opera at its best.   However, General Hospital cast the right actress when they landed Dee Wallace as the MIA Patricia Spencer, older sister to Luke and Bobbie.  Patricia comes into the picture to help resolve and reveal the mystery surrounding Luke’s childhood past, and tortured mental state (Fluke).  In her nominated-performance you get an entire story arc as Patricia sees how the decisions she made as a young teen to protect Luke cost him his sanity.  In a sad turn, Patricia, who is very sick, dies by the end of it.  As for the other nominees in the category, the always-good Anna Maria Horsford, as Vivienne Avant, gets an opportunity to talk about the mother’s side of the parental failings with their transgender daughter Maya, in a nice scene.  But although Adam Leadbeater made Dr. Malcolm one evil figure on Days of our Lives his work didn’t feel meaty enough against his competitor’s performances.  As for former ATWT alum Frank Runyeon’s return to soaps as Angel on The Young and the Restless, what could have been interesting just didn’t cut it for us.   Obba and Dee are the ticket here!

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series

Courtesy/CBS

Who will win:  The Bold and the Beautiful

Who should win:  General Hospital

Don’t count out:   The Young and the Restless

This is a two-horse race between The Bold and the Beautiful’s transgender story, and General Hospital’s 52nd anniversary episode.  GH won the WGA Award for former head writer Ron Carlivati, and his writing team for this spectacular episode.  If the same holds true, they should win here.  It was creative storytelling at its finest.  But something also tells us that the voters may have gone with B&B’s stirring Maya Avant story, which as previously mentioned, is a hot button topic of our time.

Outstanding Directing Team in a Drama Series

Courtesy/ABC

Who will win:   General Hospital

Who should win:  General Hospital

Don’t count out:  The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful

Can’t bet against the 52nd anniversary episode of General Hospital for direction, especially when it’s the work of Bill Ludel, who has been the man behind the camera for some of Tony Geary’s and the series most original episodes.  But Y&R and B&B always come away with wins in this category.  The CBS Daytime dramas again turned in drama-filled splashy episodes, disasters, and more to keep this category interesting.  This is one that could go any of four ways, but Port Charles should be the home to this.

So, what do you think of our picks? Who do you think will win and should win in the major daytime drama categories come Emmy night? Share your picks and your reasons in the comment section below!