Emmys 2025: Can Kendrick Lamar’s 13-Minute Super Bowl Blast Beat Two SNL 50 Specials (& Beyoncé)?

The Emmy category for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) mixes some interesting bedfellows. On one hand, you have three lengthy programs and two very short performances within a sports event, all on the same list. The question one might ask is, how do we value quality and quantity? 

The nominees are as follows:

The Oscars

SNL 50: The Anniversary Special

SNL 50: The Homecoming Concert

Beyoncé Bowl

The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar 

The first three nominees ran for over two and a half hours. The last two nods go to halftime specials that barely broke thirteen minutes. That wide discrepancy in run time would seem to favor The Oscars and either SNL 50 special. However, I’m not so sure about that. 

Let’s take a closer look at the nominees.

Part One: The Epics

The Oscars are probably the easiest dismissal. I’m not aware of any groundbreaking moments during this year’s grand opening of an envelope extravaganza. The Oscars are professionally managed, but seldom memorable beyond what some award winner might have said, and sometimes that’s not always to the show’s benefit (I’m looking at you, Adrien Brody). If anything, the Academy picking The Oscars would be a safe and stodgy choice. Safe and stodgy has certainly won before, but in this field, The Oscars seem like the runt of the litter compared to four genuine cultural milestones.

Speaking of cultural milestones, it doesn’t get much more stony than Saturday Night Live celebrating an extraordinary fifty-year run. While SNL might not have the caché it once did in our fractured viewing habits era, there is no comparable to SNL when it comes to uniqueness of programming, cultural significance, and, as the ‘50’ states, longevity. 

Of the two SNL nominees, The Anniversary Special is probably the more routine choice. The gathering of surviving original cast members with special guests showcased nostalgia while reminding viewers what a groundbreaking comedy series Saturday Night Live has been (or, as some might reasonably say, was). It’s fair to argue that The Anniversary Special is the best SNL episode in many a year, making it a strong contender.

However, if I had my druthers between the two SNL entries, I would select the wildly entertaining Homecoming Concert. Curated and co-directed by the ever-estimable Questlove (while also playing drums with The Roots, who served as the evening’s house band), The Homecoming Concert showcased the extraordinary width and breadth of SNL’s musical guests over a half-century. The achievement of pulling off what amounts to a grand festival with thirty-two songs performed over three hours cannot be underestimated. Not to mention, the show was a flat-out stone gas. 

There is one factor to consider regarding the two SNL specials: the strong possibility of vote-splitting. While both programs earned their nominations and would bring no shame to the award should they win it, voters may struggle to choose between the two, and therefore cancel each other out.

Part Two: The Shorts: 

The Beyoncé Bowl occurred during Netflix’s first broadcasting of an NFL game on Christmas Day of last year. As the halftime entertainment, the legendary singer leaned into her polarizing ‘Cowboy Carter’ album and delivered a critically acclaimed, powerhouse thirteen-minute performance. Dressed all in white and performing in her native city of Houston, Beyoncé’s bowl was worthy of the Super. If anything holds her back from winning the Emmy (aside from brevity), it might be that “polarizing” factor that I mentioned. The ‘Cowboy Carter’ album received strong reviews from the mainstream press, but many country music fans (check that, white country music fans) called Beyoncé a carpetbagger, and essentially accused her of cultural appropriation—a rich argument from that white picket fence, but one that may stick, even in a so-called liberal voting bloc.

Speaking of the Super Bowl and race, that leaves us with Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance at the most widely viewed (LIX set a record with 127 million watchers) sporting event of any given year. After an introduction by Uncle Sam (Jackson), Lamar owned the stage on the night, and social media for weeks (no small feat in our attention-span challenged age). While not overtly political, the subtext was abundant during Lamar’s thirteen-minute rager. From Jackson’s intro until Lamar walked away from the fifty-yard line, the virtuoso rapper’s performance was nothing less than a celebration of blackness, at a time when DEI has been made into a four-letter word, and the accomplishments of Black people (despite the fraught relationship people of color have with this country) are being erased by the current occupant of the White House and his administration. Lamar reminded us over thirteen viral minutes that Black excellence not only exists, but is surging in the world of hip-hop and music at large. What Lamar’s halftime show may have lacked in length, it made up for in profundity and power (while sneaking in a capsizing dis of Drake that effectively ended their feud). 

On a field meant for football, Lamar scored the greatest achievement of the night. One that has me believing that he may well be the favorite in this category, and deservedly so.