Cynthia Erivo could be an EGOT winner at the Oscars. But does a Daytime Emmy win count?
It took less than a year for Cynthia Erivo to collect all three of her Tony, Grammy and Daytime Emmy Awards, thanks to her showstopping performance as Celie in the Broadway revival of “The Color Purple.â€
She won the lead actress in a musical Tony in 2016 and followed it with a Grammy for the cast album and a Daytime Emmy for a performance from the show on NBC’s “Today Show,†both in 2017.
Just a few years later, the “Harriet†star is now nominated for her first two Oscars, which could spell EGOT for the triple threat should she come away with any victories at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday. But does a Daytime Emmy — awarded in a separate ceremony from the Primetime Emmy Awards (a.k.a. the Emmy Emmys) — still count toward EGOT status?
The short answer is: Yes.
Fortunately for Erivo, a precedent has been set for this particular subset of multi-hyphenate crown by EGOT winners past. Comedian and actress Whoopi Goldberg secured her EGOT with a Daytime Emmy and a Tony in 2002, while “Frozen†songwriter Robert Lopez clinched his EGOT with an Oscar for “Let It Go†in 2014 after scoring his Daytime Emmy in 2008.
Cynthia Erivo is one step closer to EGOT status with an Oscar nomination for her turn as the iconic freedom fighter and suffragist Harriet Tubman in Kasi Lemmons’ ‘Harriet.’
Erivo is nominated for Oscars this year in the lead actress and original song categories, doubling her chances at EGOT glory. She’ll also perform “Stand Up,†her Oscar-nominated ballad from “Harriet,†at the 92nd Academy Awards ceremony.
The coveted distinction will be slightly harder to attain for future EGOT hopefuls, however, because of a recent Daytime Emmy category change. The musical performance in a daytime program award — which cemented Erivo’s 2016-17 EGT sweep — has been scrapped after a brief, four-year trial run. In that time, four other Broadway performers, Katrina Lenk, Ari’el Stachel (“The Band’s Visitâ€), Ben Platt and Rachel Bay Jones (“Dear Evan Hansenâ€), also fast-tracked their way to potential EGOT gold.
Notably, Erivo is the only actor of color nominated at the Oscars this year, and is poised to become the youngest EGOT recipient in history at 33 years old.
In the lead actress category, the Broadway superstar will compete against Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Storyâ€), Saoirse Ronan (“Little Womenâ€), Charlize Theron (“Bombshellâ€) and Renée Zellweger (“Judyâ€). In the original song race, “Harriet†will take on songs from “Toy Story 4,†“Rocketman,†“Breakthrough†and “Frozen 2.â€
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