2022 Daytime Emmy Awards Predictions: Outstanding Younger Performer. On-Screen Lovers, Off-Screen Friends Face Off

Outstanding Younger Performer is a category that plays to General Hospital‘s one enduring strength. That strength is on full display with its three nominees- but is that a blessing or a curse?

The Nominees:

• Lindsay Arnold as Allie Horton, Days of Our Lives (NBC)
• Nicholas Chavez as Spencer Cassadine, General Hospital (ABC)
• Alyvia Alyn Lind as Faith Newman, The Young and the Restless (CBS)
• William Lipton as Cameron Webber, General Hospital (ABC)
• Sydney Mikayla as Trina Robinson, General Hospital (ABC)

What’s more unfair: nominating non-GH actors in this category or nominating too many GH actors?

Let me begin by apologizing to Lindsay Arnold and Alyvia Alyn Lind- I wish them no ill will, but this category belongs to General Hospital. Even at its worst, the ABC soap opera manages to cast the best and brightest young stars of any given generation. Unfortunately, having such a talented cast can be a problem during awards season. GH may be proud to have multiple nominees in any given category, but it also risks splitting the vote. Of GH‘s nominees, I think William Lipton is the odd man out, despite being given some grade-A material last year. With Cameon’s meltdown following Franco’s death, especially the scenes he shared with Chad Brannon, this was Lipton’s best work yet. And as great as William Lipton was this year, it still paled in comparison to his costars.

Combining Younger Actor and Actress into one category was a huge mistake.

Before I go further, I’d like to point out that Outstanding Younger Performer is a bullshit category. How could I say that you may ask? The problem is that it should not exist as a single category- it should be two separate categories honoring Outstanding Younger Actor and Outstanding Younger Actress. I support the recognition of a performer’s body of work alone and it not being hindered by their gender. I can see how two separate categories can perpetuate outdated views on gender identity and feel exclusionary. That being said, does it make sense to create a gender-neutral option-only for some of the categories or not for others?When it comes down to it, there are far more than just five talented performers of either gender in the younger performer category. While not everyone can be nominated, no justice has been served by slashing the potential nominees from five to ten and reducing those recognized to just one. 

Nicholas Chavez put in a performance worthy of past winners- and then some.

Nicholas Chavez should be joining the likes of Jonathan Jackson, Jacob Young, Chad Brannon, and Bryan Craig- all winners in the Outstanding Younger Actor category. Chavez has been phenomenal as Spencer Cassidine and deserves recognition because the odds were stacked against him. The actor stepped into a role very well-defined by Nicholas Betchel- a performer that gave us Jonathan Jackson-level child acting. That’s like the gold standard in daytime television and nearly impossible to top.

But Chavez has done just that, by channeling what defined Betchel’s take on Spencer: the arrogance, privileged schemer. While Spencer was once very much the archetypical Cassidine (albeit one with a heart of gold), Chavez has been able to illuminate the burden of that birthright- the conflict of Spencer struggling to define who he is outside of being the Cassidine prince, tethered to the worst elements and unable (and unwilling) to free himself from it. Chavez also ushered in a more adult Spencer, using his uncanny ability to convey a deep sexual longing with a single glance. And of course, nothing has defined Chavez’s Spencer like his longing for Trina Robinson.

Sydney Mikayla needs to win this award.

This brings us to the woman of the hour: Ms. Sydney Mikayla. There isn’t anything I can say about Sydney Mikayla that I haven’t written pages and pages on. Mikayla is a unique talent who brought something to GH with Trina Robinson that jumpstarted a renaissance for the show’s diversity. What she achieved in the past few years by way of sheer impact is unparalleled- and I’m not even talking about #Sprina. GH has more Black actors than ever before in its history and you can thank Sydney for making it possible. 

 Best of all Sydney Mikayla’s legacy has outlasted her run on GH and gives viewers the chance to embrace another wildly talented young Black actress with Tabyana Ali. Sydney Mikayla deserves this award this year just as she did last year. Would she have won last year if not for facing two other GH cast members in the unisex category? Am I afraid she will lose this year? I don’t want to think about that possibility.

In the end, Sydney Mikayla broke the mold as Trina Robinson each of the last two years, and this should be her second Emmy. That’s not me as an unhinged #Sprina fan getting out of pocket- it’s common sense. Sydney Mikayla has to win tonight. Don’t fuck up, Emmys. Don’t! Fuck Up!

Who Will Win: 

• Sydney Mikayla as Trina Robinson, General Hospital (ABC)

Who Should Win (if there were two categories): 

• Sydney Mikayla for Outstanding Younger Actress, General Hospital (ABC)
• Nicholas Chavez for Outstanding Younger Actor, General Hospital (ABC)