What did we learn from the 2019 American Music Awards?

Apologies for the delay, but after hearing the American Music Awards were honoring Taylor Swift as the "Artist of the Decade" I laughed so unbelievably hard that I passed out for two days.

Welcome to the American Music Awards! Comprised of 40% live performances, 60% audience shots and 100% nonsensical award decisions! Everything is terrible, so here we go!

This year's theme is: No Pants!

You gotta respect the strict "No pants, no problem" rule.

I guess this is a comeback?
Let me first say that I like Selena Gomez and if you say you don't, you're lying to yourself because "Come and Get It" is STILL that song. She opened the show and first performed that new ballad she wrote about Bieber before segueing into "Look at Me Now," which if you're eating mashed potatoes this is that banger you ordered with it.

I know this is a static image but it accurately depicts the level of dancing she was doing. In one way, it's like good for you girl, dancing when you clearly do not know how to, and in another way, it's like, did she draw inspiration from Britney's '07 VMAs debacle?

Regardless, I will listen to this album repeatedly when it's out.

Ciara continues to perform songs that are not "Goodies" and/or "1, 2 Step"

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It's common knowledge that she does not need to release new music. We (the world) would all pay to see her perform 100 different remixes of "Goodies."

I do not have time for this
Halsey won the award for pop/rock song and I guess the excitement of winning literally blew her eyebrows off:

I do not have time for such brow disrespect. I can think of exactly zero times in the history of eyebrows (Emilia Clarke invented them in 2011) that it has been a good idea for someone to CHOOSE flesh-colored eyebrows. Spencer Pratt tried it on "The Hills" and look how that turned out!

Anyway, she gave a pretty passive aggressive acceptance speech aimed at the Grammys (who didn't nominate her this year). A summary of her speech:

"AWARDS DON'T MATTER, I THOUGHT I WANTED A GRAMM—I MEAN, AN AWARD, BUT I DON'T BECAUSE AWARDS DON'T MATTER, EXCEPT FOR THIS ONE WHICH I WON BECAUSE THE ONES I WIN DO MATTER. BUT WHEN I'M NOT NOMINATED FOR A GRAMM—I MEAN, AN AWARD, IT'S MOOT. IT'S A COW'S OPINION, IT'S MOO."

You can trust my memory of her speech, I'm nothing if not 65% accurate. Also, I get that she's upset she wasn't nominated for a Grammy, but that's no reason to take it out on her innocent bystander brows.

A collection of men I will not date
I know that Post Malone likely smells like old bread, but that doesn't change the fact that he puts out really, really good music. He performed his song with Travis Scott and Ozzy Osbourne (idk) and as is the trademark move of every rapper who doesn't know what to do with his hands, grabbed his crotch a lot. In this case, he actually might've been doing it because he was confused where his crotch was due to how high-waisted his pants were. A little crotch disorientation.

The best part of this performance was Ozzy sitting in some chair in the background with his mic only slightly on while he mostly did this:

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And I would be remiss if I didn't include the Jonas Brothers in a section about men who repulse me!

I have never understood their appeal because their voices aren't that great? And their music is so-so? And they all look like they have hairy bars of soap in their bathrooms? And Nick Jonas has an extra front tooth? Also, I don't want to look it up, but I feel pretty strongly that Nick and Joe must be under 5 feet tall (combined).

When Beyonce, Adele, Rihanna, Drake, Ariana, Gaga, Hilary Duff,  S Club 7 and the guy who sings in the subway station refuse to attend so they give the "Artist of the Decade" award to the person who will

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I'm not saying I think all of the aforementioned artists are better than Swifty — I'm saying I know they are. Yes, "1989" is a great album but her half-assed attempt to channel Beyonce's energy in "Reputation" was laughable and her continued focus on writing songs about high school love is concerning because, I don't know, maybe she should mature above dating guys from gym class. Above all, it's hard to put aside the fact that she learned everything about "feminism" from.....Lena Dunham, who might be one of the most problematic and generally terribly ignorant people in pop culture to learn from. ANYWAY, not diving into this pool full of vanilla pudding because, messy.

She won every award she was nominated for partially because "the fans voted" (lolololol) and mostly because she was there, living and breathing, in person. So congrats on the breathing!

The actual most talented person in attendance

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Billie Eilish currently uses Invisalign so did I consider doing it too? Yes, but also because of orthodontic reasons, not just so we can be teeth twins (I mean that to sound as creepy as it does). It's actually shocking how talented she is for a 17-year-old. When I was 17, I went to soccer camp and got sunburned so bad, my entire nose peeled off. So nevermind, I guess I do get what it's like to be a teen genius.

She won several awards and fingers crossed this momentum carries and the Grammys don't screw her over like they did to SZA by nominating her a bunch, but giving her nothing.

Can we move past this now
I remain confused by the constant over-the-top show of PDA by Shawn and Camila. It's like, yes I love Doritos, but I don't feel the need to slather my body in them and wear clothes made of them and constantly try to make out with them? Sort of, but also, at some point, people will wonder if there is more to my appeal than my obsession with Doritos.

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But a part of me is also like yes, if I bamboozled Shawn Mendes into dating me (not saying Camila did that), I guess I would attempt mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on him constantly too. So to summarize: I remain bitter that Shawn's people (not him, obvi) filibustered my Facebook relationship request, therefore impeding our ability to actually date (that's the only reason, the only one thanks).

When you want to show off all 10 belts you bought at Express at once

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"Don't Start Now" sounds like the song they blast on repeat in every H&M and I like it. And even if you don't, you gotta give respect to Dua for somehow magically avoiding a camel toe in this getup. She is truly remarkable.

And that's it! With this, I have completed my community service of watching three awards shows in a row that combined are about as meaningful as Kylie Jenner's SAT score.

See you all soon! Til then, find me protesting outside of the Flesh-Colored Eyebrows Coalition and also on Twitter (@cocoakristis) and Instagram (@kristimac9).

What did we learn from the 2019 Country Music Awards?

First and foremost we learned that this dry spell of Bachelor/ette seasons and awards shows causes me to do wild and insane things like watch the Country Music Awards. I'm not being dramatic when I say this is the first time I've watched.

But, in lieu of real awards shows, this is what I've succumb to. Please send your thoughts and prayers.

Here are my observations and big questions:

Carrie Underwood just gets to look like this all the time?
About two years ago, Carrie Underwood took a break from social media and the public eye because she suffered injuries to her wrist and face after falling outside her home. She really made us think she was gonna come back all Quasimodo with these notes to her fans saying she "might not look the same." So, brace yourself, I'm about to show you the shocking before and after:

I know, really makes you gasp how unbelievably different she looks.

I've said this before and I'll say it again — I'm not a tall, talented blonde white woman who won American Idol (you're surprised, I know) but if I were, I'd want to be Carrie Underwood. It seems unfair that she just gets to have that face and hair all the time. And like, I've never fallen on my face, but do I think it looks like I have compared to Carrie Underwood? Probably, yes.

On the topic of Carrie, she apparently hosts these awards every year? This year, I think because they heard I was going to watch and wanted to impress, she had some help from some up-and-comers — Reba and Dolly Parton. Very impressed with these young ladies, I think they're gonna go far.

FYI I LOVE MAREN MORRIS
I saw Maren Morris perform at Bowery Ballroom in NYC just after she was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammys (big thank you to Genevieve who educated me on Maren) and y'all — can you even believe Maren invented country music in the year 2017? Wow. A visionary. She's just 5 ft. of pure talent and amazing brows and lashes and hair, so I guess some people really do have it all. Also, because this is necessary to note, I feel like she used to wear grommet belts (who of us didn't) and has definitely been in a fight before. And this rounds out all of the necessary requirements to be my idol. Now go listen to her "Hero" album BECAUSE IT HAS NO SKIPS. NONE. ALL GOOD.

She showed up at the show with her fine ass husband Ryan Hurd (who's also a singer) in this Carolina blue crop top situation:

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AND SHE'S FOUR MONTHS PREGNANT? Honestly, I look more pregnant after eating a whole Chipotle bowl than this.

She was the most nominated artist of the evening (duh), but only won Album of the Year because the Country Music Awards clearly have some sort of cap on the number of awards they will give to women. I'm positive they considered the feasibility of giving the best female artist award to Brad Paisley.

Nonetheless, she performed "Girl" in this white bandage dress and how does the woman do it?

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This is also what I look like waving at my friends while emerging from the dressing room after unhinging my ribs to get into some ho' couture dress at Express.

Is Blake Shelton......attractive?

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At first, I was very much like NOOOO. But now, I'm sort of like MAYBEEEE. I can't decide if he's actually good looking or just tall? That tallness fools us everytime, amirite?

Are Dan + Shay just Rascal Flatts reincarnated?
While tallness may fool me, I'd recognize that nasaly voice ANYWHERE. I had to lookup who's who to learn that Shay does 100% of the singing in this "group":

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Or well, in this performance anyway. Dan had a mic but honestly, who knows if it was turned on. Things that were also not turned on: me. (HAHAH oh please you saw that coming)

When you gotta perform with Dolly at 8, but get back to vampiring at 9

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I have no idea who these men are, but I assume they won some sort of contest in the 1800s to time travel to now to perform with Dolly. Technology is neat.

What most male country singers sing about

This is from Luke Combs' performance (idk who that is and I'm not sorry). It reminded me that the popular topics dudes in country music sing about are beer (especially on a Friday night), whiskey/tequila (especially drowning in it), their dog (that ran away), and women in tight pants (who are shimmying). AND THAT'S IT. THAT'S THE EXTENT OF TOPICS.

My hot take on country music overall is that if you're a dude with a mediocre voice, you can make it. You don't have to be a hot boy or even fashionable or even intelligent. But as a woman, you have to have an amazing voice, 14 degrees and a medical license, invented at least two life-saving inventions and of course be supermodel gorgeous. Just those things though, super simple. Also this comparison applies to a lot of things in life, but we're not diving into my dissertation (maybe during the Oscars).

While on the topic of frustrating things...

When you won Album of the Year at the Grammys but aren't nominated for Entertainer of the Year at the CMAs:

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Look, not that I thought this was a real awards show, but having a sort of "overall artist" category and NOT nominating country music's biggest star across genres is outrageous. Kacey Musgraves did win the awards for female artist and music video, but wtf. I guess it's good she can go home and wipe away her tears with the millions of dollars she made touring with Harry Styles.

She also performed with Willie Nelson and it was sort of adorable:

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But also, it would've been nice had she performed on her own too since she was one of the two artists I tuned into this show for. It's almost as if these artists and shows do not create their content based on my likings. Weird.

And that's it! Or well, that's all I allowed my brain to store away. The biggest takeaway is there's a 495% chance I will not watch this show ever again, but rather, opt for finding Kacey and Maren's performances on YouTube. So I guess it was an educational experience.

See you in a couple weeks for the American Music Awards! Til then, find me out protesting against sneaker wedges (they're stupid and detrimental to us all) and also on Twitter (@cocoakristis) and Instagram (@kristimac9).

What did we learn from the 2019 People's Choice Awards?

I want to be very clear that I did not intend to watch, let alone blog, the People's Choice Awards because if awards show season is a loaf of bread, the PCAs are the stupid butt end pieces. Unnecessary and generally impedes our progress in reaching the real bread.

Nonetheless, I opted in because ZENDAYA SHOWED UP?????

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Oh and here we are jumping right into best dressed too. Which, in this case isn't that groundbreaking since this show wasn't exactly dripping in A-listers. If anything, it was dripping in Fit Tea and Audible trials and whatever other shit Instagram/YouTube influencers hawk because they seemed to be the primary attendees.

Anyway, I knew that Jennifer Aniston, Gwen Stefani and Pink were blackmailed into attending (that's the only explanation), but I had no idea Zendaya would show up! Almost convinced me this show was real. ALMOST.

One note before we get into it: Much like paprika on top of deviled eggs, the people's "votes" don't actually matter. E! specifically notes: "NBCU reserves the right to make the final determination as to which of the nominees will be declared the winner of the category." AKA NBC JUST GIVES THE TROPHY TO WHOEVER WANTS TO SHOW UP.

So let's jump into the few things I'd like to discuss from this made up awards show with made up awards.

No reality show is better than Vanderpump Rules 

While it isn't surprising that Keeping Up with the Kardashians won the award for Reality Show because the Kardashian's puppet master Ryan Seacrest was born in the E! offices, it's still infuriating. If you've never watched Vanderpump, I'm gonna need you to block off a full week to do so and come to terms with the fact that your brain will be rendered useless (but for good reason). And look, did I start watching it because Chrissy Teigen and Jennifer Lawrence both love it? I MEAN MAYBE BUT WHO CARES HOW WE GOT HERE. Here are some gems that I am positive will convince you, a mature adult with a functioning brain, to watch:

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I want to watch a million seasons of this show for the rest of my life and then when I die, I want the show projected on my gravestone 24/7.

I also want to point out that I realize this entire section of commentary is ridiculous. But let me live my life as a raccoon rolling in TV trash.

In which Riverdale and Game of Thrones are nominated in the same category

...for TV Drama, of course because they're both serious shows. You guys. Riverdale. The show that gave us poetic lines such as this:

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The last episode I watched included someone being locked in a coffin, someone learning they absorbed their brother in the womb, a serial killer, a brother stalker and a boxing gang. THIS ALL HAPPENED IN THE SPAN OF ONE EPISODE. If you're wondering how all of those plot points are connected, that's easy — they're not. I imagine the Riverdale writers' room is actually just one of those giant ball pits at McDonald's but the balls have nouns written on them and the writers just randomly select 10 for each episode.

And while the final season of GoT taught us that the writer-producers are just two idiotic frat bros at heart, the show still has some credibility. And by credibility I mean Emilia Clarke and her eyebrows and nothing else.

The point here is Riverdale is coming for that Emmy (lololol). Speaking of Riverdale....

What the hell is a Cole Sprouse

The "Male TV Star" category included (in order from sensical to laughable): Kit Harington, Sterling K. Brown, Norman Reedus, Milo Ventimiglia, Finn Wolfhard, Jim Parsons, KJ Apa and Cole Sprouse. I could not stop laughing when Cole Sprouse won. I mean, it was pretty clear that KJ or Cole would win since, well, they were both actually there and the qualifying factor to win is to attend. 

But wait, it gets better. The "Drama Movie Star" nominees were (from A to Z list): Leonardo DiCaprio, Lupita Nyong'o, Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Taron Egerton, Zac Efron and...you guessed it, Cole Sprouse. I have scoured a heap of academic studies and journals to learn that at no point in history or post this horrific event will Leonardo DiCaprio and Cole Sprouse EVER be nominated in the same category.

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Cole of course won because you are Wile E. Coyote and I am the Road Runner and this is Looney Tunes. He actually found it pretty funny too because from what I can recall, his crowning achievement before Riverdale was that Disney show "Zack and Cody."

Also, no shade here. But I mean, I do have on sunglasses and I'm under this big ass tree and it's breezy and wait I guess it is pretty shady.

Oh honey, oh no

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Our Netflix boyfriend Noah Centineo won "Comedy Movie Star of 2019" for a movie that is NOT "To All the Boys I've Loved Before." He won for another Netflix movie, "The Perfect Date," which spoiler alert: is not as good. He then hobbled onstage (I wanna say he had knee surgery recently?) and while I enjoyed the visuals here, his speech was....less enjoyable.  It seems he read one Jack Kerouac book and felt the need to enlighten us with what I'm sure he thought was a thought-provoking statement. I have zero idea what he was trying to say but I wouldn't be surprised if he got it tattooed on his forearm next week.

And I'm not saying he should just be pretty and read scripts, but like, what if he did do that. Let's just give it a try.

Okay so nothing makes sense

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Not listing all of the random ass nominees in the "Drama Movie of 2019" category because what we need to hone in on is the fact that "After" won. In an embarrassing turn of events, I have actually seen this movie that's based on a fanfic about Harry Styles. A FANFIC, Y'ALL. And as the Mayor of Bad Movie Town, I happen to enjoy a lot of movies that people hate, so it's saying a lot if even I can't tolerate this one.

If I'm being honest, what would make this movie better is if we printed it out, crumpled it up, burned it, then buried the ashes in the deepest parts of the ocean with those fish that have flashlight horns. So, totally deserving of an award!

But this made sense

Blackpink won awards for Group, Music Video, and Concert Tour of 2019 and if you don't know who they are I'm gonna need you to take off that red nose because you look like a clown. They're a K-Pop group who are the equivalent of if it was just Justins and JCs in *NSYNC — the entire group can sing and dance. And in continuing this spiel, as a group they have an Adidas sponsorship and they each have endorsement deals with separate fashion houses (Jennie with Chanel, Lisa with Celine, Jisoo with Dior and Rose with YSL). 

What I'm trying to say is I'm a fan, but unlike some of the other dumb shit I like (Twilight), this fandom is warranted because they're actually talented.

Rounding this out by noting their video below is the most viewed music video by a K-Pop group (one billion views, wtf) and they're the most subscribed group on YouTube, so I guess that makes them good enough to win the illustrious People's Choice Award.

Editor's note here that the ONLY reason I'm not currently in a K-Pop group is that I'm too tan. Those girls are all pale as hell and mama likes to tan. Anyway, glad we established that's the only reason. The only one.

I still can't believe this

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We'll never know how in the actual hell E! got Jennifer Aniston to attend this JV bowling tournament of a show. I have to assume E!'s daddy company NBC has some sort of dirt on Jen from Friends days (like photos of GASP generic shampoo in her bag). But she showed up and reminded us that she still looks amazing and is the master of maintaining that fine balance of good botox and AHHHHH botox.

Also, I am positive she will use this award as doorstop in her guest bathroom, but will let you know next time I pop over for a Smart Water.

And that's it! I know I complained a lot, but that's only because these smaller awards shows are kind of pointless. So I will only watch every single one of them for the next 100 years.

Speaking of silly awards shows, I'm considering foreign territory with the Country Music Awards this week — so stay tuned for that if my brain can process doing it. Til then, find me calculating how many calories are in an entire package of Oreos (in case someone wants to eat them all in one sitting) and also on Twitter (@cocoakristis) and Instagram (@kristimac9).

What did we learn from the 2019 Emmys?

First and foremost, the Emmys were already in the negative FOR COMPLETELY SHUTTING OUT BEYONCE'S HOMECOMING FILM. She was nominated in 6 categories at the Creative Arts Emmys and her biggest loss was Outstanding Variety Special to James Corden's Carpool Karaoke. Y'all. Carpool Karaoke beat this:

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Beyonce had twins, ate only lettuce for months, went to 40 spin classes a day between hours of dance practice, and created an artistic masterpiece for Coachella. Meanwhile, James Corden taped a camera to his windshield. SCREAMING.

Luckily, the 14-hour E! Red Carpet caught wind of my anguish and opted out of their normal stupidity this year. Just kidding Rancic brought out her skunk tail and sprayed everyone with the stench of stupid questions. Letting Emilia Clarke and Lin Manuel Miranda's facial expressions speak for all of us:

I realized E!'s red carpet interviews have gotten really long. Over the course of the 400 hour pre-show, they only talked to maybe 10 celebs, tops, compared to the 5,000 Seacrest used to torture in his heyday. This ratio tells me that most A-listers are opting to skip these interviews because, well, it's better for their skin and probably overall wellness.

Speaking of looking your best...

Best dressed

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CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE ZENDAYA INVENTED THE COLOR GREEN. She showed up 2 minutes before the show started and breezed past the media line like the most glamorous gust of wind ever. Hair, makeup, dress, THIS ENTIRE LOOK. I'm screaming. How many studios do you think immediately approached her about a Poison Ivy reboot.

Last thing I'll scream about Zendaya is you should love yourself, but also, if someone offered me the chance to change my entire face and body to be Zendaya, there would be a Kool-Aid man shaped hole in the wall of me barreling through to sign the papers.

Honorary mentions

Emilia Clarke is always in my top 5 during awards season so she obvi didn't disappoint. How mad do you think Joey Potter is that Emilia stole her trademark for the middle part? Also, do you think I can wear this dress to work? I love that she fashioned a dress top out of two pieces of tissue paper — rumor has it, she used it later to stuff a gift for her best friend. We stan a Khaleesi who uses multi-purpose materials! My favorite part of this entire look is the dress' pockets. I am absolutely positive Emilia is someone (like me) who screams "BUT LOOK, IT HAS POCKETS!!" to anyone who will listen, while swishing around.

Including Mandy Moore's Emmys look and after-party look because I haven't seen a more flawless transition since the dissolve slide transition in the 2002 version of Power Point. Love that she drew inspiration from the two best Starburst flavors, which yes speaking of candy, I was upset that she once again did not win an award meaning she DID NOT get to perform "Candy," which is what she would be legally obligated to do.

To the show!

MI'BUSY IS BACK
I love when Michelle Williams is nominated (which is almost every year) because she ALWAYS brings BFF Busy. Here is a story in three parts of their journey at the Emmys from Busy's IG story:

Apparently when you arrive, EVERYONE has to wait in line to walk the carpet. And it was in the 90s on Sunday evening in LA, so can you even imagine how much melted bronzer and foundation was all over that carpet. After getting through the line, they were late getting into the show, so they had to wait by the doors during the (kind of dumb) intro. And after Michelle won, Busy carried her award AS ANY GOOD BEST FRIEND DOES while Michelle answered her 5 billion texts. As my friends know, any awards they get, I get too. I DON'T MAKE THE RULES OF FRIENDSHIP.

Offering some clarification because I needed it: Michelle won the lead actress in a limited series or TV movie category for her work in "Fosse/Verdon," NOT as late recognition for her work on "Dawson's Creek." I know, I was surprised too.

Anyway, this was Busy's reaction during Michelle's acceptance speech:

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Michelle used her stage time to talk about pay inequality in Hollywood, particularly for women of color.

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She ended her speech by mentioning her daughter (with Heath Ledger): "For Matilda, this is for you like everything else" and when I say the tears gushed out, I mean it was a family-sized pack of Gushers in here.

I remain the #1 fan of this friendship and will continue to send them poorly recorded videos of me singing that Paula Cole song I only associate with "Dawson's Creek" until they let me into the friend group.

While on the topic of Dawson
Can someone let me know if I think James Van Der Beek is attractive?

Like I know this suit jacket looks like salmon sashimi that's been out too long, but also, I think I would let him Dawson my Creek? (AYYYYYY, you're welcome).

Billy Porter invented hats

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Billy is the first openly black gay man to win the lead actor in a drama category for his work on "Pose," and he delivered on the fashion and the speech (check it out here). And now he's only one award (the O) away from an EGOT! I also want to note that when he won, he ran up the stairs in 6-inch platforms, which actually should've earned him the Oscar on the spot completing his EGOT.

Well this was unexpected
Phoebe Waller-Bridge and "Fleabag" came through with the upset over "Veep," winning the awards for lead actress in a comedy, comedy series, and writing for a comedy series. I would like to say no one was more shocked than me, but Phoebe proved me wrong:

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And get ready for what may be unpopular opinion: I liked "Fleabag" (the second season more) and found some parts funny, but I def wasn't as obsessed with it as Twitter told me to be. And I do love PWB, but honestly I love what she does for "Killing Eve" more than anything.

Speaking of, Phoebe getting nominated in comedy and drama categories is pretty freaking great. I have personally only been nominated in both a total of zero times, so I can attest to the difficulty.

Speaking of Killing Eve....

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

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The lead actress in a drama category was more stacked than my plates at a Vegas buffet and included Emilia Clarke, Sandra Oh and okay those are the only two besides Jodie I would've accepted winning. But I wanted Jodie to win THE MOST. If you've ever seen "Killing Eve" you understand. She has such good comedic timing and makes being a serial assassin look like such a delight (also her character's fashion is ABOVE AND BEYOND anyone else).

She accepted her award wearing all white, featuring no barbecue sauce stains which wow, how. And mentioned she didn't bring her parents to the ceremony because she didn't think she'd win. Leaving you with this moment of Jodie walking offstage with Gwyneth Paltrow, who presented the award:

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I learned that in this moment, Gwyneth could be heard asking Jodie "Do you know any of the nominees?" Um. One of the nominees was Sandra Oh. Who is in the same show as Jodie. Gwyneth literally announced the nominees and had to say both of their names followed by "Killing Eve."

Wait, on the topic of Gwyneth....

When you remember how to do regular human things like walk

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Y'all, this gif is sped up because I'm not exaggerating when I say it took her 8 minutes to walk the 15 feet from backstage to the mic. It's like she was just fitted for these legs and is testing them out for the first time. That or beneath that dress is a bunch of tiny squirrels on each others shoulders pretending to be legs. Honestly, we'll never know.

As a note, I always feel a teensy bit bad making fun of people EXCEPT for Gwyneth who I know is an evil cyborg who has no feelings. For me, it's like making fun of a vacuum (because she really sucks the fun out of everything OOOOOH).

The only one who deserved to win over my husband, Mahershala Ali

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Jharrel Jerome won the award for lead actor in a limited series or TV movie for "When They See Us," and this was Jharrel's first Emmy nomination and first win (1 for 1!). He thanked his mom, who he brought as his date, and the "Exonerated Five" and was absolutely one of the most deserving winners of the night. He's also the first Afro-Latino to win an acting Emmy and the youngest to win the category, major!

Also of note, he had the best stage exit of the night:

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AND NONE FOR BRAN
During one of the 40 tributes to Game of Thrones over the course of the evening, the "main" cast members came onstage to present the award for supporting actress in a limited series or TV movie:

The thing is, I'd say Theon and Melisande (actors on the ends) were not on the show's first string team, but they got to be onstage INSTEAD OF BRAN (insert whatever his real name is here), AKA THE CHARACTER WHO TOOK THE IRON THRONE IN THE END. I screamed at the distinction, not that we needed confirmation that his character (and the show's ending) were dumb as hell. We did get this quick shot of him in the audience, applauding the cast like everyone else:

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While we're on this topic....

In which no one is surprised

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Game of Thrones won the Emmy for drama series, I think because it was promised to them from the get-go, not because the final season was actually good. The last time I saw this many white people on stage was, well, just a few moments before when John Oliver won the award for variety talk series. The show's writer-directors David Benioff and D.B. Weiss gave the acceptance speech because we really all need to hear from them about as much as I need to hear a train whistle in my ear.

Now, I was a huge GoT fan (enough to use the abbreviation), which is why I know the finale was trash. In a poll designed by me given to me by me, all respondents agreed "Killing Eve" should've won.

Some final notes to wrap this up: Yes, we were all laughing AT Kim and Kendall Kardashian not with them; Yes, Sansa Jonas (aka Sophie Turner) should've won the supporting actress in a drama series award; No, I still do not consider The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel a comedy; and No, I still do not want to watch Ozark.

Thanks for reading! Til next time, find me sending my friends closeups of my head asking if I can pull off a middle part and also on Twitter (@cocoakristis) and Instagram (@kristimac9).

Guys, Lies and Bachelor in Paradise (Finale)

This week's post is brought to you by Chris Harrison officially closing Paradise because we made it to the finale!

I cannot even imagine what level of deep clean these facilities will need. Shoutout to everyone who crawled with me to the finish line of this season!

Let's check in with all of our couples who thought the only choices were to either break up or get engaged after knowing each other for a month.

Nicole and Clay
During their last date, Clay reiterates that he's "starting" to fall in love with Nicole but isn't there yet, all but telling her that his ass sure as hell ain't ready to get engaged. He adds that he's not sure what's holding him back, but like, let's remember that Clay dated Angela for 8 months and never got to the love stage, so one month with Nicole is definitely not gonna do it.

He doesn't think they should spend the night together, which I mean, while his voice is annoying, this is thoughtful of him to not try to hook up with the girl he's (spoiler alert) gonna break up with the next day. Thus, Nicole spends her evening watching fireworks alone with a bottle of champagne (this sounds like a lovely evening tbh).

The next day, as if 8 hours apart can suddenly make Clay realize he's in love and ready to propose, they both show up to the sacrificial altar.

Nicole gives her spiel first, telling Clay she's been in love with him since their first date (um hello stage 4 clinger) and, I cannot emphasize this enough, keeps pronouncing "relationship" like "relayship." RELAYSHIP. This was all I could focus on.

After she pours her heart out, Clay cleans it up with some paper towels and is like "cool story bro, I'm still not there." And actually wants to pursue their relationship more outside of the show to see where it could go. Meaning he wants to grow a real relationship outside of this prison experiment. Well, this will not do for Nicole who only came here for the whole cake or nothing at all, so she leaves him.

And then they both aren't on the reunion after, so RIP to this relayship.

Katie and Chris
As a reminder, here's a side-by-side of Katie and Chris:

They both recognize they've had a hard week, what with Chris thinking he could possibly find something better than Katie and Katie reassuring him that he cannot. They seem to be in a good place and both say they're in love before heading into the Fantasy Suite where I'm sure all of Katie's 15-second fantasies came true.

The next day at the stage where engagements are forced, it's pretty apparent from the bulge in Chris' butt that he's going to propose. That or he really needs to see a doctor:

They both give their lovey dovey speeches (I remain surprised that they memorizes these) before Chris gets down on one knee:

Katie of course says yes and while honestly none of these dodos should get engaged, this is the one couple that REALLY should not have. It was clear Chris was a bit unsure leading up to the engagement and also that Katie could def do better. Luckily, we're blessed enough to see their couples strife play out in real time:

As it turns out, getting engaged does not solve all of your problems. Katie (who is not wearing her ring) admits it's been hard because Chris is not the best communicator (probably because he's only used to communicating via telegram). She says she loves him but is exhausted and he agrees that she has been putting more effort into their relationship and wants to do better. Blah blah, this is literally a continuation of their primary issue in Paradise that ends with them both agreeing they're still in love and Katie puts her ring back on. BUT WAIT. The hot mess express ain't over.

After their segment, we see them outside the studio sort of arguing. Chris claims Katie "blindsided" him because he had no idea she felt this way, which is man speak for "you made me look bad on TV." They argue a bit before he walks off and all I want to say is Katie REALLY needs to move on from this wackass dude. Like, I don't get it. His personality is as bland as baby food.

Hannah and Dylan
They head into the Fantasy Suite to do exactly what they've been doing in Paradise (when they're not napping) —slowly swirl around the pool while clinging to each other like saran wrap.:

I can remember exactly zero conversations of substance these people have had. Dylan obviously proposes because he came into Paradise already president of her fan club:

For a moment, I thought she might say no, which would have LITERALLY killed Dylan. I am positive he would've burst into a bunch of confetti and flown away into the breeze. She says yes though and during the reunion later, we learn our little vanilla pudding cups are still going strong.

Shoutout to Hannah's spray tan.

Demi and Kristian

Demi and Kristian head into the random carpeted proposal area as the strongest of all the couples. Demi proposes and Kristian (obviously) says yes and all I could think about was how hard it must've been to trek through sand in those stilettos. Like, I can barely walk on the beach wearing no shoes, so this is amazing.

Later at the reunion, we learn they're still going strong and Kristian sweetly proposes to Demi:

Rose petals then fall from above because this franchise absolutely owns stock in roses.

Tayshia and JPJ
That's right, this love story didn't end in Paradise. Tayshia and HER FLAWLESS BROWS AND HONESTLY FLAWLESS FACE talks about how she couldn't stop thinking about JPJ when she left Paradise.

Instead of just telling us what happened between them, a camera OF COURSE tracked their relationship happenings post-Paradise:

To summarize: Tayshia went out to Maryland and "surprised "(lolol not) JPJ and told him she made a mistake ending things with him. He tells her he doesn't just throw around the "L" word, which I think means lasagna, so he's obviously still in lasagna with her. He asks her to be his girlfriend and bada bing bada boom, they're together again.

At the reunion, JPJ proceeds to get on one knee leading all of us (including Tayshia) to think he's going to propose. Instead, he expresses his love for her again through some Shakespeare and wtf why did he get on one knee that is so misleading and also bad on the knees.

Sad ass lonely Blake

Thumb Head shows up to the reunion still on his self-pity tour, this time re-hashbrowning the situation between him and Caelynn. When the episode aired of Caelynn confronting him about the situation that guides all of their lives, Stagecoach, he released screenshots of a bunch of text messages between them. Which, I know a guy releasing screenshots of his personal text messages with a woman to his thousands of followers on Instagram sounds grimy, BUT THAT'S ONLY BECAUSE IT IS. He says he released these to prove his innocence which is like robbing someone to prove you aren't a thief (trust me, I took a "street law" class in high school so I know about legal stuff).

He maintains they talked before Paradise and both agreed to not bring up their history and just move on. However, Caelynn crying says otherwise:

I'm gonna be honest and say I was distracted here because LOOK HOW FREAKING TAN DEAN'S HANDS ARE. LIKE, HOLY SHIT. I mean tan or dirty who knows, the man doesn't bathe. For FYI purposes, here's what Dean looks like aside from just his tan hands:

I bet he thinks getting a bolo tie with "C" on it proves he's committed to Caelynn.

I know I use the "beating a dead horse" phrase a lot, but dear God this whole Blake ordeal. At this point, there is no horse left, we have completely beaten it into the ground (is that graphic, I'm sorry). Eventually, the entire group asks for Blake to apologize so they can all move on and Blake, who if we may recall is a huge fan of Blake, thinks that Blake shouldn't have to. To which Mike responds:

Thumb Head eventually does apologize and by "apologize" I mean he says the equivalent of "I'm sorry if you thought I said....." AWW, what a swell guy. I'd love for him to never return to any of these shows again, but knowing ABC and their penchant for messy, over confident fugly guys, he'll def be back for another season of BIP.

I AM SHOCKED, said no one

In a reveal that is as surprising as a kitten growing into a cat, Peter is announced as the next Bachelor. I was still holding out hope that Chris Harrison would randomly say "IT'S MIKE!" to throw us all off, but that doesn't happen. And while I think Peter is adorable and I am willing to go sight seeing around a windmill with him, I have a feeling his season will be a full loaf of white bread. It doesn't air until January, but I'm waging my bets ahead of time that he picks a blonde.

And that's it! Overall, this BIP season was pretty terrible compared to last season, but I guess when we're comparing moldy fruit to moldy vegetables it's all bad. I will continue to watch every single minute of every season, thanks.

See you next week for the Emmys! Til then, find me eating all of the cashews and almonds out of the mixed nuts leaving only peanuts behind and also on Twitter (@cocoakristis) and Instagram (@kristimac9).