Entertainment

Carpool Karaoke Scoring an Emmy Win Over Beyoncé's 'Homecoming' Doc Is a Cursed Travesty

Her Coachella documentary was shut out of six awards, but her most surprising loss was to James Corden and Paul McCartney trying to be funny in a car.
James Bey Emmy

At Sunday night's Emmy awards, Beyoncé's self-directed and produced Netflix documentary Homecoming was shut out of six awards for which it was nominated, including Outstanding Directing For A Variety Special, Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Writing For A Variety Special, Outstanding Costumes For Variety, Nonfiction Or Reality Programming, and Outstanding Production Design For A Variety Special. While her losses were a surprise to many, the most staggering part of the snub is that she lost one of the awards to James Corden's populist vehicular yukfest.

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Carpool Karaoke is not even a show of its own. It's a recurring segment on The Late Late Show with James Corden that's designed to capture YouTube audiences that would never watch a full episode of his pointless shenanigans. It gives celebrities a softball pitch set-up to show that they're funny and relatable by singing along to their own music as well as overplayed karaoke staples like "Sweet Caroline." Corden won the Emmy for Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) for his episode with Paul McCartney, which featured the two visiting the Beatle's childhood home, performing at a pub, and stopping by Penny Lane, the street that inspired the song of the same name. It's not even the third-best installment of Carpool Karaoke, falling far behind segments with Migos or Cardi B or Michelle Obama. But none of these hold a candle to Beyoncé's Homecoming.

Homecoming gives audiences insight into how the most famous performer of a generation created a career-defining show about the freeing legacy of Black American music. It drew the connection between the Black National Anthem "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the spiritual resistance of Blues legends like Nina Simone, and the modern songs that create community and freedom in Black communities like "Swag Surfin," or Beyoncé's own rendition of "Before I Let Go." And the documentary did so by weaving the performance with powerful quotes from Black thought leaders, and behind-the-scenes footage that shows how thoroughly she planned every aspect of the performance.

It's unbelievable that she lost to James Corden doing anything, even if a Beatle was involved. The Beatles may have been more popular than Jesus, but now, Beyoncé is more popular than the Beatles.

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