15-Minute Performances by Kendrick Lamar & Beyoncé Are Competing With 3-Hour Programs at 2025 Primetime Emmys

When Emmy voters cast their ballots for outstanding variety special (live), they are tasked with comparing programs of wildly different lengths. Two of this year’s five nominees in that category consist of a performance by one superstar that ran 15 minutes or less. The other three nominees are multi-artist programs that each ran three hours or more.

On the short side, Beyoncé Bowl and The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar are competing with three marathon shows – SNL50: The Homecoming Concert (3:00), SNL50: The Anniversary Special (3:29) and The Oscars (3:50).

Somehow, Emmy voters manage to make these comparisons. Three years ago, they chose The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent over that year’s marathon Grammy and Oscar telecasts, both of which went well past three hours, the two-hour special The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back! and the hour-long Live in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes.

The Oscars avoid these comparisons of long and very short programs by having separate categories for short films (which it defines as films up to 40 minutes in length, inclusive of credits). They currently have three categories for short films – animated short film, documentary short film and live action short film.

The Grammys also define the term “album” with an eye to its length. Here’s the relevant rule, drawn from the 68th Grammy Awards Rules & Guidelines booklet: “To qualify as an album, a release must contain at least five tracks (different songs, not different mixes) and have a total playing time of at least 15 minutes OR it may have any number of tracks if the total playing time is at least 30 minutes.”

Final-round Emmy voting is open until Aug. 27. The award for outstanding variety special (live) will be presented on the live Primetime Emmys telecast on Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. ET. The program will air live coast-to-coast on CBS and stream on Paramount+ from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

The Television Academy had originally scheduled this award for the second night of the Creative Arts Emmys, but it was moved to the main primetime show. The move was seen as recognition that the competition this year is especially strong – perhaps as a ploy to get Beyoncé to the awards. The superstar has never attended the Emmys, despite eight previous nominations.

Beyoncé was nominated in four Emmy categories for Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé (2019): outstanding variety special (pre-recorded), outstanding directing for a variety special; outstanding writing for a variety special; and outstanding music direction. She was nominated in two categories for Lemonade (2016): outstanding variety special and outstanding directing for a variety special. She received single nominations for two previous shows — outstanding special class program for Beyoncé and JAY Z On The Run (2015) and outstanding special class – short-format live-action entertainment programs for Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show Starring Beyoncé (2013).

Beyoncé won her first Primetime Emmy last week in a juried category for Beyoncé Bowl — outstanding costumes for variety, nonfiction or reality programming.