Los Angeles (AFP)

"The Crown" and "The Mandalorian" took the lead in the very tight race for the Emmy Awards in a ceremony that also addressed the angry issues in the midst of the streaming war.

Here is what to remember about the nominations for these prestigious television awards.

- What is TV?

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With each passing year, the Emmys are forced to ask an existential question: what is TV?

Is this "Small Ax" by Steve McQueen - a series of five films made for the small screen about the critically acclaimed West Indian immigrants to London that did not compete for the Oscars?

How about "Hamilton", a live recording of the hit Broadway musical, broadcast on Disney +?

With streaming, the boundaries are more and more blurred, but the 25,000 voters of the Emmys made known their preferences Tuesday: "Hamilton" pocketed 12 nominations when "Small Ax" got only one.

- The streaming war will take place -

In a televisual era, rightly often referred to as a "streaming war", newborns have had a very mixed day.

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In their second year in service, Disney + and Apple TV + both triumphed, earning 71 and 34 nominations, respectively.

The young HBO Max also pulled out of the game with "Hacks" and "The Flight Attendant", which allowed HBO to overtake its rival Netflix in terms of number of nominations.

But in an increasingly crowded market, some have necessarily had to pay the price: Paramount + only got six nominations and Peacock, NBC's platform, collapsed with only two nominations for its year of launch.

- The comeback of nostalgia -

In the middle of the studios which compete with superheroes and special effects to woo their subscribers, it also floated Tuesday a sweet scent of nostalgia.

The eagerly awaited reunion of the band of friends "Friends", produced by HBO Max and broadcast at the end of May, are in the race for four prizes.

The opportunity for Courteney Cox, who plays the role of Monica in the series and co-produced the episode of the reunion, to see an injustice repaired: she was the only one of the six friends never to have been nominated to the Emmys .

Featured presenter Conan O'Brien, a talk show star for nearly thirty years and retired in June, was also nominated for his show "Conan".

- First transgender woman -

For their 73rd edition, the Emmy Awards took another step towards diversity on Tuesday.

Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, mother hen in the series "Pose", is the first transgender woman to be nominated for an Emmy for a leading role in a drama series.

Produced by FX, the series explores during four seasons the culture of "balls", a musical outlet for young gays and transgender people in New York of the 1980s, ravaged by the AIDS epidemic.

Her appointment is a "breakthrough" for transgender women in Hollywood, praised GLAAD, an American organization that promotes better integration of LGBTQ in the media.

- Britney on screen -

The nominations for the television awards finally put the spotlight on Tuesday a woman who has long wanted to step away from the spotlight, Britney Spears.

An FX feature documentary about the pop star, produced in partnership with the New York Times daily, could win two Emmy Awards.

Entitled "Framing Britney Spears" it emphasizes the role of the paparazzi and the tabloid press in the downfall of the singer.

The latter is embarked on a fight in court to lift the guardianship to which she has been subject since 2008.

This appointment could not be more topical: a new part of the judicial saga opens on Wednesday.

© 2021 AFP