by Dan J Kroll

Posted Friday, April 28, 2017 8:31:29 AM

The 44th Annual Creative Arts and Entertainment Daytime Emmy Awards were presented on Friday, April 28, at a gala held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California.

"Tonight's gala in the magnificent Pasadena Civic Auditorium is a tribute to the hundreds of men and women that work behind the scenes to make Daytime television glow with the brilliance, energy and enthusiasm that make viewers tune in each and every day of the year," said Bob Mauro, President, NATAS. "In addition to our esteemed nominees and the more than 1,500 attendees, honoring the extraordinary accomplishments of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune Executive Producer, Harry Friedman with our Lifetime Achievement Award topped off a wonderful evening of celebrating the best there is in the Daytime television community."

The Creative Arts portion of the Daytime Emmys honors excellence in mostly non-acting categories -- the behind-the-scenes technology that makes it possible for there to be episodes of the soaps: Outstanding Technical Direction, Outstanding Achievement in Make-up, Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design, and more. Awards are also handed out to non-soap programming, including categories likes Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series.

In recent years, as the number of digital series has increased, the Daytime Emmys have created a number of categories to honor excellence in those categories. This year, in addition to the Outstanding Digital Series category, there were four acting categories for digital series: Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress. All five categories were swept by The Bay -- with at least three of the winners being well known to soap fans. Mary Beth Evans (Kayla Brady, Days of our Lives) won her second consecutive Lead Actress in a Digital Series award. Carolyn Hennesy (Diane Miller, General Hospital) picked up a win for Supporting Actress, and Nicholas Coster, who is known for a plethora of soap opera roles and who was nominated for four Daytime Emmys for his work on Santa Barbara, won his very first Daytime Emmy in the Supporting Actor in a Digital Series category. Kristos Andrews earned back-to-back wins in the Lead Actor category.

With five wins, Days of our Lives took home the most awards in the drama series categories. The show was awarded in nearly every sound-related category: Music Direction, Live and Direct to Tape Sound Mixing, and Original Song.

The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless each picked up three awards. General Hospital earned a single win in the Hairstyling category.

The Daytime Emmy Awards are presented to daytime television programs that are broadcast nationally between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 p.m. The eligibility period for this year's Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards was January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2016.

To view photos and video from this year's Creative Arts ceremony, be sure to visit Soap Central's Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook social media feeds.

Following are the Creative Arts categories in which soap operas were nominated. Winners are noted in boldface type.

Marnie Saitta (Days of our Lives)
Mark Teschner (General Hospital)
Judy Blye Wilson (The Young and the Restless)

The Bold and the Beautiful
Days of our Lives
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless

The Bold and the Beautiful
Days of our Lives
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless

The Bold and the Beautiful
Days of our Lives
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless

The Bold and the Beautiful
Days of our Lives
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless

The Bold and the Beautiful
Days of our Lives
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless

The Bold and the Beautiful
Days of our Lives
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless

"Skin On Skin" (The Young and the Restless, Bob Hartry, Daena Jay Wienand [Composers & Lyricists]

"Standing With You" (The Bold and the Beautiful, Jamey Jaz [Composer], Bradley P. Bell, Anthony Ferrari, Casey Kasprzyk [Composers & Lyricists]

"These Are The Moments" (The Bold and the Beautiful, Jamey Jazz [Composer], Bradley P. Bell, Reign Edwards, Anthony Ferrari, Casey Kasprzyk [Composers & Lyricists]

"You Were Mine" (The Bold and the Beautiful, Jamey Jaz [Composer], Bradley P. Bell, Anthony Ferrari, Casey Kasprzyk [Composers & Lyricists]

"When Time was on our Side" (Days of Our Lives, Genesee Nelson [Composer & Lyricist]

The Bold and the Beautiful
Days of our Lives
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless

The Bold and the Beautiful
Days of our Lives
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless

The Bold and the Beautiful
Days of our Lives
General Hospital
The Young and the Restless

Days of our Lives (Terry James)
The Young and the Restless (Terry James)

The Bay The Series
Red Bird
Tainted Dreams
Tough Love Web Series
Venice The Series

Mary Beth Evans (Sara Garrett, The Bay The Series)
Anne Marie Cummings (Michelle Macabee, Conversations in L.A.)
Alexandra Goodman (Kitty Mae, Red Bird)
Lilly Melgar (Janice Ramos, The Bay The Series)
Kelley Menighan Hensley (Veronica Ashford, Tainted Dreams)

Anthony Anderson (Sean Williams-Grey, Anacostia)
Kristos Andrews (Pete Garrett/Young Jack Madison The Bay The Series)
Michael Lowry (Jordan Bradford, Tainted Dreams)
Michael McShane (Sam, Red Bird
Gustavo Velasquez (Gus Borrero, Conversations in L.A.)

Jade Harlow (Lianna Ramos, The Bay The Series)
Vanita Harbour (Nicole Hampstead, Conversations in L.A.)
Carolyn Hennesy (Karen Blackwell, The Bay The Series)
Natalia Livingston (Liza Park, Tainted Dreams)
Kym Whitley (Big Candi, The Bay The Series)

Matthew Ashford (Steve Jensen, The Bay The Series)
Nicolas Coster (Mayor Jack Madison, The Bay The Series)
Ronn Moss (John Blackwell, The Bay The Series)
Armin Shimerman (Max, Red Bird)
Anthony Wilkinson (Anthony DiGiacomo, Tainted Dreams)

NOMINATIONS AT A GLANCE