There are a few changes in categories for fashion, film, TV and particularly music compared to the past years. Instep weighs in…
The 18th annual Lux Style Awards are scheduled to take place on July 7, 2019, which is quite late given that this year’s ceremony took place in February. This year we were delighted that the LSAs fell in sync with the Academy Awards, making the timing very international. But for reasons unknown, the date has been pushed to the third quarter of the year. There is almost a gap of one and a half years in between the two editions, which is strange. Nonetheless, categories in film, fashion, TV and music for the upcoming event have been announced.
The LSAs have been drawing in some criticism - in the last couple of years - for not having critics’ choice awards and focusing on viewers’ choice only. Considering that, the categories have been modified this year, with some additions and some categories removed from the list altogether.
“This year, the Awards Office updated several categories to reflect the changing realities of the industries,” states the press release.
Starting with TV, the categories for Best Actor and Best Actress have been diversified for Critics’ and Viewers’ Choice; this way we’ll know which actors were popular with the masses and which ones got the stamp of approval from the critics. Most other titles remain the same but there is an addition of Best Emerging Talent in TV – which is a good addition to promote new talent – while the category of Best Original Soundtrack has been removed.
Moving on, the categories in film have some major changes as there is no longer a spot for Best Supporting Actor and Actress, which, according to the press release, is currently being reviewed by the jury. We aren’t sure if these will be added to the list but if that doesn’t happen, it will be unfair to actors other than the leads. This will really restrict the number of people we are celebrating.
The film category too has an addition of Best Actor (Critics) and Best Actress (Critics) apart from Viewers’ Choice awards for similar titles. This will acknowledge the work of some incredible actors – both in TV and films – who are otherwise overshadowed by those who are more popular among masses. Also, there is no room for Best Singer male and female in films this time around.
Categories in fashion, that forms the major chunk of the awards with around 10 titles, are more or less the same except for the removal of Achievement in Fashion Design-Lawn, while Best Bridal has been upgraded to Bridal Couture to acknowledge innovative work carried out in this category. One can debate the merit of the decision to remove Lawn from the fashion categories – it does constitute one major part of fashion in Pakistan – but then we have to agree that lawn is hardly ever fashion forward. Other categories in fashion include Model of the Year (Male & Female), Achievement in Fashion Design (Bridal Couture, Luxury Pret, Menswear and Pret), Best Hair and Makeup Artist, Best Fashion Photographer and Best Emerging Talent in Fashion.
The press statement notes that the most revered Lifetime Achievement Awards will be titled as ‘Lifetime Achievement in Fashion’ and the ‘Unilever Chairperson’s Lifetime Achievement Award’. Artists with distinct and meritorious services in genres relevant to the entertainment sector will be honoured with these trophies.
The eligibility criteria for submissions require the content to have been aired/released/viewed/heard between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018, as per the press statement. Nominations for each category will be determined by members of the relevant jury, who in turn are selected by the esteemed Lux Style Awards Board of Governors.
To send in submissions, the entries need to be uploaded on the Luxstyle.pk website, in the respective category/categories before midnight on January 20, 2019.
– Watch this space for a detailed analysis of the LSA music nominations tomorrow
