The Weird Award Criteria Behind World-Famous Prizes

Sports competitions tend to produce decisive winners, but elsewhere in life things are less clear-cut. Why do films with massive public popularity often flop at the Oscars? Why are art prizes regularly won by things that many people would not consider to be art? Strange outcomes often happen because the award criteria are equally strange. Here are some surprising examples from famous prizes across a range of fields.

Bathroom Phones for Five Stars

One reason why awards have strange rules is because they were written in a different time, and there’s often a delay before they can be updated to reflect changes. This was the case for some hotel star-rating systems at the start of the 21st century. What they once considered a must-have for a luxury four or five-star rating left a legacy that would have future generations of guests scratching their heads.

The requirement in question is a bathroom phone. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, before cell phones were widely adopted, having a phone in the bathroom was a touch that was appreciated by travelers. While considered a luxury, they also made bathrooms safer for guests who were at risk of slipping. Some hotels, like the five-star Lanesborough in London, still have them for this reason, even though they’re no longer part of most rating criteria.

Atmosphere Unimportant for Michelin Stars

From hotels to military generals, stars are used to rate all kinds of things. However, few carry the weight of a Michelin star. The award, which has been given to worthy restaurants since 1926, is so famous that it’s practically synonymous with fine dining. The mysterious selection process, with its visits by strictly anonymous inspectors, may explain why the stars are so trusted and respected, but it has also led to wrong ideas about what they really mean.

For example, Michelin stars are not necessarily a sign that a restaurant will deliver a great all-round fine-dining experience. They only show that it serves great food. The inspectors do not judge things like the service, tableware, or atmosphere. Even if a restaurant is awarded the maximum three stars, these still only reflect the quality of the food. Michelin stars have even been awarded to street-food vendors in countries like Thailand.

Ethics Matter for James Beard

Besides a Michelin star or three, another dream of many in the food business is to win something at the James Beard Foundation's Restaurant and Chef Awards. This event is like the Oscars of food, and an evening where chefs swap their aprons for something more glamorous. That is, as long as they’ve behaved themselves. As some chefs have found out, much to their chagrin, the James Beard foundation is not as strictly food-focused as the Michelin guide.

In the lead up to the 2023 awards, the foundation investigated at least two of the nominated chefs after hearing tales of poor ethical conduct. One was related to social media posts and did not lead to any action, but another chef who was said to have shouted at staff and guests at their restaurant ended up being disqualified. This also led three judges to quit and raised questions over the scope of the awards.

Hip-Hop Allowed At Rock Hall

Rock 'n' roll has long tolerated bad behavior, and perhaps even celebrated it. To make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an anti-authority attitude might even be more important than the type of music an artist makes. This became clear in 2007, when it inducted its first hip-hop group, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. Several more hip-hop artists have followed. So why is it still known as the “Rock” Hall?

There are really two answers to this. The first, which has been argued by some music journalists, is that "rock" is more of an attitude than a sound that can be neatly pinned down. The second is that it was never exclusively the "Rock and Roll" Hall of Fame. The award criteria welcomes musicians who have influenced rock music and general pop culture, like B.B. King and Aretha Franklin. Both were early, worthy inductees, but hardly rock stars.

"New Artist" Grammy Loosely Defined

Rock Hall inductees typically have lengthy careers behind them, and common sense would suggest that the opposite should be true for awards that celebrate upcoming artists. Surprisingly, that is not the case for the Best New Artist award at the Grammys. For example, one of the 2025 nominees for the award was Sabrina Carpenter, who by that time was on her sixth album. Her first had been released almost a decade earlier.

In fact, all the 2025 nominees had released music prior to the consideration period for that year's awards. The same was true of many past nominees too. This begs the question of how they qualify as new artists. According to the Recording Academy CEO, it’s less about their length of time in the industry and more to do with when they rise to significant fame. A committee decides which artists have made a big enough breakthrough to qualify.

Runtime Used to Categorize Emmys

The Television Academy has also used some strange award criteria to define the categories at the Emmys, like judging whether a show should be up for a comedy or drama award based on its runtime. Until the 2022 awards, shows that were less than half an hour were said to be comedies, and longer ones were dramas. The tone and content of the shows did not matter, which of course led to some confusing nominations over the years.

For example, Cobra Kai was a 2021 nominee for Outstanding Comedy Series. While it does have comic elements in it, even the show's creators were surprised and said that they do not see it as a comedy. Once the runtime rule was repealed, the Academy let producers choose which category their shows would compete in, with no less controversial results. In 2024, The Bear swept up the comedy awards, despite even its fans claiming that it’s a drama.

Billing Placement Determines Tony Categories

Quick and dirty award rules are also used to categorize nominees in the world of theater, where the Tony Awards use the placement of an actor's name on a show's credits page to decide what kind of actor they are. If their name appears above the show's title, then they’re a Lead Actor for awards purposes. If it appears down below, they’re a Featured one. Exceptions are possible, but they must be decided by committee.

Another odd rule at the Tonys is that actors must perform on the opening night in order to be eligible for an award. If they’re ill or injured that night, it is quite possible that their understudy could be nominated instead. This has even led to situations where injured actors have taken to the stage just to make sure that they’re in with a chance, as Andy Karl did for his 2017 show, Groundhog Day.

Academy Voters Must Watch Films

It sounds absurd, but until 2025, Academy members voting in the Oscars did not actually need to watch the films. This was only a requirement for certain categories, such as Documentaries and Short Films. Shockingly, it was quite common for members to reach the final round of voting without having seen all the nominees. Before the 2025 awards, one voter even admitted to the press that they’d not seen a Best Picture candidate because its prequel bored them.

The Tony Awards actually try to have every voter see the shows that are up for prizes. Following the 2025 Oscars, the Academy changed the award rules so that members would have to watch all the films in a category if they wanted to vote in it. They also set up a system to track what films the voters have seen.

Anyone Can Nominate Turner Artists (In Theory)

In the UK, the Turner Prize for art has a long, rich tradition of controversial nominations. These have included a famously messy bed, a pair of dead cows, and an empty room with a flashing light. The prize is named for J. M. W. Turner, a radical in his own time, so it makes sense for works which challenge people's notions of art to sometimes win. However, the prize has been criticized for consistently picking provocative conceptual pieces.

So, is this a requirement in order to qualify for the Turner Prize? Not officially. In fact, there are few official prize rules besides the artist having to be British or based in Britain. The public can even nominate shows, which makes it surprising that more traditional work rarely makes the shortlist. But according to a 2006 prize judge, the public's views are not really taken into account, and the committees can be biased against popular and beautiful works.

Nobel Peace Prize Restricts Nominators (But Not Nominees)

One award that definitely does not take public suggestions is the Nobel Peace Prize. While there are few prize rules for those in the running, which can be people or groups from all around the world, there are some strict rules around who can nominate them. National politicians, members of certain international groups, professors in particular subjects, and past prize winners can all pick, as well as a few other groups, but the general public get no say.

The nominations, which can number in the hundreds, are then whittled down to a shortlist by the Prize's five committee members. There are usually 20 or 30 candidates on this list, and a group of Norwegian professors who serve as the Nobel Institute's advisers will then research the candidates' work and write a report. These reports will serve as the basis of the committee's discussions when they choose that year's winner.

Conclusion

Even the world's most prestigious awards are not governed by rules that are strictly objective or rational. Any attempt to set rules around the category or quality of work, especially in creative fields, is going to run into some problems. Does this mean award criteria are futile? Not in my opinion, because it limits the issue of prizes being awarded based on personal relationships or corruption. Do you agree? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

These words are all mine: no AI, no algorithmic curation. If you enjoyed this, please consider leaving a tip to support my work and buy my good boys and girls some treats!

Learn More:

• https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-truths/curious-reason-hotels-have-always-put-phones-toilet/
• https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/06/26/732529154/meet-the-74-year-old-queen-of-bangkok-street-food-who-netted-a-michelin-star
• https://www.axios.com/2023/06/04/james-beard-award-investigations-ethics
• https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/hip-hop-rock-roll-hall-of-fame-8533130/
• https://ew.com/why-sabrina-carpenter-is-eligible-for-best-new-artist-grammys-8742681
• https://ew.com/awards/emmys/emmys-comedy-drama-runtime/
• https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/cobra-kai-emmys-comedy/
• https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240116-emmys-2024-why-people-are-baffled-by-the-bears-wins
• https://www.vulture.com/2017/06/tony-awards-voting-and-rules-explainer.html
• https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/art_market/the_scandalous_history_of_the_turner_prize-51816
• https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/peace/
• https://ew.com/oscars-requiring-members-see-all-nominated-movies-before-voting-winners-11718900
• https://ew.com/2025-oscars-secret-ballot-anonymous-academy-members-reveal-votes-8789203