Monday 25 August 2014

How to make "sexy" wine





  • Wine has been produced in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley for thousands of years

  • Lebanese winemakers hope to play on that history when selling to international consumers

  • Conflict in neighboring Syria and around Middle East have impacted Lebanese wine industry




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(CNN) -- In Lebanon's picturesque Bekaa Valley, life moves at a gentle pace.


Tractors trundle along narrow country roads while sleepy vineyards blossom beneath the pleasant glare of the mid-afternoon sun.


It's here, amidst this green and fertile hinterland, that the roots of Lebanon's modern wine making industry have borne fruit.


But conflict across the wider Middle East region has disrupted this idyllic country scene in recent years.


According to Charles Ghostine, managing director of local winemaker Chateau Ksara, tourists have been put off from traveling the Bekaa Valley because of the violence unfolding nearby.





The ancient cellars of the Ksara wine company (Courtesy CNN)



Visitors from neighboring Syria were once among Ksara's best customers, he says, but that's changed dramatically since that country's devastating civil war began three years ago.


"We used to have 70,000 visitors per year," Ghostine says. "The Europeans and the Americans and Japanese used to come to Syria and then to visit Lebanon."





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"It (also) affected us because we used to export 300,000 bottles to Syria per year. Now we're exporting around 50,000 only."


Ksara has been forced to look towards new markets to make up for this shortfall.


Along with Lebanon's other wine makers they are rallying to promote their goods and produce collectively.


"When we go to international fairs, we go under a Lebanese pavilion," says Ghostine. "Before every participant used to go and to have his own booth."


Ghostine explains that the group is looking to sell the story and history of Lebanon and not just its wines.


He points to a group of ancient cellars discovered beneath land owned by Ksara in 1898 as an example of Lebanon's rich wine producing past.


"There are a million bottles of wine, stored in these cellars that date back to the Roman era," he says. "Walls of wine, steeped in history."


Winemaking dates back thousands of years in Lebanon but modern day production really didn't start until the 20th century.


According to wine writer Michael Karam, this puts Lebanon behind other wine-producing nations in terms of marketing its global reputation.


"We [Lebanon] produce eight million bottles of wine a year which may sound like a lot but if we compare that to Turkey, which produces 70 million, Cypriots around 35 to 40 million. Israelis produce about 50 million -- so even on a regional scale we're tiny. Global scale? We're a dot."


"I mean Italy the biggest producer in the world probably produces on average around four billion bottles a year."





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But bigger isn't always better.


The rarity of Lebanese wine is a distinguishing factor that businesses can capitalize on to help their product stand out, Karam believes.


"The message they should be sending consumers is we only make eight million bottles a year," he says. "Come and get them while you can."


"There's no reason why Lebanese wine cannot be the sexiest wine on the planet."


To that end, it's not just the large-scale wineries capping every bottle with a personal touch. Smaller family-run wine businesses like Domaine Des Tourelles are getting in on the act as well.


"The message behind this winery is to produce quality wines, products from this land made by people working in this land," says company co-owner, Fawzi Issa.


Domaine Des Tourelles produces a not inconsiderable 250,000 bottles of wine each year. But the company's specialty remains arak, a Lebanese spirit made from aniseed.





The produce of Domaine Des Tourelles (Courtesy CNN)



"We're a leader now in the local market for the arak," says Issa.


"(Our arak product is sold) in around 15 to 17 countries, a bit everywhere where the Lebanese people are."


With the arak market well-tapped, Issa says he wants to expand the company's wine business to achieve his ultimate dream.


"My target is more ... global. To show Lebanon everywhere, to have Lebanese wine in the list of each and every restaurant in the whole world."


Issa is acutely aware, however, that Lebanon still has to overcome negative images abroad.


The country remains divided along religious lines and a number of suicide-bomb attacks have rocked the country this year.


Ghostine says he couldn't agree more with Issa's sentiment.


"The message that we want to forward to the world is that Lebanon is not an exporter of terrorism, Lebanon is an exporter of culture and good wines," Ghostine says.


Getting out and showing the very best of what his country has to offer is a key method of doing just that.


Read: Is Qatar 2022 a World Cup own goal?


Read: Where does ISIS get its money?


Read: Tsunami of tourists head for Iran



A spy's guide to Berlin






Once a secret military enclave, the Teufelsberg, or Devil's Mountain, a U.S. radar station and listening post, was staffed by 1,000 spies throughout the Cold War. Now it's been overrun by graffiti artists.Once a secret military enclave, the Teufelsberg, or Devil's Mountain, a U.S. radar station and listening post, was staffed by 1,000 spies throughout the Cold War. Now it's been overrun by graffiti artists.

Berlin's Stasi Museum is housed in the former headquarters of East Germany's Ministry of State Security, once known as the "House of One Thousand Eyes."Berlin's Stasi Museum is housed in the former headquarters of East Germany's Ministry of State Security, once known as the "House of One Thousand Eyes."

The office of former Stasi chief Erich Mielke is one of the exhibits at the Stasi Museum in Berlin. Mielke was so meticulous, his staff had a design plan for laying out his breakfast.The office of former Stasi chief Erich Mielke is one of the exhibits at the Stasi Museum in Berlin. Mielke was so meticulous, his staff had a design plan for laying out his breakfast.

A miniature camera disguised as a button, on display in Berlin's Stasi Museum, shows the lengths to which East Germany's spies went to keep tabs on their rivals, and fellow citizens.A miniature camera disguised as a button, on display in Berlin's Stasi Museum, shows the lengths to which East Germany's spies went to keep tabs on their rivals, and fellow citizens.

Allied forces dug a spy tunnel under the Berlin Wall to tap East German telephone lines in 1953. A stretch of the tunnel is on display in the city's Allied Museum.Allied forces dug a spy tunnel under the Berlin Wall to tap East German telephone lines in 1953. A stretch of the tunnel is on display in the city's Allied Museum.


Checkpoint Charlie may be a tourist magnet today, but the most famous crossing point between East and West Berlin still evokes the noir intrigue of John Le Carre's "The Spy who Came in from the Cold."

Checkpoint Charlie may be a tourist magnet today, but the most famous crossing point between East and West Berlin still evokes the noir intrigue of John Le Carre's "The Spy who Came in from the Cold."

The Glienicke Brucke, or Bridge of Spies, between Wannsee in West Berlin and Potsdam in the East, was used for the exchange of captured agents.The Glienicke Brucke, or Bridge of Spies, between Wannsee in West Berlin and Potsdam in the East, was used for the exchange of captured agents.

The full history of the Teufelsberg radar station and listening post won't be revealed until documents are declassified in 2022.The full history of the Teufelsberg radar station and listening post won't be revealed until documents are declassified in 2022.

The <a href='http://ift.tt/1grY089 ' target='_blank'>Tranenpalast</a>, or Palace of Tears, was once the official crossing point for West Germans visiting relatives in the East. It's now a museum with displays that include banks of televisions used for surveillance.The Tranenpalast, or Palace of Tears, was once the official crossing point for West Germans visiting relatives in the East. It's now a museum with displays that include banks of televisions used for surveillance.









  • Berlin's past as an espionage hotspot has left the city with numerous spying-linked attractions

  • The Stasi Museum features relics of East Berlin's obsession with monitoring its own people

  • Other destinations include a tunnel dug to tap into communication lines, and an antenna tower




(CNN) -- At the former headquarters of the East German secret police, cheerful American and British tourists scan maps and chatter as they file into the blocky concrete building once known as "the House of One Thousand Eyes."


In its heyday, the Ministry of State Security, or Stasi, was the all-powerful shadow government of the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR).


Behind a grim concrete screen molded into eye-shaped portholes, true believer Erich Mielke created the world's first surveillance state -- operating a network of agents and informers so vast it encompassed every school, factory, apartment block and bar in the country, according to Anna Funder, the author of "Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall."


Mielke's grim bureaucracy wasn't the only game in town, I discovered on a do-it-yourself tour of "the spy's Berlin."


Before the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, the unique position of West Berlin -- a walled outpost of freedom behind the Iron Curtain -- made the divided city the focus of Western and Soviet "tradecraft" for nearly 50 years, says Bernd Kostka, author of "Berlin: Capital of Spies."


"Only here in Berlin were the main protagonists of the Cold War living door to door," Kostka says.


Along with the House of One Thousand Eyes, now home to the Stasi Museum (Ruschestrasse 103, Haus 1, Berlin; +49 30 553 68 54), various sites around the city commemorate the capital's clandestine history -- even as revelations that the U.S. National Security Agency was until recently tapping Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone prove that the tradition lives on.


MORE: Insider Guide: The best of Berlin


Noir intrigue


There's a wealth of experiences here for the espionage buff.




The Tranenpalast Museum is known as the \

The Tranenpalast Museum is known as the "Palace of Tears."



On a rainy night at Checkpoint Charlie (Friedrichstrasse 43-45, Kreuzberg, Berlin), the most famous crossing point between East and West Berlin, it's just possible to imagine the noir intrigue of John Le Carre's "The Spy who Came in from the Cold" -- however much a tourist destination it becomes on a sunny afternoon.


Watching the incomparable movie version starring Richard Burton helps.


Featured in that masterpiece as well as countless other films, the crossing's main historical importance stems from the infamous "Checkpoint Charlie standoff," when a 1961 confrontation between Soviet and American tanks nearly sparked World War III.


Outside the Friedrichstrasse S-Bahnhof (Reichstagufer 17, Berlin-Mitte; +49 30 46777790) -- another Le Carre locale -- the Tranenpalast, or Palace of Tears, captures the atmosphere of paranoia more vividly.


Named for the tearful goodbyes of separated families, this station was once the official crossing point for West Germans visiting relatives in the GDR. (Le Carre's "Sasha" recounts the story of a surrender to border guards here in "Absolute Friends.")


Along with smuggled contraband and artifacts from "behind the Wall," the museum showcases an incredible exhibition of video interviews and documentary footage -- as well as the original signs and apparatus for the checkpoint searches and interviews.


On the outskirts of town, the American side of the spy story is on display at the Allied Museum (Clayallee 135, Berlin; +49 30 8181990) in Zehlendorf -- which houses seven meters of a 420-meter-long Allied forces spy tunnel dug under the Wall to tap East German telephone lines in 1953. (A story fictionalized in Ian McEwan's "The Innocent" and the later movie starring Anthony Hopkins.)


One of the most celebrated missions of the early Cold War, the tunnel was the largest and most expensive intelligence operation in Europe in the 1950s.


But it's hard to say who benefited from it most, says "Capital of Spies" author Kostka.


Though the tunnel allowed the Allies to intercept some 400,000 Soviet army telephone calls and countless telegraph messages before it was discovered in 1956, the Russians knew about it from the beginning, Kostka explains.


They kept that knowledge hidden from Berlin to protect their own man in the British government, MI6 case officer and double agent George Blake.


The eastern portion of the tunnel, long thought to be lost, was discovered by a man chopping wood in 2012.




The office of former Stasi chief Erich Mielke.

The office of former Stasi chief Erich Mielke.



'Bridge of spies'


Near the tunnel's original location, the Glienicke Brucke, or Bridge of Spies, (Bundestrasse 1, Berlin) between Wannsee in the West and Potsdam in the East, is perhaps the most famous espionage landmark in the city.


The border crossing designated for the exchange of captured spies, it was here that a KGB agent caught spying for the Russians in New York was traded for downed U-2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers.


It's an attractive spot on the Havel River, but there's little more than a plaque to mark its significance, so it's best viewed today as a quick stop on a larger tour of Potsdam or other nearby sites.


At the Teufelsberg, or Devil's Mountain, a similar listening post -- this one an abandoned U.S. radar station and observation tower -- has been taken over by Berlin's ubiquitous graffiti artists.


A silent tour around the strange, white radomes -- weatherproof microwave antennae cases reminiscent of Disney's Epcot Center -- gives an eerie feeling in the age of the recent NSA disclosures from Edward Snowden.


Once a secretive military enclave, the full history of the complex won't be revealed until documents are declassified in 2022, but it's estimated more than 1,000 spies worked here throughout the Cold War, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, as part of a surveillance network known as ECHELON.


For me, though, nothing captures the Cold War spy's world better than the hot and stuffy Stasi Museum, where the GDR spymaster's suite of offices and conference rooms have been preserved unchanged.


In these spartan chambers, banks of Bakelite telephones, steel desks and chunky typewriters evoke what renowned Nazi trial chronicler Hannah Arendt might have called "the bureaucracy of evil," had she written about East Germany rather than the Third Reich.


As the milky light reflects off the wood paneling, a shudder runs down my spine.


An award-winning journalist and travel writer, Jason Overdorf's byline has appeared in The Washington Post and The Atlantic Monthly. He's also the Berlin correspondent for GlobalPost.CNN Travel series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries and regions we profile. However CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports. Read the policy.



Three Guardia Civil officers killed in helicopter crash


The officers were carrying out a rescue mission in MaraƱa, Castilla y Leon, when their helicopter crashed killing the pilot, the co-pilot and one of the rescue team members. A fourth officer was not injured since he was already on the ground assisting a climber.


The deceased were identified as Captain Emilio Perez Pelaez (55), Lieutenant Marcos Antonio Benito Rodriguez (48) and Guardia Civil officer Jose Martinez Conejo (49).


The tragic accident occurred Sunday 24th August in Parque Natural Picos de Europa, where the team had been deployed to rescue an injured climber who was participating in a local competition. The helicopter reportedly crashed and burst into flames and the fourth Guardia Civil officer, identified as Enrique Ferrero, alerted the emergency services and confirmed the death of his three colleagues.


Minister of the Interior Jorge Fernandez Diaz held a press conference in Leon and said the surviving Guardia Civil officer reported weather conditions were good, so investigators are not ruling out the possibility that a helicopter blade may have accidentally hit the side of the mountain thus causing the accident.


The deceased will be posthumously awarded the medal of merit of the Guardia Civil and the golden cross of Civil Protection. The surviving officer will also be awarded the same medals.


“Accidents like these unfortunately happen when you are working under risky conditions,” said Minister Diaz and added that a judicial investigation will be launched to ascertain the causes of the accident.



Boris’s plan to tackle jihadist extremism


OUTLANDISH conservative politician Boris Johnson has spoken out against terror attacks and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) by urging a change in British legislation.


Johnson, the current mayor of London, has suggested reversing that cornerstone of the British judicial system that presumes everyone is innocent until proven guilty in cases where British citizens have travelled to join the jihadist fight in Syria or Iraq.


In his regular column in The Telegraph, Johnson even hinted that most people in the UK would want the British man who murdered American journalist James Foley to be killed in a bomb attack.


Johnson has echoed popular opinion among some that is calling for British jihadists to be stripped of their citizenship if they should decide to travel to the Middle East to join the fight for Islamic Jihad.


The mayor, who is the de facto head of London’s Metropolitan Police force, expressed the sentiment that anyone who decided to travel to these conflict areas should be presumed to be a terrorist unless they had notified the authorities of their trip in advance.


In his comment piece for the newspaper, he wrote: “We need to make it crystal clear that you will be arrested if you go out to Syria or Iraq without a good reason.


“At present the police are finding it very difficult to stop people from simply flying out via Germany, crossing the border, doing their ghastly jihadi tourism, and coming back.”


Johnson’s comments follow in the wake of the cold-blooded killing of US telejournalist James Foley at the hands of a terrorist who is believed to be British.


The UK’s ambassador to the US, Sir Peter Westmacott, has said that British intelligence is close to identifying the killer, known to the media as ‘Jihadi John.’


Boris Johnson’s views are likely to divide opinion, many feeling that wavering the democratic rights of British citizens would be playing right into extremists’ hands, whilst others think that taking a more hard-line stance is what is needed to tackle this phenomenon of ‘jihadi tourism’ as Johnson calls it.


The mayor went on to clarify his view in the article: “What is the point of having a defence budget, if we don’t at least try to prevent the establishment of a terrorist ‘caliphate’ that is profoundly hostile to civilised values?”



Nine out of every 10 inmates in Spain are men


THE number of inmates serving prison sentences in Spain has decreased.


While in 2009 there were 76,079 convicts in Spanish prisons, their number has decreased by 12.24 per cent in five years, currently adding up to 66,765. In fact, there was a 2.67 per cent drop in Spain’s prison population between 2012 and 2013 alone.


The data corresponds to both Spanish and foreign nationals, according to the Ministry of the Interior. However, the number of foreign convicts has registered the sharpest decrease from 27,162 in 2009 to 21,116 in 2014 (-22.2 per cent), while the number of Spanish inmates has merely dropped by 6.6 per cent in the same period from 48,917 to 45,649.


This means that one in every three convicts serving prison sentences in Spain comes from abroad. As many as 5,773 are Moroccan nationals, 2,275 from Romania, 2,257 from Colombia and 1,555 from Ecuador, said the Spanish Government.


Data shows that the average inmate in Spanish prisons is 39 and has been convicted of theft or drug trafficking, though other common crimes include homicide and murder with 3,707 inmates, crimes against sexual freedom with 3,087 convicts and as many as 3,937 for domestic violence.


Data also shows that nine out of every 10 convicts behind bars in Spain are men - 92.4 per cent - and that as many as 494 people are in prison for terrorism (61 women).



Thefts in Peguera and Andratx


THE Guardia Civil and the Local Police forces from Peguera and Andratx are searching for the thieves responsible for several robberies in both areas.


On Friday, just after midnight, one or several, individuals broke into a chalet in Calle Bellavista, in Peguera, and walked off with smart phones, a tablet and a laptop. The owners of the house had gone out for dinner and when they returned home they found they had had a visit from the thieves.


In Andratx, in Calle Tintorera de Cala Llamp, a man called the police when he heard a noise inside his house, the thief, scared by the noise, ran off into the night. Police searched the area for the culprit but were unable to find him.


Also in Andratx, this time on Calle Miro in the Montport urbanisation, the police were called out to the scene of a recent robbery but, despite the police putting up roadblocks at every roundabout on the urbanisation, they were unable to catch the thieves.


Police investigations into the matter are ongoing.



UK Embassy marks WH burning


British redcoats burned the White House and other buildings in Washington 200 years ago this month.


British redcoats burned the White House and other buildings in Washington 200 years ago this month.






  • British Embassy tweeted photo for 200th anniversary of White House attack

  • Tweeters launched immediate criticism

  • Embassy apologizes, saying it intended to celebrate nations' friendship




(CNN) -- Who knew the War of 1812 could inflame passions in the age of Twitter?


The British Embassy in Washington has apologized after tweeting a photo marking the 200th anniversary of British troops burning the White House on August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812.


The photo shows a cake featuring the White House, a few sparklers and the Stars and Stripes and Union Jack. Included in the caption: "Only sparklers this time!"







Not everyone was amused.


One person said on Twitter found the post "in extremely POOR TASTE." Another asked: "What the hell? A commemoration?"


Whereupon the right honorable Embassy sought to make amends. It published a "we're sorry" tweet noting that it "meant to mark an event in history & celebrate our strong friendship today." It also linked to a Huffington Post piece by Patrick Davies, its deputy ambassador to the United States.







He noted that the countries are "closer today than ever," the redcoats' torching of the White House 200 years ago notwithstanding.


"Far from fighting each other, our soldiers, sailors and airmen train together, deploy together and recuperate together," he wrote.


"Needless to say, we've put the events of August 1814 far behind us."



Gearing up for the Emmy Awards





  • Emmy Awards feature tough competition this year

  • Drama series could come down to "Breaking Bad" and "True Detective"

  • Comedy races are wide open

  • Show airs from Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre




(CNN) -- A meth-making mastermind facing his last judgment. A downbeat detective musing on the emptiness of life. A scheming politician not above a little murder.


The leading nominees for the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards are not a likable bunch.


But the shows -- respectively, "Breaking Bad," "True Detective" and "House of Cards" -- also exemplify the resurgence of television, a part of what's come to be thought of as the medium's new golden age.


Along with "Game of Thrones," "Mad Men," "Louie," "Orange Is the New Black," "Veep" and "Parks and Recreation," among many standouts, "must-see TV" isn't just an old NBC slogan, it's a reality across the dial. Indeed, NBC -- and the rest of the broadcast networks -- have found themselves marginalized by the ever-increasing stock of the cable networks and their programs.





What is an Emmy REALLY worth?








Awards season is gearing up again (already!), and where there are nods, there are sure to be snubs. In honor of the Emmy nominations announced Thursday -- and the fan outrage over Tatiana Maslany being overlooked for her masterful work in "Orphan Black" -- we take a look at some of the shows that never received outstanding series honors from the Academy. Awards season is gearing up again (already!), and where there are nods, there are sure to be snubs. In honor of the Emmy nominations announced Thursday -- and the fan outrage over Tatiana Maslany being overlooked for her masterful work in "Orphan Black" -- we take a look at some of the shows that never received outstanding series honors from the Academy.



One snub that stings the most is HBO's gripping "The Wire," more commonly known as one of the best shows on television. But it never got nominated, and that's just the beginning.One snub that stings the most is HBO's gripping "The Wire," more commonly known as one of the best shows on television. But it never got nominated, and that's just the beginning.



Superb acting and fascinating storylines didn't keep HBO's show "Oz," about life inside a harrowing prison, from being snubbed. Superb acting and fascinating storylines didn't keep HBO's show "Oz," about life inside a harrowing prison, from being snubbed.



We STILL miss Aaron Sorkin's "Sports Night." The critics loved the ABC dramedy about a fictitious sports show, and it had diehard fans. Sadly, those fans weren't Emmy voters. We STILL miss Aaron Sorkin's "Sports Night." The critics loved the ABC dramedy about a fictitious sports show, and it had diehard fans. Sadly, those fans weren't Emmy voters.



"My So-Called Life" launched the career of a teen Claire Danes, second from right, who starred in the ABC drama about the angst of the high school years. Despite what would become a cult following, it suffered from low ratings and no Emmy love. "My So-Called Life" launched the career of a teen Claire Danes, second from right, who starred in the ABC drama about the angst of the high school years. Despite what would become a cult following, it suffered from low ratings and no Emmy love.



For the initiated, "Freaks and Geeks" was the coolest thing going, and fans went crazy when some of the cast reunited in 2011. Although the NBC show won an Emmy in 2000 for casting, it was never nominated for best series. For the initiated, "Freaks and Geeks" was the coolest thing going, and fans went crazy when some of the cast reunited in 2011. Although the NBC show won an Emmy in 2000 for casting, it was never nominated for best series.



How could the Emmy voters have missed the magic of Joss Whedon and his show that helped shape pop culture? His "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" snagged a few noms for makeup, music and writing, but a nomination for best series was not in the cards for the WB/UPN show. How could the Emmy voters have missed the magic of Joss Whedon and his show that helped shape pop culture? His "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" snagged a few noms for makeup, music and writing, but a nomination for best series was not in the cards for the WB/UPN show.



"Veronica Mars" won a legion of fans on TV and with its Kickstarter movie but not at the Emmys. It didn't earn a single nomination during its stint on UPN, which later became The CW network."Veronica Mars" won a legion of fans on TV and with its Kickstarter movie but not at the Emmys. It didn't earn a single nomination during its stint on UPN, which later became The CW network.



ABC's "Roseanne" was lauded as a groundbreaking comedy with an outspoken star in Roseanne Barr. The show was routinely No. 1 in its timeslot, but shockingly, that never translated to a best comedy nomination. ABC's "Roseanne" was lauded as a groundbreaking comedy with an outspoken star in Roseanne Barr. The show was routinely No. 1 in its timeslot, but shockingly, that never translated to a best comedy nomination.



FX's "The Shield" was a gritty precursor to a few other cop shows and received lots of acclaim. Star Michael Chiklis, right, won an Emmy for best lead actor in a drama in 2002, but the series never scored.FX's "The Shield" was a gritty precursor to a few other cop shows and received lots of acclaim. Star Michael Chiklis, right, won an Emmy for best lead actor in a drama in 2002, but the series never scored.



Fox's "Married with Children" could be crude, rude and offensive to some, but that didn't stop it from being beloved. And yet it was never nominated for best comedy. Fox's "Married with Children" could be crude, rude and offensive to some, but that didn't stop it from being beloved. And yet it was never nominated for best comedy.



"Beavis and Butthead" blazed trails on MTV but not at the Emmys. "Beavis and Butthead" blazed trails on MTV but not at the Emmys.



Admit it: You still sing the theme song to "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air." The wildly popular 1990s NBC comedy was nominated for one Emmy during its run: outstanding individual achievement in lighting direction for a comedy (!). And it didn't win. The show was shut out of all other Emmy nominations. Admit it: You still sing the theme song to "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air." The wildly popular 1990s NBC comedy was nominated for one Emmy during its run: outstanding individual achievement in lighting direction for a comedy (!). And it didn't win. The show was shut out of all other Emmy nominations.







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Photos: Emmys snubs through the yearsPhotos: Emmys snubs through the years



In fact, one problem with having so many worthy nominees is that the competition is stiffer than ever. (If you're the Emmys, it's a good problem to have.) Shows have always wanted to win prizes, but these days, the awards are more valuable than ever, points out Deadline.com's Pete Hammond.


"The Emmys have always been a big help to newcomers, but in terms of what they're worth to the industry now, it seems like they've become a much, much bigger deal," he said.


With all that in mind, here are some key races to watch: (You can make your vote for who you think will win in the polls below.)


Outstanding drama series


For most prognosticators, this has turned into a two-show race between AMC's "Breaking Bad," which wrapped up its final season last year amid almost universal praise, and HBO's "True Detective," which earned raves in its early-2014 run and will be back for its second season soon, though with a different cast.


"Bad" could benefit from goodwill, but if "Detective" wins in other categories, watch out.


Outstanding lead actor in a drama


Like this category, for example. Just because "Bad's" Bryan Cranston has been a consistent winner over the years -- he has three Emmys for his role as Walter White -- doesn't mean he can overcome the "McConaissance," as the rise of "Detective's" Matthew McConaughey has been termed. After all, the guy won the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild Award and the Oscar earlier this year.


The other nominees include "Mad Men's" Jon Hamm (seven nominations, no wins), "The Newsroom's" Jeff Daniels (who won last year), "House of Cards' " Kevin Spacey and McConaughey's "Detective" co-star, Woody Harrelson.



Outstanding lead actress in a drama


"Homeland's" Claire Danes has won before. "The Good Wife's" Julianna Margulies has won before. Both could win again -- but that means beating "Scandal's" Kerry Washington, "Downton Abbey's" Michelle Dockery, "Masters of Sex's" Lizzy Caplan and "House of Cards' " Robin Wright.


The nimble Washington, who handles "Scandal's" ever-interesting plot lines with aplomb, could be this year's golden girl.



Outstanding comedy series


"Modern Family" has won this award four years in a row and is up again this year. But all the buzz belongs to "Orange Is the New Black," Netflix's comedy set in a women's prison.


"Louie" has a strong following, "Veep" is strong and "The Big Bang Theory" is one of the most popular comedies on television. As with drama, other categories might provide clues as to which way Emmy is leaning.



Outstanding lead actor in a comedy


"Big Bang Theory's" Jim Parsons has taken home the Emmy three times, but this could be Louis C.K.'s year.


The other nominees -- Don Cheadle ("House of Lies"), Ricky Gervais ("Derek"), Matt LeBlanc ("Episodes") and William H. Macy ("Shameless") -- don't have series up for the big prize.



Outstanding lead actress in a comedy


Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("Veep") won this award last year, but there's that "Orange" buzz again -- this time for star Taylor Schilling.


And what of Amy Poehler ("Parks and Recreation"), the Jon Hamm of comedic lead actresses in that she's been nominated five times with zero wins? Observers have said she's overdue for years -- but they've said the same thing about her show, which was overlooked again in the series category.



Outstanding reality-competition program


"The Voice" won last year. "Top Chef" won in 2010. Other than that, this category has been all about "The Amazing Race." Another win for "The Voice" would indicate a change of the guard.



Tonight's Emmys aren't just about trophies and speeches, of course. Billy Crystal will preside over a tribute to the late Robin Williams. Seth Meyers will preside over the whole shebang -- and he plans to be a low-key host, he's told reporters. (Also, he claims he won't sing.)


And there almost certainly be a few moments that will be all the chatter tomorrow, even if they're not of the level of Nicki Minaj cavorting with a snake. Though you never know.


The 66th Primetime Emmy Awards will air from Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre on NBC.


HBO is a unit of Time Warner, as is CNN.