“Halfway to EGOT”: Netizens reacts as Barack Obama becomes the first President to win a competitive Emmy

Former US President Barack Obama has won an Emmy award in the "best narrator" category for his five-part Netflix documentary series, Our Great National Parks.

As soon as the news broke, netizens rushed to congratulate Barack Obama on reaching the halfway point toward becoming an "EGOT," or someone who has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award. These awards, for the uninitiated, are given out for outstanding performances in the creative arts.

In the current EMMY win, Barack Obama competed against some of Hollywood's biggest names, including David Attenborough for The Mating Game, Lupita Nyong'o for Serengeti II, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for Black Patriots: Heroes of the Civil War.

In 2020, American Factory, a documentary produced by Obama's Higher Ground, won the Oscar for "Best Documentary Feature Academy Award." The documentary follows a Chinese company as it establishes an automotive glass plant in Ohio, despite numerous challenges, including cultural apathy.

Previously, Barack Obama also won two Grammy awards for audio versions of his memoirs "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" in 2008 and "Dreams from My Father" in 2006.

Dwight Eisenhower was the only other President to receive an Emmy award, which he received in 1956 for conducting the first-ever televised news conference. Obama was the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017.

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Here's how social media congratulated Barack Obama on his epic Emmy sweep

Netizens are delighted with Barack Obama's new Emmy win. While some congratulated him, others lauded the series, saying they "loved" watching it.

Social media users are also expecting Obama to be one of the few celebrities to achieve 'EGOT' status. The EGOT has only been won by 17 people, including Rita Moreno, Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jennifer Hudson.

For those who are unaware, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards were held on Saturday night, September 10, 2022, prior to the Primetime Emmy Awards on Tuesday, September 13, 2022. The official nominations list was released on July 12, 2022.

Chadwick Boseman, the late Black Panther actor, also won a posthumous Emmy for his voiceover for the Disney+ and Marvel Studios animated show What If...?, which premiered in 2021.

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More about Obama's Our Great National Parks

Our Great National Parks debuted in April as part of Barack and Michelle Obama's multi-year film and television deal with Netflix, which was announced in 2018.

The series explores the world's natural beauty while highlighting some of the most beautiful locations, such as Indonesia and Chilean Patagonia. With five episodes in season one, this series focuses on the culture and upkeep of wondrous parks around the world.

Apart from Barack Obama's production company Higher Ground, the new series was produced by Freeborne Media and Wild Space Productions. It mentioned incredible places like the Monterey Bay National Marine Aquarium in California, Kenya's Tsavo National Park, and Indonesia's Gunung Leuser National Park.

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Obama's Higher Ground also announced a partnership with Amazon-owned Audible, stating that the two "will reflect the companies' shared mission to tell meaningful and entertaining stories that elevate diverse voices and experiences."

It will be interesting to see if Barack Obama finally receives the Tony Award that so many of his social media followers are hoping for.