Here's How Awards Shows Arrange Seating Plans, And It's So Political

With all the VMAs, Emmys, and NTAs buzz crackling through the air right now, you might be wondering about a couple of logistical issues related to awards ceremonies. 

For instance, what happens when celebs need to pee during the lead-up to award announcements?

And how do the stars manage to keep their faces un-meme-able during the all-lenses-on-you event?

For me, though, the issue of who sits where seems like it’d cause the biggest technical trouble. So how do award show organisers sort it out?

It’s a tricky process

If you’ve seen the Met Gala documentary The First Monday In May, you’ll have seen how agonised Anna Wintour was while deciding who sat where, and why, and what it said about who she thought was important and interesting. 

Well, awards shows are no less political, it seems. 

Jorge Camara, Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Chairman of the Board who oversees the Golden Globes, spoke to Elle about the issue. 

“We base a lot of who is seated where on camera range,” he explained.

“What we call the pit, which is the tables closest to the stage, and also the first elevation, those are the seats that can be seen on camera. That’s where we have to seat the nominees and the big stars, the people who are known and loved by the audience.” 

They like to sit four or five big stars at each table along with one guest each, he added, so that when the camera pans across the room it seems star-studded. 

“Sometimes they say who they want to sit with, and sometimes they tell us who they don’t want to sit with,” he added.

But Camara said it’s not the hottest names who have the most requests. “It’s never the big stars who demand the most — it’s the executives. It’s very important to them to be seated in what they perceive as the best seats.” 

Do celebs ever break the rules?

It seems so. 

Speaking to Cosmopolitan US, Gina Esposito, vice president for MTV music and talent, said that sometimes, celebs do what we’ve all done at a wedding – ignore the seating plan and sidle up to our friends. 

That can be fine she says, so long as everyone’s kept in the loop.

“As long as you’ve got eyes on that, to say, ‘Selena Gomez moved so she’s by Taylor Swift, we’re good,’ then it’s all right. If we don’t seat them together, they find their way to each other anyway,” she said. 

FYI, the seating planners don’t know who’s won awards ahead of placing people on tables. 

You’re much more likely to be able to tell who the awarding body considers a big deal, and who can’t stand each other, by the seating arrangement than you are to work out the winners.