NEW YORK - Lots of surprising dark horses have pulled ahead in the home stretch of the Daytime Emmy race (Friday, May 17, 8 p.m., CBS), according to the noted media pundits at GoldDerby.com. The pundits recently viewed the videotapes submitted by nominees to the Emmy judging panels. "We've seen what the voters saw!" notes website host Tom O'Neil, author of "The Emmys," who reports that the TV academies made the tapes available to journalists for the first time ever this year. "Those tapes are key if you're sizing up the Emmy derby," he says. "Judges truly base their votes on them. Great tapes usually trigger upsets."

Some nominees remain out front: "As the World Turns" (2 to 7 odds to win Best Daytime Drama Series), "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" (1 to 9 odds as Best Talk Show) and "The Price Is Right" (3 to 2 odds as Best Game Show). But there are lots of last-minute, dramatic sprints in the acting races: Martha Byrne is now neck and neck with her "As the World Turns" costar Colleen Zenk Pinter as Best Actress (6 to 5 odds vs. 3 to 2) and previous Best Actor frontrunner Hunt Block ("As the World Turns") now falls back to forth place behind Peter Bergman, "The Young and the Restless" (7 to 5 odds), Robert Newman, "Guiding Light" (8 to 5) and Vincent Irizarry, "All My Children" (2 to 1). Those are the predictions of GoldDerby pundits Delaina Dixon (TVGuide.com), Lynda Hirsch (syndicated columnist), Mara Levinsky (Soap Opera Digest), Michael Maloney (Soap Opera Update), Mark McGarry (Soap Opera Weekly), Mimi Torchin (Soapnet.com) and website host O'Neil. The predix are calculated into numerical odds by America's Line, a syndicated newspaper odds column penned by veteran sports journalist Benjamin Lee Eckstein and famed Vegas oddsmaker Roxy Roxborough.

Some of the pundits -- Dixon, Levinsky, McGarry, Torchin and O'Neil -- will dish their views publicly at a panel discussion to be held this Thursday (6 to 7:30 p.m.) in New York City, sponsored by the International Radio and Television Society. For details, call (212) 867-6650, ext. 305.

Meantime, the pundits' views are aired at GoldDerby.com where Soap Opera Digest's Levinsky echoes the surprise her peers expressed when they viewed the tape submitted by the star they presumed was a slam dunk shoo-in for Best Actor. "Hunt Block, who seemed to have this race sewn up, really lost me with his reel," she reports at GoldDerby.com. She says that his episode submissions lacked "lacked the snap, crackle and pop" that he usually generates with costar Maura West (Carly).

All actors give Emmy judging panels -- which are comprised of their peers-- two sample episodes of what they consider their best work from the past TV season. Failure to pick savvy submissions is what the pundits blame on the notorious losing streak (18 defeats) suffered by "All My Children" star Susan Lucci. "Lucci finally prevailed in 1999 when she gave voters what they were looking for -- episodes that have BOTH dramatic impact and emotional range," O'Neil says. "Lucci always opted only for impact." This year O'Neil says "Lucci's back to her old Emmy tricks -- drowning Emmy judges in tears." GoldDerby gurus put her in fourth place in the Best Actress lineup, giving her unfavorable 6-to-1 odds to win again.

O'Neil and Levinsky are among the site's pundits who recently switched their Best Actress votes from Pinter to last year's champ Byrne based on the strength of Bryne's episode submission in which she portrays twins -- a favorite of Emmy judges. But TVGuide.com's Dixon says, "I'm sticking with Pinter. She did a fine job playing a scarred woman on the brink who tries to destroy those she feels wronged her. (Pinter's tape) shows impact and range ... with scenes that depicted vengeance, remorse, rage and regret. Then again, the judges do love twins!" Soap Opera Weekly's Mark McGarry agrees that the race is close, adding, "Can't there be a tie? That would settle everything!" He casts his ultimate vote for Pinter, however, claiming that she's "the only actress who did something totally different in the two episodes she submitted. “ Descriptions and analysis of all of the episodes submitted by top Emmy nominees are listed at GoldDerby.com.

Here are the new Emmy odds issued by the website's gurus:

BEST DRAMA SERIES

"As the World Turns" - 2/7
"All My Children" - 6/1
"One Life to Live" - 6/1
"The Young and the Restless" - 30/1

BEST ACTOR

Peter Bergman, "The Young and the Restless" - 7/5
Robert Newman, "Guiding Light" - 8/5
Vincent Irizarry, "All My Children" - 2/1
Hunt Block, "As the World Turns" - 30/1
Jack Scalia, "All My Children" - 40/1

BEST ACTRESS

Martha Byrne, "As the World Turns" - 6/5
Colleen Zenk Pinter, "As the World Turns" - 3/2
Susan Flannery, "The Bold and the Beautiful" - 6/1
Susan Lucci, "All My Children" - 6/1
Finola Hughes, "All My Children" - 25/1

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Cameron Mathison, "All My Children" - 3/5
Benjamin Hendrickson, "As the World Turns" - 3/1
Josh Duhamel, "All My Children" - 7/2
Mark Consuelos, "All My Children" - 20/1
Paul Leyden, "As the World Turns" - 30/1

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Crystal Chappell, "Guiding Light" - 3/4
Kelley Hensley, "As the World Turns" - 5/2
Kelly Ripa, "All My Children" - 3/1
Beth Ehlers, "Guiding Light" - 20/1
Maura West, "As the World Turns" - 30/1

BEST YOUNGER ACTOR

Jacob Young, "General Hospital" - 4/5
Justin Torkildsen, "The Bold and the Beautiful" - 7/2
Brian Presley, "Port Charles" - 4/1
Jesse McCartney, "All My Children" - 8/1
Jordi Vilasuso, "Guiding Light" - 10/1

BEST YOUNGER ACTRESS

Jennifer Finnigan, "The Bold and the Beautiful" - 2/3 Kristina Sisco,
"As the World Turns" - 5/2 Eden Riegel, "All My Children" - 7/2
Jessica Jimenez, "Guiding Light" - 25/1
Lindsey McKeon, "Guiding Light" - 30/1

BEST DIRECTING OF A DRAMA SERIES

"The Young and the Restless" - 7/5
"As the World Turns" - 3/2
"All My Children" - 9/5
"The Bold and the Beautiful" - 40/1

BEST WRITING OF A DRAMA SERIES

"As the World Turns" - 1/8
"Passions" - 6/1
"All My Children" - 8/1
"One Life to Live" - 40/1

BEST TALK SHOW

"The Rosie O'Donnell Show" - 1/9
"The View" - 6/1
"Live With Regis and Kelly" - 7/1
"The Montel Williams Show" - 50/1

BEST TALK SHOW HOST

Rosie O'Donnell, "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" - 6/5
Regis Philbin, Kelly Ripa, "Live with Regis and Kelly" - 8/5
Montel Williams, "The Montel Williams Show" - 2/1
Barbara Walters, Star Jones, Meredith Viera, Joy Behar, Lisa Ling, "The View" - 40/1

BEST GAME SHOW

"The Price Is Right" - 3/2
"Win Ben Stein's Money" - 8/5
"Jeopardy!" - 9/5
"Hollywood Squares" - 30/1

BEST GAME SHOW HOST

Bob Barker, "The Price Is Right" - Even
Pat Sajak, "Wheel of Fortune" - 7/5
Alex Trebek, "Jeopardy!" - 6/1
Ben Stein and Nancy Pimental, "Win Ben Stein's Money" - 7/1

BEST SERVICE SHOW

"Martha Stewart Living" - 7/5
"This Old House" - 8/5
"The Christopher Lowell Show" - 2/1
"Essence of Emeril" - 30/1
"Wolfgang Puck" - 40/1

BEST CHILDREN'S SERIES

"Reading Rainbow" - 1/4
"Even Stevens" - 6/1
"Between the Lions" - 7/1
"Discovery Kids Ultimate Guide to the Awesome" - 8/1
"Zoom" - 30/1

For more information, contact Tom O'Neil via email at GoldDerby@aol.com or telephone: (212) 280-2858.

GoldDerby.com is a noncommercial Internet racetrack where pros and amateurs meet to predict who'll win the top showbiz kudos, including the Oscars, Golden Globes, Grammys, Emmys and Tonys. The site is designed by Will Ackerman and Mike Medina.

America's Line is the exclusive odds provider for GoldDerby.com. Created by noted sports journalist Benjamin Lee Eckstein and famed Vegas oddsmaker Roxy Roxborough, America's Line is a daily syndicated odds column that appears in more than 125 newspapers across the United States and Canada, with a readership of nearly 10 million. America's Line also owns and operates americasline.com and oddscanada.com.

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