Viola Davis Gains EGOT Status

Andrew Reyes Staff writer

On Sunday night, February 5th, the Grammys, an award show recognizing the year’s best recordings and compositions, was broadcast all over American television. With artists like Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and Lizzo in attendance and vying for the show’s biggest awards, most of the attention was on the biggest names in music.

However, while Beyonce took home a record thirty second Grammy, and Lizzo surprised by taking home record of the year, one award winner outshone them all: Viola Davis. Davis’ Grammy for best spoken-word recording was all but overlooked. Davis, who is best known for her acting work, took home the Grammy for the audio recording of her memoir, Finding Me.

After her name was called as the winner, Davis took to the stage to give a heartfelt speech. “I just EGOT!” she exclaimed to the crowd, a reference to the lofty status she achieved with the Grammy win. EGOT stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony–the four major entertainment awards. Achieving EGOT status has been referred to as the “grand slam” of show business. As of 2023, only eighteen people have reached this milestone, with composer Richard Ridgers being the first to achieve it in 1962. while Five others have also earned the distinction with honorary or special awards.

So what makes Viola Davis’ win so important? Well, she is just the fifth-ever African American to achieve this legendary status, and the third African American woman to earn the title. Davis achieving this milestone is very important because in a business that has mostly been dominated by white people, specifically white men, this win solidifies her success and impact, which has been built from decades of hard work and dedication. It shows that no matter who you are, where you come from, or the obstacles that stand in your way, with hard work and dedication you can achieve anything.

Chun-Li, Rye, and Ken will continue to be featured, as well as many new ones like Jamie, Dee Jay, and Kimberly. Most characters were unknown to the public until the roster designs were leaked on Twitter. Capcom responded to the Street Fighter leak by tweeting, “As residents of Metro City, we’ve all seen things we weren’t supposed to see, but we’re all in this together. We appreciate all the positive reactions. Thank you for the support.”

The game designers have kept the original martial arts fighting style that fans have enjoyed for years. There will be three playing styles, so that more people can get involved with the game. Fighting Ground is the classic player vs player mode that lets you acquire any character of your choice and helps you gain skill at the fighting controls. The World Tour is one of the biggest changes happening for players. In this mode players are able to create their own character and interact with the open world, a virtual environment where the player can go anywhere with no forced objectives. Capcom informs that in the open world “You’ll face a number of trials and challenges. You’ll come across opportunities to prove yourself in street fights, meet legendary figures, forge bonds, and improve your abilities.” Lastly, the Battle Hub will give players the chance to fight online battles with players around the nation.

Jony Teklemariyam, a senior who has played games for years, thinks that these new options will “make the game exciting” and notes that he enjoyed watching the videos that the Street Fighter YouTube channel put out. He also said the new graphics are “a little cartoony” compared to the classics.

Capcom leaves with a word of advice on their website to those intrigued with the upcoming game and states, “No one starts off as a champion. You get there step by step, punch by punch. Take up the challenge and bring your game to the next level.