By Nadia Ahmad |Staff Writer|

“What’s cool about shows like the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) and the Golden Globes is that you get to predict a lot of the Oscar winners,” said grad student Zack Martin.

The SAG premiered Sunday, Jan. 25, meaning awards show season is officially upon us. The show often goes unnoticed because the show is stuck between the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards.

This year, however, I noticed that the awards show got more attention on social media than I expected.

Martin continued, “I really thought Jake Gyllenhaal would have won best actor for ‘Nightcrawler’ and that

Emma Stone would win an award for ‘Birdman’, but I’m trying not to get worked up about it.”

Instead, Eddie Redmayne won the award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in “The Theory Of Everything” and Patricia Arquette won Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Boyhood”, which was filmed over the span of 12 years.

I, too, like to play the prediction game prior to awards shows, but mine can be considered hopes more than predictions.

I was excited to see the cast of “Orange Is The New Black” take home the award for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series. A well deserved win in my opinion.

Another “Orange Is The New Black” winner was Uzo Aduba, who won Best Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her role as “Crazy Eyes” in the series.

Aduba delivered an emotional, teary-eyed speech, some of which was directed to her fellow cast mates.

When the camera panned over to the audience, several of her co-stars were in tears as well.

I was so moved by Aduba’s speech, it gave me chills. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must!

youtu.be/HIB7p0bJqdw

The SAG Awards took place at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and stars were dressed to impress.

There were two actresses in particular whose style was talked about all over social media.

Keira Knightley, nominated for her role in “The Imitation Game”, walked the red carpet in what I considered the most fashionable maternity dress possible.

Knightley appeared in a lacy purple Erdem gown.

Julianne Moore, another actress nominated that night, pulled off a mermaid look in a beaded green Givenchy dress paired with purple Chopard earrings.

The SAG Awards is about more than just competition amongst our favorite actors and fashion designers.

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation raises money for performance and reading programs for children by auctioning off seats to the red carpet as well as signed movie posters and props.

The SAG Awards differ from other award shows because the winners are chosen by the Screen Actors Guild as well as The American Federation of Television and Radio Arts.

In other words, actors nominate and vote for their peers as winners.

I’m glad to see the Screen Actors Guild gain more popularity because it is unlike other awards shows.