It’s awards season! But what does it mean? There seem to be so many awards shows and they all seem to have different acronyms that sort of mean the same thing, but are completely different.

Awards season started in September 2016 with the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards and ends with the 89th Academy Awards, airing Sunday, February 26th. Although there are dozens of award shows between September and this Sunday, there are a few major shows that always attract a media frenzy.

The Emmys

The Emmys honor excellence in the television industry. The 68th Primetime Emmy Awards took place on September 18, 2016, and was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. The Emmys honored the best programs on U.S. prime time television from June 1, 2015 – May 31, 2016. During the show, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” took home the most awards with a total of five.

Critics’ Choice Awards

The Critics Choice Movie Awards honor the finest in cinematic achievement by the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The 22nd Critics Choice Awards took place on December 11, 2016, hosted by T.J. Miller. Some of the films honored included Oscar nominees “Manchester by the Sea,” “Moonlight,” “Arrival,” “La La Land,” and “Zootopia.”

Golden Globes

The Golden Globes honor outstanding achievements in film and television, as decided by the Hollywood Foreign Press. The 74th Golden Globe Awards aired live on January 8, 2017, and was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. “La La Land” was nominated for seven awards and won all of them, thus making it the most successful film in Golden Globes history. Television shows such as “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” “The Crown,” “Atlanta,” and “Blackish,” and “The Night Manager” are some of the shows that took home awards.

SAG Awards

The Screen Actors Guild Award honors excellent and outstanding performances in primetime T.V. and film, as presented by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Success at the SAG Awards is usually an indication of success at the Oscars, which are held in February. The 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards took place on January 29, 2017, and winners such as “Hidden Figures,” “Fences,” “Stranger Things,” “The Crown,” “Orange Is The New Black,” and “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” took home awards.

Grammy Awards

The Grammys honor outstanding achievements in the music industry. This year, the 59th Annual Grammy Awards took place on February 12, 2017, hosted by James Corden of “The Late Late Show.” This year artists Adele, Ed Sheeran, Beyoncé, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, and Chance the Rapper, and more performed for the prestigious music awards. Adele took home five Grammys this year, and in a plot twist that nobody saw coming, when Adele won Album of the Year, she went on to say that she couldn’t accept the award, and after a tearful acceptance speech, broke her Grammy in half to give part of it to Beyoncé (No word on which half Beyoncé was given).

Adele breaking her Grammy in half after her speech to accept Album of the Year for “25.” (Credit to Harper’s Bazaar)

The Oscars

The Academy Awards (hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) honors and recognizes excellence in cinema by the Academy’s voting members. The Oscars are the oldest entertainment awards ceremony, and has had an influence on other award shows such as the Grammys. The 89th Academy Awards honors films from 2016, airs this Sunday, February 26, and will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. “La La Land” has been dominating the media sphere by receiving 14 nominations, which ties for the most nominations with movies “Titanic” (1997), and “All About Eve” (1950).

This awards season has been praised and criticized for the outward political statements that have been made by several actors and actresses, either on the red carpet or during their acceptance speeches.

Meryl Streep made headlines in early January when she made a speech against President Donald Trump as she accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 74th Golden Globe Awards, and she was heavily praised and criticized.

Singer Joy Villa (known as her stage name Princess Joy Villa) wore a dress that turned heads at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards when she wore a dress that supported Donald Trump with his campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” written down the side of her dress, as well as “Trump” along the back of her train.

Singer Joy Villa makes a political statement with her “Make America Great Again” dress at the 59th Grammy Awards (Credit to Billboard.com)

During the 2017 Grammy Awards, Katy Perry made a statement by wearing an armband that said “persist” in reference to Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren being told to be quiet during a speech against then-nominee for Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

However, this isn’t the first time awards season has gotten political. Last year when Leonardo DiCaprio (finally!) won his Oscar for “The Revenant” he used the opportunity to speak about the importance of climate change. In 1973 Marlon Brando was nominated for “Best Actor” in “The Godfather.” Brando refused to attend the award show, and instead sent Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather in his place to protest the unfair treatment of Native Americans in the film industry.

Pharrell Williams and his dancers made a political statement during the 2015 Annual Grammy Awards where they did a “hands up don’t shoot” gesture while Williams sang his hit song “Happy”.

The style of awards season varies with each season but always has heads turning when celebrities make their way down the red carpet. Big-name designers such as Marc Jacobs, Valentino, Gucci, Prada, Vera Wang, Alexander McQueen, and more always seem to have a few celebrities wearing their designs. Typically, the Grammys has some of the most daring looks as stars tend to wear outfits that complement their personal styles, while the Oscars have recently been showing a trend of stars wearing custom-made gowns by top designers.

Jacqueline Van Bierk at the 2017 Grammy Awards in her unique gown. (Credit the People Magazine)

With the Oscars, it seems that every few years the trend switches between stars wearing looks straight off the runway, and switching back to custom-made gowns.

Some stars choose to make a statement, such as Julia Roberts in 2001, when she didn’t wear a custom-made Valentino dress. Instead, she chose a gown from his 1982 collection, and as a result, vintage became more acceptable on the red carpet.

Julia Roberts in a 1982 Valentino gown at the 2001 Oscars. (Credit to Rex Features)

Jennifer Lawrence wore a stunning Christian Dior dress in 2013 when she won the Oscar for Best Actress in “Silver Linings Playbook.” Probably one of the most notable moments of the night came when Lawrence walked up the stairs to accept the award, she tripped on her gown.

Jennifer Lawrence wearing Christian Dior at the 2013 Academy Awards. (Credit to Rex Features)

So what does awards season mean for us? For one, it trends all over social media. In recent years, Twitter has begun using emojis with select hashtags that automatically appear when the tweet is sent.

The trend started during the 2014 World Cup when a user would hashtag their country, the flag emoji for that team would automatically be added to the Tweet. This has since become a common occurrence in the Twitter-sphere, with hashtags appearing for the ABC show, “The Bachelor” every week.

The Bachelor emoji that appears every Monday night when the show airs.

Award shows have been adopting this trend as well. When the Grammys aired earlier this month, every time a user tweeted #Grammys a mini gramophone would automatically appear next to the hashtag. Certainly, this is a trend that we can expect to see with the Oscars airing in under a week.

In 2014, Ellen DeGeneres proclaimed to the Oscars audience that they broke Twitter when she took a selfie with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Within 30 minutes, the tweet had been retweeted 1.1 million times, and currently stands at 3.3 million retweets, and 2.3 million likes – making it the most retweeted post ever in Twitter history.

Ellen Degeneres’ history-making selfie at the 2014 Oscars.

So what moment this year is going to break the internet? Is there anything that could possibly top the Ellen selfie?

Stay tuned to the Oscars, airing tonight, Sunday, February 26, 2017, at 8:30 p.m. EST