This year's nominees included a man who mourned the death of his wife and unborn child, a supposedly dead man who blackmailed his supposed murderer into marriage, and a man diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. While many of this year's acting categories were deemed by experts to be too close to call, the Supporting Actor field did seem to have a favorite: Max Gail. In fact, nominee Eric Martsolf (Brady Black, Days of our Lives) told Soap Central's Dan J Kroll that he had been wowed by Gail's performance over the past year.

For his part, though, Gail admitted that he would have loved to see costar Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri) take home the gold.

"I think the best thing about this storyline is what is says about family," Gail said of his character's Alzheimer storyline. "I also hope we get into some of the other parts of the illness [that people] deal with, because it's on the rise, particularly amongst women. And you know, maybe we'll help with that in some way."

Gail gave special thanks to costars Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) and Laura Wright (Carly Corinthos).

For many, Gail is best known as Detective Stan "Wojo" Wojciehowicz on the sitcom Barney Miller. Gail acknowledged that daytime television is much different than primetime.

"It's an amazing kind of feel of energy that has happened because, in a way, it's live theater," Gail explained. "Unless somebody falls down, we don't do another take. If we do, we don't go, 'Let's start at the beginning to do another take.' It's, 'Can we go to the moment where that tear was just coming out your eye.'"

Just how competitive is the Supporting Actress category? For the second year in a row, there were six nominees in the category instead of five. Two of the six nominees had won Emmys in the past, one of the nominees no longer plays the role that earned her a nomination, and another nominee's reel featured her drunken character throwing a drink on a total stranger.

When the envelope was opened, it was Vernee Watson (Stella Henry, General Hospital) who won her first -- or second -- Daytime Emmy. So, which is it? Well, um, both.

This was Watson's first nomination in the Outstanding Supporting Actress category. Last year, however, she earned the Outstanding Guest Performer for her work -- also as GH's Stella.

"I was pleasantly surprised! I was shocked. I mean, all this time, I've been in the business so long, and then two years in a row, to win an Emmy? I'm very happy and grateful for that," Watson said backstage in the press room. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to work, to still be working, to have great support around me, and doing the work that God gave me to do. And I'm trying to pass it along to the young people, to teach them. I'm part of an organization, a non-profit organization... to teach children about singing and acting. That's my real passion, aside from acting, teaching acting and giving young people confidence... that's passion, and this is for them."

Watson isn't quite sure yet where she'll put her second Emmy, musing that she will "have to move some of those pictures on my mantel!"