Expert: 'CSI', 'Sopranos' Emmy Front Runners

The race for the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy will be a showdown between science geeks and mobsters, according to a leading expert on the Emmy Awards.

Tom O'Neil, senior editor of In Touch Weekly and host of GoldDerby.com, told Entertainment Tonight that this could be the year CSI takes home the gong: "The race for best drama series is a real drama between the most critically hailed drama on television, which is The Sopranos, which has never won, and the highest-rated one, which is CSI, a franchise that is so popular and so successful now that Emmy voters may want to recognize it finally."

The other nominees for Outstanding Drama Series this year are four-time winner The West Wing, the real-time drama 24 and a freshman entry, CBS' Joan of Arcadia. "Joan of Arcadia's nomination for best drama series was a shocker," O'Neil said. "Nobody expected it because it's not on the hip radar screen."

Although no CSI actors are nominated this year, Anthony LaPaglia from lead-out show Without a Trace is in the running for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Like CSI, his main competition comes from the mob. Can LaPaglia whack James Gandolfini? Tom O'Neil said he has the best chance out of all the nominees. "He is the cool, recent Golden Globe champ who I think is the one star who can beat James Gandolfini of The Sopranos."

After winning a cinematography Emmy in 2003, CSI: Miami didn't make the cut in any categories this time around. But the show's competition run on its CBS web site could be up for a Creative Arts Emmy honouring interactive content, the Associated Press reported. Other series on the short list include Celebrity Mole, Yucatan and the 2004 TV Land Awards. If the Academy does decide to make an award in this special category, the results will be announced at the Creative Arts Awards on September 12.

The original ET report is available at Yahoo! and the interactive awards news can be found at this page.

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