Emmys: Lizzo picks up best reality contest award for The Big Grrrls

Singer Lizzo has won her first Emmy for her hit show Watch Out For The Big Grrrls at a ceremony in Los Angeles.

The star won in a category dominated in recent years by RuPaul's Drag Race, reports BBC.

Lizzo was tearful as she collected her award, saying: "When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media. Someone fat like me, black like me, beautiful like me."

The show offers plus-size dancers the chance to compete to join the About Damn Time singer on tour.

Series including Ozark, Dopesick, White Lotus and Ted Lasso have also picked up prizes.

For the second year in a row, Jason Sudeikis won best leading actor in a comedy series for playing the titular football coach in Ted Lasso.

British actor Brett Goldstein won best supporting actor in a comedy series for playing Sudeikis's assistant coach Roy Kent.

Other early winners included Matthew MacFadyen, who won best supporting actor for his portrayal of ambitious interloper Tom Wambsgans in Succession.

He said it was a "bonkers gift of a role".

Amanda Seyfried was named best lead actress in a limited series or anthology for her role as Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout, which is based on the real-life story of the disgraced biotech entrepreneur.

She beat fellow stars including Lily James (Pam and Tommy), Toni Collette (The Staircase) and Julia Garner (Inventing Anna).

Garner didn't go home empty-handed however, picking up best supporting actress for her role as Ruth in Netflix crime drama Ozark - the third time she has won the award for that role.

Michael Keaton won his first Emmy for his role as a small town doctor in opioid crisis drama Dopesick.

There was a muted build-up to the event, with some pre-show festivities called off following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week.

The British Film and Television Academy cancelled its traditional Hollywood tea party for nominees, while the Canadian consulate postponed its celebrations.

Hosted by Saturday Night Live comedian Kenan Thompson, it is the first full-scale Emmys since the pandemic. Last year's ceremony was staged outdoors and had limited in-person attendance.

Royal drama The Crown, which was last year's big winner, is not in contention for the 2022 awards. Filming on the latest series was put on pause "as a mark of respect" for the Queen, Netflix said last week.

Succession is the favourite to replace it in the hotly-contested best drama category.

Created by British writer Jesse Armstrong, the show - a Machiavellian tale of a family vying for control of a media empire - has more nominations than any other programme, with 25 in total.

It is up against teen drama Euphoria; drug cartel series Ozark; Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul; throwback sci-fi drama Stranger Things; Korean thriller Squid Game; psychological coming-of-age series Yellowjackets and sci-fi mystery Severance.

If it were to take the trophy, Squid Game - in which misfits and criminals compete for cash in barbaric and deadly versions of schoolyard games - would be the first foreign-language series to win best drama.

Succession is particularly well represented in the drama acting categories. Scottish actor Brian Cox, who plays media mogul Logan Roy, will compete for best actor against his on-screen son, played by Jeremy Strong.

Kieran Culkin lost out to MacFadyen in the supporting actor category, while Sarah Snook - MacFadyen's on-screen wife - and Dame Harriet Walter, who plays Logan Roy's ex-wife Caroline, are up for best supporting actress in a drama.

Dame Harriet is also nominated for playing Deborah in Anglo-American football series Ted Lasso, which is the most-nominated comedy.

Other comedies in the running include school mockumentary Abbott Elementary, Hacks, Only Murders in the Building and long-running show Curb Your Enthusiasm, which has never won.

New hit show Abbott Elementary landed its first win of the night for Sheryl Lee Ralph who won best supporting actress in a comedy. She plays no nonsense teacher Barbara Howard in the primary school mockumentary and is the first black actress to win in this category since 1987.

She sang the opening lines of Dianne Reeves' song Endangered Species after accepting her award, adding in an impassioned speech afterwards: "This is what believing looks like."

The shows with the most nominations:

• Succession - 25

• Ted Lasso - 20

• The White Lotus - 20

• Hacks - 17

• Only Murders In The Building - 17

• Euphoria - 16

Killing Eve's Jodie Comer, who is up for outstanding actress in a drama series, a prize she took home in 2019.

The Liverpudlian is up against her co-star Sandra Oh for the award, as well as Laura Linney, Reese Witherspoon and Euphoria actress Zendaya, who won last year.

Pam and Tommy is about Anderson and Tommy Lee's leaked sex tape, which is up for best limited series, alongside the aforementioned White Lotus.

They are in competition with three other dramas based on real-life stories - Dopesick, which chronicles the US opioid crisis, The Dropout, which depicts the fall from grace of biotech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes (starring Amanda Seyfried) and Inventing Anna, inspired by the story of Anna Sorokin/Delvey, who pretended to be a German heiress so she could convince rich New Yorkers to fund her lavish lifestyle.

Another British actor, Nicholas Hoult, is nominated for lead actor in a comedy series for his part in The Great, and will face competition from the likes of Atlanta creator and star Donald Glover.

Saturday Night Live already has the most wins for best variety sketch show and it picked up the prize again on Monday, extending the number to six.

The Emmys are voted for by more than 25,000 members of the US Television Academy, which represents those in front of and behind the cameras.

This year's awards honour the best TV shows that premiered or streamed between 1 June 2021 and 31 May 2022.