The producers of the Casino Entertainment Awards announced that the award event, normally part of the Global Gaming Expo, has been canceled for 2021, but will return in 2022 with its “biggest awards show to date.”
“Since all casino venues were closed and the entertainment schedules dark during our nomination period of May 1, 2020 through April 30, 2021, the 2021 edition of the CEAs inevitably had no criteria on which to base eligible nominees for our 2021 awards,” said Traci Peel, executive producer and director for the awards.
“We would like to extend our appreciation to those in our industry who found innovative ways to prove that even in a pandemic, ‘the show must go on’ by reinventing their venues to present live-stream shows, and encouraging the entertainment family to connect with their audiences through technology. Following our awards being live-streamed last year, I am proud to say we are planning on being back live in person in 2022 with new energy, and another slate of extraordinary recipients.”
Since its launch in 2013 in Las Vegas, the CEAs have set an industry standard as the official awards show honoring outstanding casino entertainment artists, executives and venues nationwide. The nominees include not only Las Vegas entertainment, but casino talent and venues presenting entertainment nationwide.
The CEAs annually present awards in nine broad based categories, with two Legend/Lifetime Achievement Award honors announced at the presentation. Categories represented include Independent Talent Buyer, Booking Agent, Showroom/Theater, Arena/Amphitheater, Casino Executive of the Year, Comedian of the Year, Production Show of the Year, Musical Artist of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year.
Casino Legend/Lifetime Achievement Awards presented have included some of the industry’s biggest names including entertainers Wayne Newton, Jerry Lewis, The Isley Brothers, Brenda Lee, Martha Reeves, Rita Rudner, The Righteous Brothers and Lee Greenwood, as well as entertainment executives Richard Sturm, John Meglen, and Tom Cantone.
The 2022 Casino Entertainment Awards will be produced by Peel of Tralen Productions. She is a co-founder of the CEAs and has worked on the production with Clinton Ford Billups of CFB Productions from the inception of the annual presentation through his retirement from the CEAs in 2020.
