Why Lin-Manuel Miranda Is Practically Guaranteed To Be At This Year's Emmys

If you follow the composer-slash-actor on Twitter, you'll know that he's pure sunshine condensed into human form. So no wonder everyone's wondering whether Lin-Manuel Miranda will be at the 2017 Emmys. Of course, he's been to the ceremony before, but for the best of all possible reasons — to participate rather than simply enjoy a night of hanging out alongside a ton of celebrities. In 2014, Miranda won the Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. And he has an equally compelling reason to show up to the ceremony this year, too. Namely, he's received yet another nomination, this time for the Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category.

But for what role? According to The Hollywood Reporter, his nomination is one of 22 Emmy nominations that Saturday Night Live and those involved with the show have received. The composer's is for hosting the episode "Lin-Manuel Miranda/Twenty One Pilots." The episode got warm reviews with Entertainment Weekly commending the Hamilton composer's enthusiasm, describing how "Miranda brought his A-game to the show and raised the level of everyone else’s performance in the process," The AV Club calling the host "endearing as hell." Indiewire also seemed to find Miranda's performance as an SNL host more than adequate, commenting "#SNLinManuel soared through sketches with fresh energy and a glimmer in the cast’s collective eye."

But it's not just about his career — there's one other great reason why the Moana composer may also want to hit the Emmys on Sunday, Sept. 17. Broadway World confirmed on Sept. 13 that Christopher Jackson will be performing an In Memoriam tribute during the show. As you probably already know, the star originated George Washington character in Hamilton, and he's so close to Miranda that Playbill wrote of the pair that the song "Right Hand Man"'s name "could easily be utilized offstage to describe [Miranda and Jackson's] relationship."

Heck, the pair's friendship goes back way before Hamilton, since as Theater Mania reports, Jackson originated the role of Benny in In The Heights (another musical from the genius composer) and remained with the cast for its whole run. And on accepting his Tony Award for In The Heights, Miranda rapped "I don't know about God, but I believe in Chris Jackson," so, you know, the pair is pretty tight. And if you've seen their emotional 2016 duet of "One Last Time" at the White House, you'll also know the love is real.

Given the depth of their friendship, it would be surprising if the New York native wasn't on hand to lend his support on Sunday. After all, Jackson's got quite a job to complete. The In Memoriam segment involves commemorating the members of the entertainment community who have died in the past year, and considering that icons like How I Met Your Mother's Alan Thicke and The Brady Bunch's Florence Henderson have both passed away since the last Emmys, he'll have to deliver a performance just as luminous as those two personalities.

The 41-year-old does have one advantage, though. He's been — and won — at the Emmys before. He won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Original Song For A Children’s Series for writing “What I Am” for Sesame Street back in 2011, a song so undeniably great that will.i.am sung it on the show. And this Emmy was a big deal; Jackson told Showtickets.com that while doesn't know where his Grammy is (it never got delivered apparently), he keeps his Emmy in a treasured place, next to "a picture of my grandparents and my son CJ." As such, hopefully he feels right at home at the ceremony.

So yes, it looks more than likely that Miranda will be there — if there's any justice, he'll be the one sitting right up the front, rooting for his friend.