Giovanni Mazza is relatively new to daytime television, having joined General Hospital in 2024 as Gio Palmieri, a young violinist and lifeguard. Just over a year later, the 21-year-old actor — a violinist in real life — is projected to win his first Emmy Award in the Best Emerging Talent category.
Gio arrived in Port Charles believing he was the child of the late Camilla Palmieri, only to learn he was actually the biological son of Brook Lynn Quartermaine and Dante Falconeri. After revealing the truth, Gio gradually built relationships with his birth parents and became romantically involved with Emma Scorpio-Drake.
Gold Derby’s Daytime Emmy predictions for Best Emerging Talent give Mazza an 81% chance of claiming victory. He’s followed in descending order by Ambyr Michelle as Eva Thomas for Beyond the Gates, Alice Halsey as Rachel Black for Days of Our Lives, Al Calderon as Javier Hernandez for Days of Our Lives, Braedyn Bruner as Emma Scorpio-Drake for General Hospital, and Arielle Prepetit as Naomi Hamilton Hawthorne for Beyond the Gates.
Best Emerging Talent
1.
Giovanni Mazza
General Hospital
2.
Ambyr Michelle
Beyond the Gates
3.
Alice Halsey
Days of Our Lives
4.
Al Calderon
Days of Our Lives
5.
Braedyn Bruner
General Hospital
6.
Arielle Prepetit
Beyond the Gates
All of these nominees are first-timers at the Daytime Emmys, but that is not unusual for this specific race.
The Best Emerging Talent category was created last year in order to “honor individuals within their first two years on their first Daytime Drama contract and who have never won this category before.” That means last year’s inaugural winner, Lisa Yamada as Luna Nozawa for The Bold and the Beautiful, was not eligible to compete again.
One of Mazza’s standout moments on GH was during the Nurses’ Ball storyline in May 2025. “The entire Nurses’ Ball was so special because everyone was putting so much effort into it,” he told Soap Opera Digest. “I forced myself to explore the deepest parts of myself for this moment and I think it paid off.”
Watch a clip of Mazza playing the violin as Gio at the Nurses’ Ball:
General Hospital is also predicted to win the Emmy for Best Directing Team. The long-running medical soap is the runner-up to win Best Daytime Drama for the sixth year in a row, but newcomer Beyond the Gates is giving it a run for its money in the Gold Derby predictions.
The 2026 Daytime Emmys take place Oct. 30 at the Hollywood Palladium.
