When this year's Daytime Emmy nominations are announced later this week, without question not all soap fans will be pleased with the list of nominees. There will most certainly be questions about why a particular performer was overlooked or why a seemingly undeserving performer did receive a nomination. Because of the potential for fan outrage, here is a little bit about the process. This may offer more insight into exactly how the Emmy nominees are chosen.

Due to changes implemented in 2003, there is now a pre-nomination process. This pre-nominations phase is not the first step to Emmy glory. In the pre-nominations, each soap nominates two of its own performers in each category. These nominees are determined by an in-house vote from within each show; there is no third party that determines who should or should not get a pre-nomination. If a performer is not pre-nominated by their show, they cannot receive a Daytime Emmy nomination.

In the second step, a panel of industry performers is assembled for two screening sessions held separately in New York and Los Angeles to help determine the list of nominees. This panel is comprised of an equal number of voters per show as well as other qualified voters from the respective peer groups. These panels watch each pre-nominee's reels and rank the nominees in the order of preference. An independent accounting firm tabulates the votes from these panels, with the highest vote-getters in each category are announced as a Daytime Emmy nominee.

After the nominees are announced, a Blue Ribbon panel is then selected to view each of the nominees' reels (a reel in the final phase of voting consists of two episodes). Each judge selects on choice per category. The nominee with the most votes is declared as the winner.

There is more background to the nominations process than just submitting a clip. Here are some of the other rules by which contestants must abide.

Nominees are judged on their work from January 1st to December 31st, 2006. No more than 25% of a nominee's reel may come from a calendar year outside of 2006. Judges are instructed to disregard flashbacks in an episode as they are not to be used to determine a winner. Additionally, a nominee's reel is to be edited so that it includes only scenes in which that performer appeared. The number of nominations per category will not be more than 1/3 the number of entrants in the respective category unless there is a tie.

Fans must remember that the Emmy winners are chosen by their work in just two episodes in each calendar year. A performer could ostensibly turn in stellar work in just a single week of shows and appear only as filler during the rest of the year and not only receive an Emmy nomination but also an Emmy win. The nominations are not to be based upon an entire storyline, previous work or other factors. Critics of the Emmy process have long suggested that nominees and winners be determined by persons who are familiar with the day-to-day operations of the soaps, possibly including those in the media. The belief is that this would then provide for a more comprehensive set of nominees, rather than a list based upon a few good episodes.

Fans do, however, have a chance to speak their minds. The winners of this year's soapcentral.com "Dankies" Awards have been announced. How will the winners that you, the soap fan, selected match up to what the members of the Academy think. Click here to find out.

For the first time in our twelve-year history, Soap Central will offer a list of our predictions on which stars will get Emmy nominations. And because the list of who will receive a nomination does not always reflect who should have gotten a nomination, we have included some additional thoughts.

Meanwhile, Soap Central will have the complete list of Daytime Emmy nominations available after they are announced on Wednesday morning.

Outstanding Lead Actress Predictions
Maura West (Carly Tenney, ATWT) ^*
Susan Flannery (Stephanie Forrester, B&B)
Laura Wright (Carly Corinthos, GH)
Kim Zimmer (Reva Shayne, GL) ^*
Michelle Stafford (Phyllis Abbott, Y&R) ^*

Should also be on the ballot: Kristian Alfonso (Hope Brady, DAYS) and Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis, GH)

Outstanding Lead Actor Predictions
Thorsten Kaye (Zach Slater, AMC)
Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer, GH) ^*
Steve Burton (Jason Morgan, GH)
Trevor St. John (Todd Manning, OLTL)
Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott, Y&R) ^*

Outstanding Supporting Actress Predictions
Kelley Menighan Hensley (Emily Stewart, ATWT)
Lesli Kay (Felicia Forrester, B&B) ^*
Gina Tognoni (Dinah Marler, GL) ^*
Renee Elise Goldsberry (Evangeline Williamson, OLTL) ^*
Tracey E. Bregman (Lauren Fenmore, Y&R)

Should also be on the ballot: Cady McClain (Dixie Martin, AMC) and Renee Jones (Lexie Carver, DAYS)

Outstanding Supporting Actor Predictions
Jeffrey Carlson (Zarf, AMC)
Trent Dawson (Henry Coleman, ATWT) ^*
Jason Thompson (Patrick Drake, GH)
Tuc Watkins (David Vickers, OLTL)
Greg Rikaart (Kevin Fisher, Y&R) ^*

Should also be on the ballot: Ben Masters (Julian Crane. PS)

Outstanding Younger Actress Predictions
Eden Riegel (Bianca Montgomery, AMC)
Jennifer Landon (Gwen Norbeck, ATWT) ^*
Julie Berman (Lulu Spencer, GH) ^*
Stephanie Gatschet (Tammy Layne, GL) ^*
Christel Khalil (Lily Winters, Y&R)

Should also be on the ballot: Kristen Alderson (Starr Manning, OLTL)

Outstanding Younger Actor Predictions
Van Hansis (Luke Snyder, ATWT) ^*
Jesse Soffer (Will Munson, ATWT) ^*
Scott Clifton (Dillon Quartermaine, GH)
Tom Pelphrey (Jonathan Randall, GL) ^*
Bryton McClure (Devon Hamilton, Y&R) ^*

Should also be on the ballot: John Paul Lavoisier (Rex Balsom, OLTL) James Stevenson (Jared, PS) ^*