Shemar Moore Calls Mom After Emmy

By CAROL DEEGAN, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - He was the actor who shouted that Susan Lucci's 18-year losing streak was over and announced that she was the winner of the 1999 Daytime Emmy for leading actress.

This year, Shemar Moore of "The Young and the Restless" carved out another piece of Daytime Emmy history: He brought a cell phone to the stage after winning the award for outstanding supporting actor.

"Oh, my God! Hold on a second," pleaded Moore, holding his cell phone to his ear. "Please answer the phone. Please answer the phone. My lucky charm could not be here tonight. I'm tripping right now. I am calling my mother right now. Answer the phone. She's not answering the phone. Mom?

"Mom, I won this damn thing," he told her voicemail.

That's right. Voicemail.

Mom didn't pick up the phone.

Backstage at Radio City Music Hall, he told the press: "I spent 20 seconds trying to get hold of her. I'm going to kill her for not answering the phone." Then he laughed. He was sure his mother was watching the show, she just couldn't find the phone.

Moore, who joined the cast of the CBS soap opera in 1994, said he was thrilled to win.

"You're witnessing a dream come true," he said. "Not so much that I won the trophy, but what the trophy represents. The best way to describe my life is in two words: `Who knew?' This is just proof that I'm doing something right, the hard work is paying off. When it gets ugly and it gets hard and you get up anyway and you get to the end of the day, this just says, `I've got to get up tomorrow morning and do it again."'

Besides his work on "The Young and the Restless," he is the newest host of television's "Soul Train." Prior to launching his acting career, he was a successful print and runway model.

"I really didn't expect to win, but I didn't expect Susan to win last year and that was a great moment," he said. "Not because she didn't deserve it by any means. But what's the difference between 19, 18 (losses), you know?"

He revealed what was going through his mind as he was getting ready to announce the winner. "I'm out there, and I'm just praying that I say everybody's names right.

"When I turned over the card and the first thing I saw was Lucci, the first thing that went through my head was: `Get the (expletive) out of here!' ... I know I can't say that out loud, so let's come up with something better. This word `streak' was in my head, and you saw the rest of it."

Lucci, who was the host of this year's ceremonies, said she was "thrilled to see Shemar win."