Critics: 

Salon: Messing is a gifted screwball comedian, Remini a delightful smart-mouthed firecracker. I adore Parker as Carrie Bradshaw on "Sex and the City" -- she sparkles, she pops, she breaks your heart. She is eminently Emmy-worthy. But I think it's time to let Heaton -- who should have won last year -- feel the love. Heaton's long-suffering, combustible Debra Barone is one of the great female sitcom originals. With perfectly timed sarcasm and judicious use of the exasperated eye roll, Heaton is the perfect foil for Romano's silly ass of a spouse. Yet Heaton is careful not to let Debra cross the line into strident man-bashing. She is achingly believable as an overburdened wife, mother and daughter-in-law who can occasionally still find the grace to remember that this is the life she always wanted. Without perennial winner Hunt to spoil the party, this could be Heaton's year -- except that I think Emmy voters will pass her over again in favor of Parker (who won a Golden Globe this year) or Kaczmarek, who plays a larger-than-life suburban mom in "Malcolm."

Metromix : Heaton isn't as comically out there as Elfman, the person in this category most able to carry a program, but the work she does is so pitch perfect that it deserves recognition. 

Washington Post : Tom O'Neil, who screened all of the tapes submitted this year by nominated actors, said two categories would determine whether the voters really did watch the tapes or simply voted on the basis of "buzz and popularity." They are best sitcom actress, which O'Neil claimed belongs to Patricia Heaton of "Everybody Loves Raymond," and best drama actress, which he said belongs to Sela Ward of "Once and Again." 

"We have two performances that tower over the competition in their categories. . . . They would win the [Blue Ribbon] panel voting by a landslide," he told The TV Column late last week.

O'Neil was so steamed over the voting change, he even got together 11 television reporters before last night's broadcast and screened the tapes. Heaton, he said, won by more than a 2-to-1 margin. "I think Heaton's episode is such a fireworks display that it clearly outshone all the others," said O'Neil. "I think under the old system, there's no way it could lose."

Red Carpet:

E! Online : Everybody Loves Patricia: She may play a Long Island housewife on Everybody Loves Raymond, but Patricia Heaton goes Hollywood with the best of 'em. She left the homely look in the dust with a glittery Dolce & Gabbana gold-embroidered bustier dress.  A platinum-and-diamond cross hung around her neck. 

"I dress this way when I go to rehearsal and I have to take it off when we tape," she joked

Charlotte Observer: Heaton goes for practical, yet sexy in Emmy fashion. Patricia Heaton tried on 20 different dresses before settling on a body-hugging, low-cut number with yellow stitched flowers and silver beading for Sunday's Emmy Awards.

Hardly the kind of outfit the long-suffering housewife she plays on CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond" would wear. But practicality ruled. "Whichever dress I could get the scaffolding underneath without it showing, that's the one I picked," said Heaton, who won lead actress in a comedy series.

Presenting with Ray Romano:  Ray Romano and Patricia Heaton of "Everybody Loves Raymond" presented an award with dialogue reminiscent of their bickering husband and wife TV characters.

"All I'm saying is our show prides itself on realism ... tongue makes it real," Romano said,  trying to steal a more sensual kiss from his TV wife.

"You know how I feel about this," Heaton protested. "My husband talked to you, my father has called you...." 

Interesting Tidbit: Ray Romano of "Everybody Loves Raymond," in an interview with Mark & Mercedes of KMXB- radio, FM 94.1 on Friday, confirmed the rumor that he had offered co-star Patricia Heaton $10,000 if she did her Emmy acceptance speech in a fake British accent.