THE Golden globes are back from the dead and ready to party.
The long-running awards ceremony will have the champagne flowing again Sunday night when the 81st Globes kick off at 8 p.m. EST. Many things will be as always when well-dressed celebrities gather at the Beverly Hilton International Ballroom in Los Angeles.
But the Globes return without Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which was disbanded after years of diversity and ethics scandals. The Globes also lost their longtime network. This year's show is broadcast on CBS on a one-year deal.
Will the revamped Globes be able to recapture the sparkling, irreverent spirit of all those shows hosted by Ricky Gervais or Tina Fey and Amy Poehler? These broadcasts help make the Globes the third biggest awards show of the year, after the Oscars and the Grammys. The glitzy good time of the Globes allowed many to overlook the irregularities of an awards ceremony that often served as a punchline.
Regardless of the behind-the-scenes drama, most viewers look to the dresses, the speeches and the stars – the range of which is plentiful this year. Among the expected attendees is Taylor Swift, whose “Taylor Swift: the tour of eras” is nominated for the new “Film Achievement and Box Office” award. Swift's boyfriend, Travis Kelce, will play with the Kansas City Chiefs at nearby SoFi Stadium earlier today.
Swift, alongside the stars of the probable winners “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie”, are some of the main attractions of Sunday's ceremony, hosted by Jo Koy. The comedian, who is not expected to adopt as caustic a tone as previous hosts, will be tasked with leading the Globes into a new era. Even the menu ( Nobu does the catering ) was reversed.
HOW TO WATCH
CBS will broadcast the ceremony live following an afternoon of NFL broadcasts. The show will also stream live via the Showtime plan on Paramount+. The Globes can also be watched through live TV streaming services that include CBS in their lineup, such as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV.
Red carpet coverage will be online. The official pre-show will be hosted by “Entertainment Tonight” and Variety starting at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. The red carpet will flow in waves on the Golden Globes website, ETOnline.comVariety's website and social platforms and other Penske Media publications.
WHAT’S IN RESERVE FOR THE SHOW
Announced presenters include Oprah Winfrey, Will Ferrell, Ben Affleck, America Ferrara, Michelle Yeoh, Issa Rae, Florence Pugh, Angela Bassett and Amanda Seyfriend.
You won't see two awards usually given out at the Globes: the Cecil B. DeMille Award or the Carol Burnett Award. These two tributes will not be awarded this year, although two new categories are: the blockbuster prize and that of the special stand-up comedy. Another new feature: most categories include six, not five, nominees.
THE COMPETITORS
Greta Gerwig's “Barbie”, the biggest film of the year with more than $1.4 billion in tickets sold, tops the nominations with nine nominations, including best comedy or musical, best director for Gerwig, best actress for Margot Robbie, best supporting actor for Ryan Gosling and three nominations for original songs.
Christopher Nolan's “Oppenheimer” follows closely with eight nominations, including best drama, best director for Nolan, best actor for Cillian Murphy and supporting nominations for Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt.
“Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” should clean house, but expect possible wins for favorites including Lily Gladstone for “Killers of the Flower Moon” Emma Stone for “Poor Things” and “Da’Vine Joy Randolph for “The Holdovers.”
On the television side, HBO’s “Succession” comes in first with nine nominations. “The Bear” and “Only Murders in the Building” follow with five each.
THE RETURN OF THE GLOBES
A few years ago, the Golden Globes were on the verge of collapse. After the Los Angeles Times reported that the HFPA had no black members, Hollywood boycotted the organization. The 2022 Globes have been virtually canceled and removed the TV. After the reforms, the Globes returned to NBC last year on a one-year deal, but the show was moved to Tuesday nights. With hosting by Jerrod Carmichael, the TV show attracted 6.3 million viewers, a new low on NBC and a far cry from the 20 million people who once tuned in.
The Golden Globes were acquired by Penske Media-owned Eldridge Industries and Dick Clark Productions and turned into a for-profit company. The HFPA (which typically had about 90 voters) has been disbanded, and a new group of some 300 entertainment journalists from around the world now vote on the awards.
Questions remain about the long-term future of the Globes, but their value to Hollywood studios continues to provide a marketing boost to awards contenders. (The Oscars won't be held until March 10.) This year, due to actors' and writers' strikes, the Globes are airing before the Emmys, which were postponed to January 15.
With still the sale of cinema tickets 20% off pre-pandemic rate and with the industry facing a potentially tough 2024 at the box office, Hollywood needs the Golden Globes more than ever.
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