Golden Globes: 4 reasons we watch the redheaded stepchild of awards shows
BY MICHAEL SMITH World Scene Writer
Sunday, January 13, 2013
1/13/13 at 7:05 AM
No self-respecting winner of an Academy Award would allow themselves to be introduced as a "Golden Globe-winning performer."
Well, that is, unless it's at the Golden Globe Awards, one of the most popular annual Hollywood lovefests that allows the elite to hand out trophies and slap each other on the back over cocktails.
The Globes have never served as much of an Oscar precursor, as the results don't match up very well; maybe that's because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has 6,000 members voting on the Oscars, and the Globes are given out after the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's 80-plus members submit their favorites.
But we don't watch the Golden Globes for their importance, do we? (Who won big last year? Who can remember, without looking it up?)
We watch to see motion pictures and television programs and performers celebrated at what looks like the party room that we always wished we could score a table at for one night.
We watch the Golden Globes
To witness the unpredictable moments. Remember the year that Christine Lahti won her category for best actress in a TV drama, and when it was announced, she had to be fetched from the ladies' room? Or how about in 1998, when Ving Rhames was named the best actor in a TV movie, and he called up fellow nominee Jack Lemmon to hand him the trophy? That's something you will never see happen at the Oscars. There was the year that Jack Nicholson mooned the audience. Would that happen at the Oscars? Maybe - it is Jack that we're talking about.
To see the effects of stars sharing dinner ... and alcohol. There's a reason that winners of supporting acting awards, among the first handed out, have apologized on multiple occasions for "not having much to say ... I haven't had a drink yet." Give the show some time, and things liven up. People trip going up the stairs to the podium. Presenters give up on the lame jokes on teleprompters to disastrous or hilarious results, or they try to liven up a quiet show with inappropriate comedy (see Seth Rogen last year). Three-time host Ricky Gervais just kept a glass of beer within reach all night.
To get into the party. This is the one awards show where it feels like we snuck into the celebration. You can dress up, too, if you're partying at home, or you can prepare what the stars are being served. Here's the menu for the evening: grilled artichoke on frisee, served with fennel tomato lemon mousse, Kabocha pumpkin smoked dried tomato tart and pepper honey goat cheese as appetizers; a main course of smoked flat-iron steak and Pacific sea bass; and cappuccino mousse cake for dessert. Enjoy with a 2004 Grand Vintage Moet et Chandon Champagne, adorned by red rose arrangements.
To see how some will perform. After three years of Gervais as host, Sunday night we'll see gal-pals Tina Fey and Amy Poehler team up (watch for the friendly competition, as each is nominated in the category of best actress in a TV comedy). It's always a novelty to see who was selected as Miss Golden Globe to hand out awards, as this is always a past star's child (Francesca Eastwood, daughter of actors Clint Eastwood and Frances Fisher, is this year's choice). This year's Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement goes to Jodie Foster, who still seems too young for such an honor.
70TH ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS
7 p.m. Sunday (arrivals special begins airing at 6 p.m.)
NBC, channel 2 in Tulsa
Original Print Headline: It's no Oscars, but we love it all the same
Michael Smith 918-581-8479
michael.smith@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
The 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards will air at 7 p.m. Sunday on NBC, channel 2, cable channel 9. Hollywood Foreign Press Association/ Associated Press file
Tina Fey (left) and Amy Poehler are ready to crack each other up at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday. The two multi-hyphenate talents offered a taste of their quick-witted banter during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, during which Fey promised, "We're going to sing the whole show." Associated Press file
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