NEW YORK — Lady Gaga won for the song “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born,” “The Americans” won best drama series for its sixth and final season and co-host Sandra Oh spoke passionately about “faces of change” at a Golden Globes that shrugged off the seriousness of last year’s black-draped ceremony for a more lighthearted show.
Oh and Andy Samberg opened the 76th Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on a note of congeniality, including a mock roast of attendees and a string of jokes that playfully commented on critiques of Hollywood. Oh performed an impression of a sexist caveman film executive who casts like the title of Damien Chazelle’s Neil Armstrong drama: “First … man!” Noting the success of “Crazy Rich Asians,” Oh alluded to films with white stars in Asian roles like “Ghost in the Shell” and “Aloha,” the latter of which prompted Emma Stone, who starred in “Aloha,” to shout out “I’m sorry!” from the crowd.
But Ottawa-born Oh, who later also won for her performance on the BBC America drama series “Killing Eve,” closed their opening monologue on a serious note explaining why she was hosting with Samberg.
“I said yes to the fear of being on this stage tonight because I wanted to be here to look out at this audience and witness this moment of change,” said Oh, tearing up and gazing at minority nominees in attendance. “Right now, this moment is real. Trust me, this is real. Because I see you. And I see you. All of these faces of change. And now, so will everyone else.”
Soon thereafter, the stars of “Black Panther” took the stage to introduce the best picture-nominated film by pronouncing, in unison: “Wakanda forever!” They, along with the casts of “Crazy Rich Asians,” “BlacKkKlansman,” “Roma” and others made for a diverse array of nominees.
As expected, Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt won best song for the signature tune from “A Star Is Born,” the film most expected to dominate the Globes.
“Can I just say that as a woman in music, it’s really hard to be taken seriously as a musician and as songwriter and these three incredible men, they lifted me up. They supported me.”
Best supporting actress in a motion picture went to the Oscar frontrunner Regina King for her matriarch of Barry Jenkins’ James Baldwin adaptation “If Beale Street Could Talk.” King spoke about the Time’s Up movement and vowed that the crews of everything she produces in the next two years will be half women. She challenged others to do likewise.
“Stand with us in solidarity and do the same,” said King, who was also nominated for the TV series “Seven Seconds.”
A year after the Globes were awash in a sea of black and #MeToo discussion replaced fashion chatter, the red carpet largely returned to more typical colours and conversation. Some attendees wore ribbons that read TIMESUPx2, to highlight the second year of the gender equality campaign that last year organized the Globes black-clad demonstration.
Alyssa Milano, the actress who was integral in making #MeToo go viral, said on the red carpet that in the past year a “really wonderful sisterhood has formed” and that they’re “really finding our voice through our pain and our collective pain.” But she added that she’s more concerned with women in underseen industries — farmworkers, those in the military, hotel employees — than those walking the red carpet alongside her.
The night’s first win went to Michael Douglas for the Netflix series “The Kominsky Method,” besting Douglas dedicated the honour to his 102-year-old father. The second award went to the acclaimed “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” for best animated film.
For its sixth and final season, FX’s “The Americans” took best drama series over shows like Amazon’s conspiracy thriller “Homecoming” and Oh’s own “Killing Eve.” Richard Madden, the breakout star of the terrorism suspense series “Bodyguard,” won best actor in a drama series. Ben Wishaw took best supporting actor in a limited series for “A Very English Scandal.”
The press association typically likes to have first crack at series that weren’t eligible for the 2018 Emmys. They did this year in not just “The Kominsky Method” and “Bodyguard” but also the Showtime prison drama “Escape at Dannemora.” Its star, Patricia Arquette, won for best actress in a limited series.
The 2018 Globes were the first major televised awards in Hollywood following the downfall of Harvey Weinstein and the subsequent push for greater gender equality in the film industry. Usually the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s ceremony is known for its freewheeling frivolity and fun. The free-flowing booze helps.
Last year’s show, like a lot of recent awards shows, saw ratings decline. Some 19 million tuned in to the Seth Meyers-hosted broadcast, an 11-per cent decline in viewership. This year, NBC has one thing in its favour: an NFL lead in. Ahead of the Globes, NBC broadcast the late afternoon wild card game between the Chicago Bears and the Philadelphia Eagles, which proved to be a nail-bitingly close game — likely delivering the network a huge audience.
Nominees that have been in sizable box office hits may also potentially help the Globes, none more than Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther,” up for best picture (drama) and score. “A Star is Born,” which is expected to dominate the drama side of the movie awards, recently passed $200 million in domestic ticket sales.
Adam McKay’s highly critical Dick Cheney portrait “Vice,” starring Christian Bale, came in with a leading six nominations. While music-heavy films “A Star Is Born” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” opted to contend in the Globes’ drama categories, “Vice” tops the comedy-musical nominees, though it’s closely trailed by multiple nominees, including “The Favourite” and “Green Book,” Peter Farrelly’s interracial road trip tale starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali.
At stake are not just Golden Globes awards but Oscar momentum. Voting for the Academy Awards nominations begins Monday.
Jeff Bridges was to receive the Globes’ honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award. A similar television achievement award is also being launched, dubbed the Carol Burnett Award. Its first honoree is Burnett, herself.
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Lindsey Bahr contributed to this report from Los Angeles