Golden Globes 2019: tabloid!’s top moments of the night

‘A Star Is Born’ came into Sunday’s ceremony as the presumed heavyweight and Oscar favourite. But Cooper’s remake went home with just one award, for the song ‘Shallow.’ Instead, the night’s final two awards went to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ — the popular but poorly reviewed drama about Queen’s frontman.

“Thank you to Freddie Mercury for giving me the joy of a lifetime,” said Malek. “This is for you, gorgeous.”

Few nominees were considered more of a sure thing than Lady Gaga as best actress in a drama. But Glenn Close pulled off the shocker in that category, too, for her performance in ‘The Wife,’ as the spouse of a Nobel Prize-winning author, and was met with a standing ovation.

“We have to find personal fulfilment. We have to follow our dreams,” said Close, drawing still louder cheers from women in the crowd. “We have to say I can do that and I should be allowed to do that.” It’s Close’s second Globe in 14 nods. She’s never won an Oscar.

The year’s biggest North American box-office hit, ‘Black Panther,’ went unrewarded, though presenters Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira took a moment, in unison, for a shout of “Wakanda Forever!”

A FIRST FOR RAMI MALEK

Rami Malek said his “heart was pounding out” of his chest after winning a Golden Globe for best film drama actor for his portrayal of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’

Malek gave a surprised expression after his named was called for the award most thought would go to Bradley Cooper, who starred in ‘A Star is Born.’ It’s Malek’s first Golden Globe win after being nominated twice for his role on the television drama ‘Mr Robot.’

“I am beyond moved,” he said before thanking Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor, as well as Mercury for providing the role of a lifetime. He thought highly of Mercury saying he was a “deity”.

“I tried to find the humanity in him,” he said. “I related it to him being an immigrant struggling to discover his identity. I tried to take everything he was struggling with, his complication, his chaos, his turmoil and this beauty inside of him. He lifted me up to be everything I could be in this film.”

LADY GAGA A SECOND-TIME WINNER

Though she lost to Glenn Close in the best actress category, Lady Gaga’s songwriting chops have won her the second Golden Globe of her career. The singer, in tears, won best original song for co-writing ‘Shallow’ from ‘A Star Is Born,’ sharing the win with Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt.

“As a woman in music it is really hard to be taken seriously as a musician and as a songwriter,” Gaga said onstage, adding that her co-writers “lifted me up, they supported me.”

The award was presented by Taylor Swift and Idris Elba at the Beverly Hilton.

NO POLITICS

A year after Oprah Winfrey’s fiery anti-Donald Trump speech at the Globes, politics were largely absent from the ceremony before Christian Bale took the stage for winning best actor in a musical or comedy for his lead performance in Adam McKay’s ‘Vice.’ He thanked the antichrist.

“What do you think? Mitch McConnell next?” joked the Welsh-born actor, referring to the Senate’s majority leader. “Thank you to Satan for giving me inspiration for this role.”

DIVERSITY RULES

As the Golden Globes began on Sunday, Sandra Oh earnestly told the audience, “I said yes to the fear of being on this stage tonight because — because I wanted to be here to look out into this audience and witness this moment of change,” referring to one of the more diverse slates of nominees in Globes history, in an industry that has traditionally been difficult to break into for people of colour.

It turned out — at least this year — the diversity wasn’t just in the nominees, but also in the winners selected by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Several performers of colour won in some of the most prestigious categories, including the night’s best actor in a movie drama, the Egyptian-American star Rami Malek.

And the diversity extended to the stories being told. Best animated movie went to ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,’ in which a version of the superhero is an Afro-Latino teenager. (The directing team behind the movie included an African-American filmmaker, Peter Ramsey.) Best comedy went to ‘Green Book,’ about the relationship between an African-American pianist and his Italian-American driver.

DARREN CRISS’ FILIPINO PRIDE

Darren Criss, who won for his role in ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’, spoke onstage about diversity, noting, “This has been a marvellous year for representation in Hollywood, and I am so enormously proud to be a teeny, tiny part of that as the son of a firecracker Filipino woman from Cebu that dreamed of coming to this country and getting to be invited to cool parties like this. Mom, I know you are watching this. You are hugely responsible for most of the good things in my life. I love you dearly. I dedicate this to you.

“I always tell people, being half Filipino is one of my favourite things about myself because I had no control over that,” he explained. “I feel like I’ve been given a superhero cape,” he added.

“If there’s any young [people,] either half-Filipino or full, or anyone in the Filipino community that looks to my work as a source of inspiration or direction, sign me up,” he added, “I’m on board for that. It’s a great privilege and it means the world to me. I’m very proud.”

THE NICE HOSTS

Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg kicked off their opening monologue declaring that they were “the only two people left in Hollywood who haven’t gotten in trouble for saying something offensive” and announcing that one lucky audience member “Will! Host! The Oscars!”

They opened the Globes on a note of congeniality, including a mock roast of attendees and a string of jokes that playfully critiqued Hollywood. 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 Oh, who later also won for her performance on the BBC America drama series ‘Killing Eve,’ closed their opening monologue on a serious note.

“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,” said Oh, tearing up and gazing at minority nominees in attendance.

HONOURING JEFF BRIDGES

Jeff Bridges received the Globes’ honorary Cecil B DeMille Award. In remarks about everything from Michael Cimino to Buckminster Fuller and, of course, to his ‘Big Lebowski’ character the Dude, Bridges compared his life to a great game of tag.

“We’ve all been tagged,” said Bridges. “We’re alive.” He ended by “tagging” everyone watching. “We can turn this ship in the way we want to go, man,” said Bridges.

A similar television achievement award was also launched this year, dubbed the Carol Burnett Award. Its first honouree was Burnett, herself.

“I’m kind of really gob-smacked by this,” said Burnett. “Does this mean that I get to accept it every year?”

Bridges recognised Peter Bogdanovich for giving his start by casting him in the 1971 film ‘The Last Picture Show.’ He thanked Joel and Ethan Coen for giving him his signature role as the Dude in 1998’s ‘The Big Lebowski,’ which became a cult classic thanks to his nonchalant, knit-sweater wearing character Jeffrey ‘The Dude’ Lebowski.

Bridges, 69, comes from a strong acting lineage. He is the son of the late actors Lloyd and late Dorothy Bridges; his younger brother is Beau Bridges.

Bridges made his acting debut as an infant by appearing with his mother in the 1951 film ‘The Company She Keeps.’

He won a Globe in 2010 for best actor for his role in ‘Crazy Heart,’ when he remarked at the time during his acceptance speech about “chipping away” at his underappreciated status. He went on to win an Academy Award that year. Over the years, he has also received Globe nominations for his performances in ‘Starman,’ ‘The Fisher King,’ ‘Contender’ and ‘Hell or High Water.’

“I looked at my life through the filtered movies,” Bridges said.

The DeMille Award is given annually to an “individual who has made an incredible impact on the world of entertainment.” Past recipients include Oprah Winfrey, Morgan Freeman, Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster, Barbra Streisand, Sidney Poitier and Lucille Ball.

FIJI WATER GIRL WINS THE INTERNET

The Golden Globes red carpet featured its share of scene-stealers: Lady Gaga in a dress with a train several metres long , Timothee Chalamet in a sequin holster, Melissa McCarthy dressed like a gorgeous, purple wizard, and Billy Porter in an embellished silk cape with a hot pink lining. But all of them were arguably outshone by the consistent appearance of a woman in a violet dress handing out bottles of Fiji water.

The ‘Fiji Water Girl’ concept quickly caught the eye of viewers following the awards ceremony, as she appeared in the background of a variety of celebrity shots, photobombing Nicole Kidman, Dakota Fanning, Jim Carrey, Richard Madden, Emmy Rossum, Idris Elba and Judy Greer, among others.

She was immediately noticed on Twitter, where some people called for her to be given the award for best supporting role.

But people’s fascination had nothing to do with the water. It was the Fiji Water Girl herself who had captured people.

There she was, standing behind Cody Fern. As Fern was photographed, instead of looking away demurely, the Fiji Water Girl stared directly down the lens with an arched eyebrow and a half-smile, daring the camera to consider her a less worthy subject than the actor in front of her. She did the same, again and again throughout the evening, with an unerring sense of where the camera is and her best angles.

“There are two kinds of people in the world: the ones who desperately tries to shine and the ones who shine bright like a diamond. #GoldenGlobes,” a Twitter handle called @watergirlGG tweeted.

Later, she added: “I’ve photobombed nobody. I was actually the only one there working. #BillsDontStopComing #GoldenGlobes.”

RYAN SEACREST’S TIME’S UP BRACELET

TV host Ryan Seacrest accessorised his velvet suit with a Time’s Up bracelet at the 2019 Golden Globes red carpet, a year after he was accused of sexual misconduct. Seacrest showed off his bracelet on the one-year anniversary of the organisation’s creation after a stylist filed a police report with the LAPD alleging he sexually harassed her.

Suzie Hardy first came forward to Variety, claiming she endured abuse for years as Seacrest’s stylist at the E! network.

The popular host has strenuously denied the accusation and a third-party investigator later found the claim to be unsubstantiated.

Viewers on social media immediately called out Seacrest for sporting the bracelet.

“Ryan Seacrest wearing a Time’s Up wristband should cause him to burst into flames like a sinner in church,” wrote a Twitter user.

“Ryan Seacrest is wearing? A Time’s Up bracelet? While everyone just kinda ignores that he was one of the accused men last year? SURE OK,” commented another.

“What gives Ryan Seacrest the ego to wear a #TimesUp bracelet? Does he think we forgot?” tweeted another one. “My dude, the time for you is not today”.

A user wroter, “Ryan Seacrest wearing a #TimesUp bracelet really is the definition of irony, isn’t it?”

At last year’s Oscars red carpet, actor Taraji P Henson shaded Seacrest about the accusations against him.

“The universe has a way of taking care of good people,” Henson said to Seacrest, touching his chin. “Know what I mean?”

— With inputs by agencies.