Hollywood giants from Steven Spielberg to James Cameron flocked back to the Golden Globes on Tuesday, packing the ballroom for the first major awards gala of the year despite a series of scandals swirling around the organizers.
The Globes, which kick off the annual film prize-giving season, have not had their usual glitz for the past two years, due to the pandemic and revelations about organisers' lack of diversity and alleged ethical lapses.
But NBC, which scrapped its broadcast of the show last year, has brought back the 80th Golden Globe Awards on a one-off basis after the organisation scrambled to reform - and the stars showed up.
Big winners so far
Austin Butler, stepping into Elvis Presley's blue suede shoes for rock-and-roll biopic "Elvis," won best actor in a drama. Colin Farrell won the Globe for best comedy film actor for "The Banshees of Inisherin," about a shattered friendship on a remote Irish island.
And Michelle Yeoh won best comedy actress for the surreal "Everything Everywhere All At Once."
Steven Spielberg won the Golden Globe for best director Tuesday for his very personal epic "The Fabelmans." He beat out a field of Hollywood royalty for the honor: James Cameron for "Avatar: The Way of Water," Baz Luhrmann for "Elvis," Martin McDonagh for comedy "The Banshees of Inisherin" and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for their quirky "Everything Everywhere All at Once."
Cate Blanchett won the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama on Tuesday for her role in classical music psychodrama "Tar." She bested awards perennial Olivia Colman ("Empire of Light") as well as Viola Davis for "The Woman King," Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe in "Blonde" and Michelle Williams for her role in Steven Spielberg's "The Fabelmans."
India is all set to bring in the Golden Globe 2023 home as the song 'Naatu Naatu' from S.S. Rajamouli's magnum opus 'RRR' won the Best Original Song, Motion Picture at the 80th Golden Globes.
'Naatu Naatu' was in competition with 'Carolina' from "Where the Crawdads Sing", "Ciao Papa" from "Guillermo del Toro's "Pinocchio", "Hold My Hand" from "Top Gun: Maverick," "Lift Me Up" from "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever".
Attendees hit a 'grey' carpet
A-listers Rihanna, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie headed the list of those in attendance, after staff with vacuums frantically worked to dry out the red carpet - which is in fact gray - following days of heavy rain in Los Angeles.
Unlike the Oscars, the pinnacle of awards season on March 12, the Globes movie prizes are split between two categories: "drama" and "comedy or musical."
