As 2009 draws to a close, dozens of Hollywood trade organizations are gearing up to fete Hollywood’s brightest stars at the annual slew of awards shows that pile up around January and February. More and more however, musicians are finding themselves invited to the party.
The latest round of nominees to be unveiled are for the Critics' Choice Awards and the Golden Globe Awards, which arrive practically back-to-back Jan. 15 and Jan. 17 consecutively.
Critic’s Choice nods for acting (chosen by the members of the Broadcast Film Critics Association) include Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep. BFCA noms for music go to Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ frontwoman Karen O (“All Is Love”), Randy Newman (“Almost There”), Paul McCartney (“(I Want To) Come Home") and T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham (“The Weary Kind”) who are all up for Best Song.
Newman and Karen O, who’s having a banner year with three Grammy nominations already under her belt, are also in the running for the Best Score trophy alongside heavyweight composers like Marvin Hamlisch and Hanz Zimmer.
The 15th annual awards ceremony, hosted by Kristin Chenoweth, will be presented Jan. 15 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles and will air on VH1.
This year, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Golden Globe Awards, which usually foreshadow who will walk away from the Academy Awards with Oscars, will have something they haven’t had since 1995 – a host.
And what a host they’ve chosen. British comedian and professional wise-ass Ricky Gervais will step into the shoes that have been vacant since John Laroquette and Janine Turner co-hosted 15 years ago.
Gervais revealed to People magazine that he has a pair of secret weapons to deal with the pressure of his first hosting gig – insults and alcohol.
“Anyone who’s younger or thinner and richer and more attractive than me – that’s the one I’m going for,” the comedian explained. “I want to host it a little bit more like someone from the Rat Pack would host – playing the room, a little bit more off-the-cuff, roasting a few of the A-listers.”
Gervais believes adding alcohol to the mix will really make things interesting.
“Over the [show’s] three hours, I imagine my tie’s going to come off and I’ll get drunker and drunker,” he told People. “I don’t know what the last hour’s going to be like, but the first hour will be watchable.”
Joining Gervais and thespian nominees from film and television are Best Original Song candidates U2 (“Winter”), Paul McCartney (“(I Want to) Come Home”) and T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham (“The Weary Kind”).
Significantly adding to her chances of taking home at least one award this year, Karen O’s soundtrack music for “Where the Wild Things Are” landed the singer a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score – Motion Picture.
NBC will air the 67th annual Golden Globes ceremony live from Beverly Hills on Jan. 17.