Culture

2009 Golden Globe Awards Set for Star-Studded Return Sunday

by Jarrett Martineau | January 9, 2009 at 09:28 am

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Roll out the Hollywood red carpet and break out the glitz, glamour, and paparazzi flashbulbs — the Golden Globe Awards are back in action for 2009.

After last year's incredibly mundane GG award ceremony which, due to the Hollywood Writers Guild strike, amounted to little more than a glorified "press conference" hosted by a slew of B-grade, TV entertainment reporters, anything would be an improvement.

This year's awards ceremony, which will be telecast live on Sunday night at 8pm EST on NBC, already boasts a long list of Hollywood heavyweights who will be in attendance.

In addition to the many nominees, other presenters will include:

Scheduled presenters include the Jonas Brothers, Hayden Panettiere, Martin Scorsese, Simon Baker, Drew Barrymore, Sacha Baron Cohen, Salma Hayek, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Lopez, Amy Poehler and Seth Rogen, as well as Ricky Gervais, who provided one of the few bright moments during last September's dreary Emmycast.

And, virtually guaranteeing things don't get dreary or parched, an open bar for the guests is part of the formula.

Ah yes, the open bar — that's always good for ratings and a subtle guarantee of tear-filled acceptance speeches as the night wears on.

To refresh your memory, here's a quick recap of last year's Golden Globe snooze-fest:

A year ago, of course, the famously rollicking ceremony was caught up in the strike by Hollywood writers, who vowed to picket if it aired.
The plug was pulled on Adelman's extravaganza just days before the big night. What NBC aired instead was an hourlong laundry list of winners, read aloud by the co-hosts of "Access Hollywood."

No stars! No glitz! No service to fans of the annual Globes gala. No wonder just 5.8 million of them watched the bare-bones substitute, less than one-third its audience in 2007.

That was then. The Globes will be revived for viewers Sunday at 8 p.m. EST, with NBC airing the festivities live from the celebrity-packed ballroom of the Beverly Hilton hotel.