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Golden Globes: Andra Day, Sacha Baron Cohen, Nomadland win big

Los Angeles - Comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler open virtual awards ceremony.

Hollywood's award season got under way Sunday at a very different Golden Globes, with winners dialling in remotely to a ceremony - featuring a few early glitches - that will boost or dash the Oscars hopes of early frontrunners like Nomadland and The Trial of the Chicago 7.

Usually a star-packed party that draws Tinseltown's biggest names to a Beverly Hills hotel ballroom, this pandemic edition is being broadcast from two scaled-down venues in California and New York, with essential workers and a few glamorous A-list presenters among the few in attendance.

The virtual ceremony was hit with an immediate technical glitch, as the first winner, Daniel Kaluuya, initially lost sound for his acceptance speech, forcing in-studio presenter Laura Dern to apologise before audio was restored.

"You're doing me dirty! Am I on?" joked best supporting actor Kaluuya, before paying tribute to late Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, who he played in "Judas and the Black Messiah."

"I hope generations after this can see how brilliantly he fought, how brilliantly he spoke, and how brilliantly he loved," he said of Hampton.

Andra Day took home the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama film for her portrayal of singing legend Billie Holiday in The United States vs Billie Holiday.

Sacha Baron Cohen nabbed the Golden Globe for best actor in a musical or comedy film for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, which also won best comedy film honours.

The critically acclaimed Nomadland - about a marginalized, older generation of Americans roaming the West in rundown vans - won the coveted Golden Globe award for best drama film, boosting its momentum ahead of the Oscars.

Mark Ruffalo won the limited series/TV movie actor award for his double role in I Know This Much Is True.

Rosamund Pike won best comedy film actress Globe for I Care A Lot.

Jodie Foster won the Golden Globe for best supporting actress in a film for her role in the real-life Guantanamo legal drama The Mauritanian.

Schitt’s Creek picked up the Best comedy or musical TV series; Jason Sudeikis took the Best actor, television series, musical or comedy for Ted Lasso and Rosamund Pike took best actress, motion picture musical or comedy for I Care a Lot.

Chloe Zhao won the coveted Golden Globe for best film director for her much touted picture Nomadland.

She bested fellow nominee Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), David Fincher (Mank), Regina King (One Night in Miami) and Aaron Sorkin (“ Trial of the Chicago 7).

Meanwhile, Norman Lear accepted the Carol Burnett Award for his storied career in television, saying he “could not feel more blessed.”

The 98-year-old still-working television legend, creator of All in the Family, The Jeffersons and “One Day at a Time, is the third winner of the award that honours “outstanding contributions to television on or off the screen.”

British royal drama The Crown won the Best TV series (drama) as lead stars Emma Corrin and Josh O'Connor picked up their first Globes wins as Princess Diana and Prince Charles respectively.

The 25-year-old Corrin, who played Princess Diana in season 4 of the Netflix series, appeared stunned and nearly tearful as she accepted the award in a remote location Sunday night.

Catherine O’Hara has ridden Schitt’s Creek to a Golden Globe. O’Hara won the Globe for best actress in a musical or comedy series.

The show, co-created by and co-starring Eugene Levy and his son Daniel Levy, swept the comedy categories at the Emmys.

Comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler - hosting from opposite coasts - opened the ceremony via split-screen while pretending to reach across to one another, before an opening routine that made fun of the Globes-awarding group of obscure foreign reporters, which has been under pressure for its lack of diversity.

"The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is made up of around 90 - no Black - journalists that attend movie junkets each year, in search for a better life. We say 90 because a few may be ghosts," said Fey.

Three senior HFPA officials took to the Globes stage early in the night, pledging "a more inclusive future," after several influential showbiz groups had piled on criticism over the weekend including Hollywood's actors and directors unions.

Despite that controversy, the Globes - which also honour the best in television - remain a coveted prize, and a high-profile source of momentum in the run-up to the season-crowning Oscars, which were pushed back this year to April 25.

While most at-home nominees still donned their designer gowns and suits at home for the occasion Sunday, some embraced the Globes' signature laid-backtone from their living rooms.

"We are just partying," said nominee Kate Hudson, who will also present an award later. "I'm a little nervous about when I have to present, I may be knee-deep in a couple of drinks."

The Globes ceremony is being held just five days before Oscars voting begins.