A flowery pianist, Eddie’s brevity and other Globes moments
Rich Polk/NBC via AP
This image released by NBC shows Eddie Murphy accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award during the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, in Beverly Hills, California.
Wednesday, January 11, 2023 | 8:10 am
LOS ANGELES – Highlights from the Golden Globe Awards, which returned to television Tuesday night after a one-year absence.
DON’T ENJOY THE PIANIST
Pianist Chloe Flower had a sweet gig at the Golden Globes, playing TV and movie theme songs on camera as the show went to commercial breaks, but it was temporarily soured when some in the viewing audience mistakenly assumed she was the one deciding when the winners they were bored to finish their speeches.
“Shut up, I can beat you up,” Michelle Yeoh, the star of many kung fu movies, said when piano music began to play for her about two minutes after accepting the Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for “Everything Everywhere At Once.”
“You can forget that piano,” Colin Farrell said over the music as he accepted the male version of the same award for The Banshees of Inisherin.
When Austin Butler won best actor in a motion picture for “Elvis” and the piano started, he begged for a song from the man he portrayed.
“At least play ‘Suspicious Minds’ or something,” Butler said.
But none of this was Flower.
“People on Twitter are crazy like she’s playing with people, but it’s a song,” host Jerrod Carmichael said during the show. “Chloe, we are lucky to have you.”
Flower tweeted about the topic mid-show.
“I would never play the piano over people’s speeches!” she wrote. “I’m only playing when you see me on camera!”
MURPHY SHOTS WITH TWO MINUTES AND A MIC DROP
Eddie Murphy certainly didn’t need to act. Many who win the Cecil B. DeMille Award, a lifetime achievement award, use the moment to give a major speech. Oprah Winfrey in 2018 inspired calls for a presidential run. But Murphy’s acceptance lasted just two minutes, less than many of the night’s regular winners.
He thanked a handful of people and quickly finished with a microphone joke about Will Smith and Chris Rock.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I could get up here and keep saying thank you until they play the piano,” Murphy said. “But I’m going to wrap it up and just say something to all the future dreamers and artists in the room tonight. I want to let you know that there is a definitive plan you can follow to achieve success, prosperity and peace of mind. Pay your taxes, mind your own business, and keep Will Smith’s wife’s name out of your (expletive) mouth!”
TEARS FOR LEGAL YEARS AND LOST FAMILIES
Despite the Globes being scaled back amid controversy in recent years, their win still brought plenty of tears, sometimes from unexpected people. Ke Huy Quan set the emotional tone as he cried while accepting the first award of the night, best supporting actor in a motion picture for “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” He tearfully thanked Steven Spielberg for giving him his start in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom before opening up about the decades he spent thinking he’d never make it.
Spielberg, who has remained reticent about winning bigger awards, was thrilled to win the Globe’s best director award for “The Fabelmans.” Because this was for his family. “I’ve been hiding from this story since I was 17.” he said, his voice cracking. He called each of his family members by name, ending with his late mother, Leah Adler, who inspired Michelle Williams’ character at the center of the film, saying “she’s up there talking about it right now.” .
Jennifer Coolidge, who always seems to be up to something when she speaks on stage, and was often Tuesday night’s host and winner, shed some genuine tears as she profusely thanked creator Mike White for putting her on “White Lotus.” , for which she won Best Actress in a Limited Series.
“You changed my life in a million different ways,” Coolidge said. “My neighbors are talking to me.”
White cried during the speech and was still red-eyed minutes later when she accepted the award for best limited series for the show.
FIXING ALL DEFICIENCIES
On a night when some boycotted the show, Golden Globes hosts took the rare step of explaining, sometimes in detail, why some winners weren’t there. Cate Blanchett, who won best actress in a drama for “Tár,” “couldn’t be here tonight because she’s in production in the UK,” host Henry Golding said.
Amanda Seyfried, winner of best actress in a limited series for “The Dropout,” “is deep in the process of making a new musical, so she couldn’t be here tonight,” host Mo Brings Plenty said.
Regina Hall made it clear she was reading from a teleprompter and mocked the explanation she had to give for Kevin Costner turning down his best actor in a TV drama award for “Yellowstone,” despite the serious flood theme severe this week in California. .
“He really wanted to be here,” Hall said, shaking his head and laughing, “but because of the unprecedented weather, he has to shelter in place in Santa Barbara.”
“Let’s all pray,” she said, before catching herself and saying “no, that’s terrible.”
CARMICHAEL ACCIDENTALLY CONTROVERSIAL COURTS
Host Jerrod Carmichael pulled no punches with his jokes, starting with his opening monologue in which he said he was hired “because I’m black.” Some of his first jokes, delivered in his laid-back style, fell flat, including a dig at Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology, and his calling the Beverly Hilton, longtime home of the Globes, “the hotel that killed Whitney Houston.” The superstar died in a room there in 2012.
But a joke based on Ye, formerly Kanye West’s, anti-Semitic remarks drew a hearty laugh when Carmichael told Spielberg he had seen “The Fabelmans,” which is based on Spielberg’s Jewish family.
“I actually saw it with Kanye,” Carmichael said, “and it changed everything for him.”
Spielberg responded with a “thank God” gesture.
