The royalty of Hollywood stars convened Sunday for the Golden Globes as the film awards season kicked into high gear, and boxing drama The Fighter took the first big prize, dpa reported.
From cancer survivor Michael Douglas to teen star Justin Bieber, and from Halle Berry to Angelina Jolie, anyone who was anyone in Tinseltown ran the red carpet gauntlet at the Beverley Hilton Hotel for the 68th annual Golden Globes, widely considered Hollywood's second most important awards show after the Oscars.
The leading contenders are The King's Speech, about the stuttering British monarch King George VI with seven nominations, and Facebook story The Social Network, which has six nominations and has collected silverware at many of the early awards shows.
But the first trophy of the night went to Christian Bale, who picked up the best supporting actor award for his role in boxing drama The Fighter.
The glittering spectacle took place in the shadow of a legal scandal after the event's former publicist filed a lawsuit late last week alleging that member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the awards, accepted bribes and favours from movie studios in return for supporting movies.