'Dreamgirls' Wins Big at the Golden Globes

Photo: Paul Drinkwater/WireImage

It was a dream-making night for onetime American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson, who kicked off the Golden Globes with a win for her role in Dreamgirls.

“I had always dreamed, but I never ever dreamed this big,” Hudson said as she accepted her best supporting actress trophy. “This goes far beyond anything I could have ever imagined.”

It turned into a big night for the film, which took the best movie (musical or comedy) category and best supporting actor trophy for Eddie Murphy. “Wow,” he said. “I’ll be damned.”

Sacha Baron Cohen won best actor for Borat – and gave the best acceptance speech as he described getting up close and personal with his costar’s “wrinkled golden globes” in the film’s naked wrestling scene.

Top drama winners included Helen Mirren (best actress for The Queen), Babel, (best drama) and Forest Whitaker (best actor for The Kind of Scotland). In comedy, America Ferrera won for her lead role in ABC’s Ugly Betty, which also took home the TV comedy prize, and Meryl Streep earned a trophy for The Devil Wears Prada.

PEOPLE movie critic Jason Lynch gives the full report in his live blogging of the night:

11:05 p.m. – We’ve reached the evening’s end. Arnold bids us farewell: “Don’t forget next year. We’ll be back!” Oh, C’mon Arnold!

11:00 p.m. – Three hours, and now there’s only one more award to go: A hobbling Gov. Arnold Schwarzengger (who broke his leg skiing) hands the best motion picture, drama trophy, in mild surprise, to Babel. (Many people thought The Departed would take it. I’m just stunned that something Helen Mirren was involved in didn’t win.) But it’s the best news Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have heard all night. They’re beaming from ear to ear as director Alejandro Gonzélez Iñérritu starts off his speech by cracking, “Governor, I swear I have my papers in order.”

10:52 p.m. – We’re just flying through categories now. Felicity Huffman hands out best actor in a motion picture, drama at Scorsese-speed to Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland. Whitaker is taking his time and trying to catch his breath. Doesn’t he realize there’s no time for breathing with the show running late? Still, he’s genuinely overcome with emotion, and his speech is stirring, though halting: Run, Forest, run!

10:45 p.m. Best actress in a motion picture, drama goes to Helen Mirren (of course!) for The Queen. Accepting her fourteenth (okay, her second) award of the night, she proves a benevolent ruler once again, with another regal speech. All hail Queen Helen!

10:43 p.m. Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette break the record for shortest time onstage presenting best television series, drama to Grey’s Anatomy. “I’m staring at Jack Nicholson!” marvels creator Shonda Rhimes. Yeah, we heard a rumor about that.

10:37 p.m. – Jennifer Lopez reveals the winner of best motion picture, musical or comedy: The winner is…”Brad you owe me,” says Lopez. Um, what film is that? Dreamgirls, apparently. Producer Laurence Mark accepts and kisses a none-too-thrilled Lopez. Although the music comes up fast, Mark manages to squeeze in several thank-yous – but doesn’t mention Beyoncé. What’s a girl gotta do to get thanked, for crying out loud?

10:27 p.m. – Finally, the moment I’ve been waiting for – best performance by an actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy. Sacha Baron Cohen‘s victory is a given (thankfully, he does win), but will he accept as himself or Borat? Looks like it’s going to be as Cohen, given the British accent. There’s a potential minefield – he starts taking about “the ugly side of America” – but just when we’re worried about a heavy speech, he brings the house down with a racy joke about his Borat costar Ken Davitian’s “two wrinkled golden globes.” He finishes off by his thanking “every American who has not sued me so far.” Perfect.

10:24 p.m. – Martin Scorsese wins for The Departed. “I’ll try to talk a little faster than I normally do,” he quips. He too pays homage to Jack, but he’s the first person tonight to actually thank him for a film-related reason (Jack, of course, was in The Departed).

10:10 p.m. – Beatty takes the stage and admits, “The truth is, I haven’t made an awful lot of movies.” (Especially lately) He playfully scolds Clint Eastwood and Jack Nicholson, who are still churning out hits while he’s at home with Annette and the kids. “I don’t know why these guys can’t take it a little easier.” He announces he’ll act again, then starts quoting Borat as if he’s auditioning for the sequel. Finally, he wraps it up by thanking (at last!) the Hollywood Foreign Press and Annette, “for making me feel like I am always your most promising newcomer.” It’s sweet – but at least seven minutes long!

9:58 p.m. – One hour to go, and somehow there are still awards to present. It’s time for the Cecil B. DeMille Award, the lifetime achievement award. Tom Hanks points out that Warren Beatty, this year’s winner, won his Most Promising Newcomer Golden Globe in 1962. I’m still trying to figure out why Hanks, who has never appeared onscreen with Beatty, is presenting the award. Perhaps because no one else could pull off this fine line: “What balls this man has!” says Hanks, “and by balls, I mean artistic vision.”

9:49 p.m. – Best actress in a television series, musical or comedy goes to America the Beautiful! America Ferrara wins for Ugly Betty. She accepts the award on behalf of all the women who don’t look like…well, like everyone else in the auditorium.

9:45 p.m. – Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore clear up why Prince was MIA earlier. He was “stuck in traffic.” Oh yeah, and Alexandre Desplat wins best original score for a motion picture for The Painted Veil. He’s not a star so he smartly wraps up his speech before he gets the hook.

9:36 p.m. – Djimon Hounsou and Sharon Stone (did they just pair presenters by picking names out of a hat?) present best foreign language film. The winner is Letters From Iwo Jima. Director Clint Eastwood pays homage to Jack Nicholson, who had nothing to do with the film. (Do they take your Globe away if you don’t give props to Jack?).

9:34 p.m. – Jamie Foxx arrives onstage to introduce a Dreamgirls clip. He’s name-checking audience members (hey, Prince!) just like he did during his Ray acceptance speeches two years ago. Wait, he’s not still accepting for Ray, is he?

9:29 p.m. – I think we could all use a breather from the breakneck speed at which these awards are being handed out. Whew. It’s time for the best television series, musical or comedy. And the winner is: Ugly Betty! The Globes continues its tradition of recognizing new TV series. Maybe next year, they won’t have to sit in the back of the auditorium! Vanessa Williams, apparently, had a table in the parking lot, because she doesn’t find her way onstage until a couple minutes into the speech.

9:21 p.m. – Tim Allen and Vanessa Williams (a bizarre pairing) present best actor in a TV series musical or comedy. NBC’s entire Thursday night lineup is nominated, plus Tony Shalhoub for Monk. Alec Baldwin wins for 30 Rock, in the process doing what I thought was impossible: keeping Shalhoub off an awards stage. Baldwin becomes the first winner to kick off his speech with a reference to his hernia surgery – at least he didn’t bring photos.

9:19 p.m. – The actor awards take a break, now it’s best screenplay, motion picture. Peter Morgan wins for The Queen. Note to all producers: If you want a Golden Globe for your film, all you have to do is cast Helen Mirren.

9:17 p.m. Cameron Diaz presents a clip from The Departed, but director Martin Scorsese is too busy kissing Cate Blanchett on the cheek to watch the scene.

9:11 p.m. – Now the mini-series/TV movie actresses have their say. Helen Mirren wins (for Elizabeth I) AND loses (for Prime Suspect: the Final Act). I’m starting to worry about Annette Bening, who has lost twice tonight and is sipping champagne every time the camera is on her. Hopefully she’ll be able to keep it together when her husband gets the Cecil B. DeMille Award later on. Meanwhile, something tells me Mirren will be back onstage before the night is through.

9:09 p.m. – Next up, best performance by an actor in a mini-series or motion picture made for television. Everyone in the room was apparently nominated (okay, seven people, but still). Bill Nighy comes out on top for BBC’s Gideon’s Daughter.

9:06 p.m – Hey, Eddie Murphy didn’t thank Beyoncé either. Will anyone thank her tonight? Our eyes turn to you, Dreamgirls director Bill Condon!

9:00 p.m. – We’re at the hour mark, and it seems like we’ve given out about 73 awards so far. Now it’s the most star-studded category by far, best supporting actor in a motion picture. We’ve got Brad Pitt, Eddie Murphy, Jack Nicholson, Ben Affleck and Mark Wahlberg. Eddie Murphy takes it. He got a few jokes in, and was energetic enough to make his long list of thank-yous fly right by. Hopefully the night’s other winners will follow suit. (Meanwhile, Prince – a no-show earlier for his best song win – is in the audience after all. I guess he doesn’t “do” acceptance speeches.

8:57 p.m. – Salma Hayek presents the best mini-series or motion picture made for television to Elizabeth I. In true Brit fashion, the acceptance speech is clipped and dry. On to the next category.

8:55 p.m. – Ben Stiller is presenting a clip from Borat, nominated for best motion picture, musical or comedy. He works in a humorless plug for his film A Night at the Museum, but that’s okay, everyone in the audience is still milling about and no one is really listening anyway.

8:46 p.m. – Joaquin Phoenix presents best performance by an actress in a motion picture – musical or comedy.Meryl Streep takes it for The Devil Wears Prada (beating poor Renee Zellweger, who even stayed out of the bathroom this time for her category). Uh-oh, she’s pulling out a list of names to thank. “Oh shut up, it’s not that long.” Touche, Meryl! She’s so graceful accepting her award, you’d think she’s done this once or twice before. Then she tops it all off with a smart plea to – pretty please – have independent films played on more screens throughout the country. Is there a classier woman in Hollywood?

8:42 p.m. – Steve Carell is presenting best animated feature film, a new award this year. Carell’s a good sport: he voiced a character in Over the Hedge, which wasn’t nominated. The winner is Cars (has Pixar ever lost an award?) “Animation is awesome!” enthuses director John Lasseter, who seems to have ingested a cup of coffee or 12.

8:40 p.m. – Charlie Sheen introduces Bobby, which was directed by his brother Emilio Estevez. Apparently, Charlie isn’t bitter about literally being the only actor in Hollywood who does not appear in the film.

8:31 p.m. – The cast of Heroes presents best actor in a television drama. It’s hard to go wrong with any pick in this category, but they go the boring route and give it to House‘s Hugh Laurie, who also won last year. “I’m speechless. I’m literally without a speech,” he says, but still puts together a clever one. There are lots of laughs, though he doesn’t quite top last year’s speech where he pulled scraps of paper out of his pocket, each containing the name of someone he wanted to thank. Someone please put this guy in a comedy…stat!

8:28 p.m. – Next up, best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a series, mini-series or motion picture made for television. I’m pulling for Weeds‘ Elizabeth Perkins, but it goes to Emily Blunt for the BBC’s Gideon’s Daughter. Blunt goes 1-for-2, after losing to Jennifer Hudson for her bitch-perfect role in The Devil Wears Prada. Sadly, she seems to be nothing like her Prada character: there’s no delicious dissing of her co-nominees.

8:23 p.m. – Naomi Watts introduces the first motion picture drama nominee, Babel. She stumbles over director Alejandro Gonzélez Inérritu ‘s name. I suddenly feel much better, now that I know I’m not the only one who gets tongue-tied.

8:19 p.m. – The oddest part of the Globes is the offstage interviews they do with the winners. So we go directly from Kyra Sedgwick’s speech to …Kyra’s backstage interview. Wow, who would have guessed that just a few seconds after winning, she’s still excited and overwhelmed?

8:15 p.m. – Now it’s time for best actress in a television drama, or as Tina Fey calls it, “the least humorous performance by a female.” This one goes to Kyra Sedgwick – yes! – for The Closer. (Actually, her performance is quite humorous, thank you very much.) Don’t you love how all these acceptance speeches now boil down to whether or not they’ll thank their famous spouses? Thankfully, Kyra nails the dismount: She thanks not only her husband, Kevin Bacon, but each of her kids.

8:05 p.m. – Justin Timberlake presents best original song. It’s been a bad few moments for Beyoncé, who loses to an absent Prince, who wins for Happy Feet‘s “The Song of the Heart.” Timberlake slouches down to accept on behalf of the diminutive Prince. On the heels of hosting SNL last month, this guy is developing some comic chops.

8:01 p.m. – No host means no opening monologue. You ll have to wait for the Oscars. Instead, we get right down to it with the first award, with George Clooney presenting best supporting actress in a motion picture. The crowd is pulling for front-runner Jennifer Hudson, who indeed takes the prize. She hit all the right notes in her speech, but oops, she forgot to thank costar Beyoncé. Uh-oh…the night’s first scandal!