Monitor: Hollywood's Golden Globes - as seen by the world's newspapers

THE GLOBES' foreshadowing of the Oscars is an unlikely tie-in, given the massive gulf between the Oscar and Globe electorates. The Academy Awards are based on the votes of 5,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences - actors, directors, producers and other veterans of the film industry. By contrast, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association polls 82 freelancers and other entertainment journalists. Unlike the over- the-top, but too-often stiff Academy Awards, the Golden Globes have been a hit with viewers because of their unpredictable nature.

- New York Post

"WHAT I like about this achievement award is that it doesn't come from my peers," [Jack] Nicholson said. "The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is a loose group of guys and gals. You almost feel like you could go out and have fun with them." And say what you will about the Golden Globes - that its voting members are known more for their fondness of food than their knowledge of television and movies, that one of its members writes for a French monthly called Girls, that they once gave an award to Zsa Zsa Gabor. The one thing you can't accuse them of is predictability or stodginess.

- LA Entertainment News

THERE WAS a lot of [champagne] going around. By 10.30pm (the event started at 8), a lot of stars were having trouble manoeuvring the cue cards - and the stage ramp. Like Peter Fonda. And Jamie Lee Curtis. Award presenter Jeremy Irons was way over the top. Or maybe he was just auditioning for Harvey Weinstein. Sure the champagne flowed, but it ebbed at the power table. The Steven Spielberg/George Lucas table was conspicuous by its jumbo bottle of Coke. Then again, maybe it's a product tie-in with the Star Wars prequel.

- Toronto Star

WHEN A reporter asked if he was surprised by his win, Carrey shot back, "Weren't you?". How was he planning on celebrating? "I'm going to get a little loopy. I'm a Canadian. A party animal." After accepting his Globe, Michael Caine announced, "I'm going to the Miramax party because maybe I'll get another job there. Then I'm going to go to the Fox party because I've never had a job there. I'm going to drink and look for jobs."

- USA Today

IT'S HARD to get inside the heads of the folks who designed the stage for last night's 56th annual Golden Globe awards ceremony. From the giant lemon and watermelon slices swooping around the presenters and winners to the peach and then blue crepe-like backdrop, it was all very Laugh- In. But then, the Golden Globes isn't meant to be a serious event, in the manner of biggies like the Oscars. In the past four years, the Globes has worked to distinguish itself from the zillion other TV awards shows by emphasizing whimsicality and emotion. Christine Lahti has become the poster girl for the Golden Globe spirit, as last year she was in the loo when her name was called. Allusions to that classic moment last night included Lahti onstage with toilet paper on her shoe.

- Boston Globe

BRITISH TALENT has the movie industry at its feet after dominating the weekend's Golden Globe ceremony. The consensus among the Hollywood-based critics who vote for the Globes is that British movies - or even those simply showcasing British talent - provide something that is missing from the conveyor belt of American output - quirkiness, charm, literacy and style. The best of our actors and directors have always looked towards America and many moved there.

- Daily Mail

EXTRA: WHAT'S the point of watching award shows like the Golden Globes if everyone dresses so nicely there's no one to hoot and hurl Cheetos at? Other than that red crushed-velvet, evil-stepmother number swallowing Jane Seymour, the gowns Sunday were boringly gorgeous. Thank goodness for Jenna Elfman's hair. What a porcupine-hiney, finger-in-the-socket, Statue-of-Liberty monstrosity that was!

- Orlando Sentinel