Red Carpet Manners at Golden Globes 2014 – FeyPo Tried their Darndest to Deliver

For the darling of awards shows that joins together talents from television and film under one happy roof, dynamic female duo, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, tried their darndest to deliver the goods. Before a single syllable was uttered, the pressure was on to repeat their performance from the previous year as the hostesses with the most who hit a home run with both the viewing audience, as well as their peers.   So when Fey admitted that in Hollywood when something “kinda works, you keep doing it till everybody hates it,” we wondered if this was an ominous premonition. It’s not that anything catastrophic occurred, the evening just felt a bit odd.  The constant flowing of Moet & Chandon - the official champagne of the Globes - may not have done anyone any favors. Alcohol and public speaking do not mix.

Nevertheless, the girls had their share of witty one-liners. My personal favorites were the opening line that poked fun at Lee Daniels calling the telecast the, (“71st Annual Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s Lee Daniels’ The Butler Golden Globe Awards”), the dig at George Clooney and his penchant for younger women (“Gravity is nominated for best film: It’s the story about how George Clooney would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age.”), and the double standard in Hollywood when joking about Matthew McConaughey’s weight loss of 45 pounds for his role in Dallas Buyers Club (“what actresses call ‘being in a movie.’”)  Our favorite quote from the evening though came from Amy Adams on the red carpet. When interviewed for her role in “American Hustle” as to how she was able to keep her déclotage intact, she replied, “Good posture keeps everything in place.”  Great advice, not only for the red carpet, but for every day.  

This year’s show had all of the fanfare and glitz we have come to expect when you put the hottest stars of the big screen and small in the same room.  The celebs did their best to turn on the charm and donned their finest wears for the camera as they kicked off the height of awards season.  Here is our recap of red carpet manners highlights and low points from one of Hollywood’s biggest nights.  

What they Wore.  Black, red and green were the chosen colors of this year’s Golden Globes. A-listers Amy Adams, Lupita Nyong'o, Tina Fey, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus all looked smashing in cherry red.  A laundry list of actresses including Amy Poehler, Jessica Chastain, Sofia Vergara, Julianna Margulies, Uma Thurman, Hayden Panettiere, Julia Roberts, Melissa McCarthy and more opted for an elegant and sultry black to contrast the red carpet. Other more daring personalities like Reese Witherspoon, Helen Mirren, Olivia Wilde, and even Matthew McConaughey selected rich shades of green and happened to wear them very well - not an easy feat.  Lena Dunham would’ve succeeded in her canary yellow dress if only she added a piece of material to cover the massive tattoo emblazoned on her right arm.  It was distracting and detracted from the overall splendor of the dress.  The men are stepping up to the plate more and more with each year. A great number were decked out in a traditional Tom Ford tuxedo.  Weatherman and song man, Al Roker and Usher, went rogue wearing burgundy. Beauties Taylor Swift, Sandra Bullock and Julie Bowen elected a color-blocking pattern while others like Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lawrence and Zoe Zaldana went with various B&W ensembles.

The Long Walk.  We noticed an inordinate amount of long painful walks to the stage.  Most obvious was Jacqueline Bisset who was clearly stunned by her win and almost unable to move. Unlike the People’s Choice Awards where stars receive their nods beforehand and are seated theatre-style near the stage, the Golden Globes ballroom is overflowing with wall-to-wall tables making it difficult for those placed towards the middle or back to reach the stage in a timely manner.  The farther away you are located, the more people you feel compelled to kiss and hug along your way, not to mention managing not to trip on your dress.  The only benefit of the long walk is that it gives winners an opportunity to compose their thoughts and hopefully recall who they wish to thank.

Malfunctions & Expletives.  What we originally thought was a poke at the recent Michael Bay incident at CES turned out to be a genuine teleprompter malfunction early on in the show. Wolf of Wall Street stars Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie handled it well however and improvised their speech until they were handed a yellow piece of paper helping them to recite their category and the applicable winner.  We also noticed an inordinate amount of swearwords sprinkled throughout the show as celebs seemed to have forgotten their manners and the fact that they were on live television in front of millions of people, not just in the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton among their friends. Jacqueline Bisset, Elisabeth Moss, Diane Keaton and Aaron Paul all put their hat into that ring.

Beyond Bizarre Moments.  Jacqueline Bisset’s win will forever be remembered as one of the most bizarre moments in Golden Globe history.  So astonished when her name was called that she was frozen in time, hardly able to walk or talk pausing for what felt like an eternity before taking to the mic.  Her speech was a mixed bag of incoherent rambling and frustration especially when the exit music began. She offered some sage advice from her mother, “Go hell and don’t come back,” as well as a few words about forgiveness being the best beauty treatment and then somehow managed to leave the stage. Emma Thompson didn’t do much better announcing the Best Screenplay award with a Martini in one hand and her Louboutin’s in the other.  Appearing a bit more sloshed than necessary, she forgot the most important item – the envelope!! After reciting the list of nominees, she realized she was missing the envelope containing the winner’s name. Once received, she tossed her shoes into the air, handed her drink over to Miss Golden Globe (Sosie Bacon) and then finally announced the lucky recipient. And, we get the profound friendship that exists between Woody Allen and his muse Diane Keaton, but did that warrant a camp rendition during the Cecil B. DeMille award?  We think not. It was very strange and reminded us of fellow actress Meryl Streep when she sang at the end of Postcards From the Edge.   

Effervescent & Expecting.  Expecting mommies, Kerry Washington, Olivia Wilde and Drew Barrymore all beamed from ear-to-ear providing a much needed distraction from all of the craziness onstage.  Experiencing a banner year and eager to share her happy news was a smiley Kerry Washington who couldn’t contain her excitement confiding that her belly was her best date ever. First time pregnant stunner, Olivia Wilde, also prominently displayed her baby bump in a tight sequined Gucci number.  And of course, the perpetually positive, Drew Barrymore, proudly flaunted her rather large tummy in a flower dress that was completely suited to her bubbly personality.

Forget Photobombing, What about Micbombing?  What is it about P. Diddy and Kayne West that they can’t contain themselves around a mic?  Sean “Diddy” Combs turned his formal presenting gig into a casual affair interrupting musician Alex Ebert as well as band U2’s speeches to interject some nonsensical information that was best kept between friends.  Did we really need to know that he was on a boat partying in St. Bart’s with the winner recently?  An emphatic NO!    

Best Acceptance Speech. In a sea of poor acceptance speeches - some riddled with expletives - the ever polite Texan, Matthew McConaughey, gets our vote for the most humble and gracious at this year’s awards ceremony. From his respectful praise towards the other gentlemen in his category addressing them as Mr. Hanks, Mr. Redford, etc., to his perserverence as he shared how his film was turned down 96 times before receiving the green light, he also thoughtfully thanked everyone in his life including his wife and children reserving a special thanks for his mother for encouraging him to do things for himself. The speech ended on an uplifting note claiming that his movie, The Dallas Buyers Club “was never about dying” and with that he reminded everyone to “just keep… (livin).”  Inspiring words to live by.