BEVERLY HILLS—The phones were ringing bright and early this morning for many stars as they heard their names announced for the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.  Leading the pack of nominees is “The Artist” with six nominations.  Following close behind is “The Descendants” and “The Help” with five nominations apiece.  Contenders for the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture-Drama include “The Descendants,” “The Help,” “The Ides of March,” “Hugo,” “War Horse” and “Moneyball.”

Viola Davis is a nominee for Lead Actress for "The Help."

Nominees for Lead Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama include George Clooney for “The Descendants,” Brad Pitt for “Moneyball,” Ryan Gosling for “The Ides of March,” Michael Fassbender for “Shame” and Leonardo DiCaprio for “J. Edgar.”  For Lead Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama, the nominees are Meryl Streep for “The Iron Lady,” Viola Davis for “The Help,” Glenn Close for “Albert Nobbs,” Rooney Mara for “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and Tilda Swinton for “We Need to Talk About Kevin.” This will be the toughest race of the night; with such powerful performances from great women, it’s anyone’s game. 

In the Musical or Comedy categories, the nominees for Best Actress include Jodie Foster for “Carnage,” Charlize Theron for “Young Adult,” Kristen Wiig for “Bridesmaids,” Kate Winslet for “Carnage” and Michelle Williams for “My Week with Marilyn.”  Look for this race to be a battle between Williams and Theron, but Wiig could be a dark horse.

For Best Actor, the nominees are Jean Dujardin for “The Artist,” Brendan Gleeson for “The Guard,” Joseph Gordon-Levitt for “50/50,” Owen Wilson for “Midnight in Paris” and Ryan Gosling for “Crazy Stupid Love.”  This race will likely come down to Dujardin and Gosling, but expect Dujardin to have the edge for his amazing performance in “The Artist.” Vying for the prize for Best Comedy/Musical are “Bridesmaids,” “50/50,” “The Artist,” “Midnight in Paris” and “My Week with Marilyn.”

In the Best Supporting Actor race the contenders are Kenneth Branagh for “My Week with Marilyn,” Jonah Hill for “Moneyball,” Albert Brooks for “Drive,” Christopher Plummer for “Beginners” and Viggo Mortensen for “A Dangerous Method.”  For Best Supporting Actress, the nominees are Berenice Bejo for “The Artist,” Shailene Woodley for “The Descendants,” Octavia Spencer for “The Help,” Jessica Chastain for “The Help” and Janet McTeer for “Albert Nobbs.”  This will be a tough race where each woman has an equal chance of walking away with the award.

On the television side of things, “American Horror Story” continues to have an incredible year as it garnered a nomination for Best Drama Series. The show will do battle against “Boardwalk Empire,” “Boss,” “Game of Thrones” and “Homeland.” Nominees for Best Actor in a Drama Series include Kelsey Grammar for “Boss,” Bryan Cranston for “Breaking Bad,” Damian Lewis for “Homeland,” Jeremy Irons for “The Borgias” and Steve Buscemi for “Boardwalk Empire.”  A surprise in the Best Actress for a Drama Series race was the inclusion of Madeline Stowe for her wicked role in ABC’s “Revenge,” this year’s guilty pleasure. She’ll compete against Claire Danes for “Homeland,” Julianna Margulies for “The Good Wife,” Callie Thorne for “Necessary Roughness” and Mireille Enos for “The Killing.”

Nominees for Best TV Musical or Comedy are “Glee,” “Enlightened,” “Episodes,” “Modern Family” and “New Girl.” It would be amazing to see “New Girl” take the prize as the series has had an incredible year thus far.  Its star Zooey Deschanel is a nominee for Best Actress in a TV Comedy or Musical, but she will face stiff competition from Laura Dern in “Enlightened,” Tina Fey in “30 Rock,” Laura Linney in “The Big C” and Amy Poehler in “Parks and Recreation.” For Best Actor in a TV Musical or Comedy, the contenders are David Duchovny for “Californication,” Johnny Galecki for “The Big Bang Theory,” Thomas Jane for “Hung,” Alec Baldwin for “30 Rock” and Matt LeBlanc for “Episodes.”

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