Your Inside Guide to the Backstage Action--As It Happened

Your Inside Guide to the Backstage Action--As It Happened

by Joal Ryan Jan. 16, 2005

One week ago in Los Angeles, any
crossing of a red carpet would've required a kayak. But today, the rain is long
gone, the sun is out and the 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards are on.

And so, it is my lot to toil away on this postcard-perfect day at the Beverly
Hilton in Beverly Hills, offering my observations on what is known in press
releases as "the Hollywood Party of the Year."

My initial observation: For a party, shouldn't there be more balloons?

5:53 p.m. ET: The red carpet is hot--as in
temperature hot, as in maybe basic black wasn't the wisest fashion call
today.

5:57 p.m.: First star sighting of the night
(TV division): Will & Grace's Shelley Morrison.

6 p.m.: And the red carpet shows go live.
Now all they need are celebrities on the red carpet...

6:10 p.m.: Bachelorette Jen Schefft leaves
E!'s outpost after an interview with Kathy Griffin and heads out to rewalk the
red carpet. This is a common celeb practice, not just a quirk of "15 minutes of
fame and holding on" reality-TV stars.

6:15 p.m.: I walk through the hotel lobby
with my sunglasses on. I draw stares from casual observers hanging in the bar.
They wonder: Is she somebody? To which I'd have to answer: Technically, yes.

6:30 p.m.: Now showing on the monitors back
in the press room: NBC preshow host Nancy O'Dell redoing an off-the-cuff
interview with Globe honoree Robin Williams. (He was funnier in the first
take.)

6:35 p.m.: The show rundown is passed out
in the press room. Just so you know, Robin Williams has been penciled in for a
five-minute acceptance speech. Well, a time-pressed producer can dream...

6:45 p.m.: I'm back in the grand ballroom,
looking for a beverage at the Hollywood Party of the Year. "Is there punch?" I
inquire of a hotel waiter. "No, ma'am," he replies. Seriously, what kind of
party is this?

6:45:30 p.m.: The kind of party with free
beer. Perhaps they should've called it the Hollywood Kegger of the
Year.

7:22 p.m.: Arrested Development's
David Cross walks the red carpet accompanied by...the Book of Mormon. He's
overheard telling an interviewer that he brought along the tome as emergency
reading material because "these things get boring."

7:28 p.m.: Tim Robbins jog-walks past the
tail end of the red carpet press. "I gotta go! I gotta go!" he declares. To
clarify, I believe he means he has to go to the show. But stay tuned for an
update should bathroom conditions warrant.

7:30 p.m.: My mother, on my cell phone: "Do
you know how hot it is out there?" I do not. She says it's about 80 degrees,
although presently, in Duarte, California, "it's just comfortable."

7:36 p.m.: The celebs' reward for walking
the red carpet media gauntlet? A complimentary bottle of Moët with built-in
glass. Let the party begin.

7:45 p.m.: Sideways director
Alexander Payne, who knows something about wine, defects to champagne and
accepts a Moët. Oh, well, at least it's not merlot.