By Mike Reynolds
A return of the televised Golden Globe Awards show from Hollywood in January 2024 had many people wondering if the elimination of the organizer, the former Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), and the emergence of a newly formed Golden Globes entity would bring about a different kind of show.
The first notable change was that the Cecil B. DeMille and Carol Burnett awards were not part of the program, as they were dropped for this year’s event with a promise of reinstatement in future. However, two new categories were introduced — “Cinematic and Box Office Excellence” and “Best Performance by a Stand-up Comic on Television.” The former category had a whopping eight nominees. All other categories had between five and six nominees.
While the telecasts have always been very “loose” in tone (with attendees imbibing as much alcohol as they wanted at the event, thereby generating a certain kind of warmth, irreverence, and suspense at what would be said by the next person appearing on stage), the latest edition, though tainted by a host who clearly wasn’t up to the job, still showed some of what TV viewers and Globes attendees have come to expect and like about the evening.
But the mystery still remained as to who was actually voting and just what they did or didn’t know about the business. It seemed that anything would be better than the often questionable decisions made by former HFPA members, some of whom had doubtful credentials. While the HFPA membership was often in question, many wondered how a new version of a Globes show would fare and how the host would perform.
Whenever a new version of the Golden Globes is mentioned and the question of who now votes for the awards comes up, the answer was always along the same lines — a reference to people from around the world who are associated with the entertainment industry. But the answer should be more detailed, and include their industry connections and where they are from.
It turns out that a visit to the Golden Globes website offers some clarification on who these new voters are. To become eligible as a Golden Globes voter, the individual must be an entertainment journalist working for an “internationally-based media outlet.” However, to verify their journalistic credentials, they only have to provide a minimum of five examples of their published or aired work within the past 12 months. Personal blogs, websites, or social media profiles do not qualify for inclusion in the membership qualifications under the new Globes.
The membership term of a Golden Globe voter is for the current awards season only and while those journalists can apply to vote in future shows, they must re-apply and be approved each year.
Applications are currently being accepted until next month (March 8) for the 82nd awards show, which will be held in 2025. A decision as to who will be approved as a voter will be made on or about March 27, 2024.
In a move to provide credentials to industry insiders and calm any concerns over just who voted in the recent awards show, the Globes’ site published a list and mini-bios of all voters. Some 263 voters from 62 countries are listed, with Brazil, Italy, and Mexico leading in the number of voters, with16 each, closely followed by Japan with 15, and Canada, the U.K., and the U.S., with 13 each.
Current voters come from a good cross-section of countries: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Columbia, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Dubai, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mexico, Mozambique, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the U.K., the U.S., Uruguay, and Venezuela.
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