No time to die, but time to win

 

We are all very much aware that these are rather strange times we live in. After 2 years, the Covid-19 pandemic is anything but over, with a new variant causing chaos once again throughout the world. Luckily, we are now better prepared to fight it, thanks to miraculous vaccines that are being distributed in many parts of the globe (although not all unfortunately). In this context, the fact that this year’s Golden Globes did not come with a ceremony does not even sound that shocking.

For health reasons alone, it would have made sense not to pile hundreds/thousands of stars of the performing arts in the same room for hours — the Globes are a famously (or infamously) long affair. As it happens, the reason these Globes did not come with a televised event has actually more to do with organisational issues — problems in racial (mis)representation, ethical issues, even allegations of financial irregularities… At any other time, these would all have made front page news. This year, though, we are just looking at the winners’ list — because there is an upside to it all…

Before we get to talking about musical acts — our favorite part of the whole thing, naturally — let us quickly go through the non-musical aspect of the 2022 Golden Globes: Will Smith (also a rapper, lest we forget) winning Best Actor, The Power of the Dog winning Best Film and Best Director (that would be Jane Campion), Nicole Kidman winning Best Actress for portraying the legendary Lucille Ball, Kenneth Brannagh winning Best Screenplay… all stellar artists creating wonderful work and getting rightfully celebrated for that. Interestingly, the names above are about the only ones that are not directly related to music (if that), since much of the Globes’ 2022 winners are…

Let’s take Best Comedy or Musical, for instance: West Side Story, as reimagined by Mr. Steven Spielberg. The original piece being a legendary piece of art, from its core musical basis to the dancing shown in the film (and behind-the-scenes trivia that eventually became public knowledge, including the firing of co-director and choreographer Jerome Robbins), remaking it must have been a daunting task, only someone like Spielberg could realistically agree to undertake. And it worked: not only did the movie win, so did the actresses playing Maria, Rachel Zegler, and Anita, Ariana DeBose…

Then you have Lin-Manuel Miranda, another — if younger — legend in the musical game. His directorial debut tick, tick… BOOM! got Andrew Garfield a Golden Globe as well. Then come Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas, whose score of the latest James Bond movie (ultimately released a full year later because of reasons we all know) got its own nod. They say Golden Globe Best original song winners tend to snatch the Oscar down the line: nominations should come early February, to be continued… Finally, Hans Zimmer gets his own moment to (virtually) shine with a Best original score win for Dune.

Say what you will, but the 2022 Golden Globes are a win for music…