Unlike the Emmys and Oscars, the Golden Globes represent what foreign critics consider the best of the United States. They are either held up as representative of Oscar heat or bashed for being a bought-and-paid-for popularity contest. Or maybe they could be a little bit of both. During the show that will be telecast live on NBC at 8 pm / ET, people will have the chance to find out what is it that predominantly American entertainment industry insiders most love about their business.

 

Among the celebrities invited to this year’s 66th annual ceremony are also Simon Baker, Drew Barrymore, Glenn Close, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cameron Diaz, Aaron Eckhart, Laurence Fishburne, Ricky Gervais, Jake Gyllenhaal, Salma Hayek, the Jonas Brothers, Jessica Lange, Blake Lively, Jennifer Lopez, Hayden Panettiere, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, Seth Rogen, and Martin Scorsese.

 

The late Heath Ledger earned a supporting-actor bid for his savage part in Joker in the movie "The Dark Knight" and he’s got all the chances to win a posthumous Oscar. Ledger's father, Kim, and mother, Sally, along with the actor’s sister Kate released a statement after they found out that Heath, who died in January from an accidental prescription drug overdose, had received the nomination: "We thank the Hollywood Foreign PressAssociation for honoring Heath's performance in "The Dark Knight." If his performance as the Joker wins a Globe, a bright, too-short career may still have one more surprise in it.

 

The Globes list also includes some surprise nominees: Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr. for the bizarre Hollywood war-movie comedy "Tropic Thunder" and several nominations for the low-budget hit-man-on-holiday film "In Bruges."

 

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,”“Doubt”and“Frost/Nixon” lead with five nominations each while Jon Hamm’s “Mad Men” and Gabriel Byrne’s “In Treatment’s” face off as the best actors in the men's drama category. However, Sean Penn will compete for best actor in a drama category, along with Leonardo DiCaprio in "Revolutionary Road," Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon," Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler."

 

"The Wrestler" was also nominated in the best original song category for Jersey Shore rocker Bruce Springsteen. The track will be on Springsteen's upcoming album, "Working on a Dream." Springsteen's Globe contenders are Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, Peter Gabriel and Clint Eastwood. Meanwhile, the latter was shut out of the main categories with "Gran Torino," his first acting role in four years. The movie’s only nomination is that for best song for the title track.

 

The competition for best actress in a drama takes place between Meryl Streep in "Doubt," Kate Winslet in "Revolutionary Road," Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married," Angelina Jolie in "Changeling" and Kristin Scott Thomas in "I've Loved You So Long." The first two actresses are nominated in other categories as well. Meryl Streep may be the best actress comedy/musical for "Mamma Mia!" among "Burn After Reading," "Happy-Go-Lucky," and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona” while Kate Winslet has supporting actress for "The Reader."

 

The directors who are facing off against each other are Danny Boyle for "Slumdog Millionaire," Stephen Daldry for "The Reader," David Fincher for "Button," Ron Howard for "Frost/Nixon" and Sam Mendes for "Revolutionary Road."

 

Up for comedy series we can mention "30 Rock," "Californication," "Entourage," "The Office" and "Weeds." As for drama series we have "Dexter," "House," "In Treatment," "Mad Men" and "True Blood."