There was still a certain amount of tension surrounding last year’s Golden Globes ceremony, a tentative step back into the spotlight after rightfully being briefly pushed out after a long list of controversies. But this year, with A-listers all in attendance (with strikes over, celebrities were more eager than ever to celebrate) and a newer, more diverse voting body, the night felt like it used to: loose and a bit messy in both good and bad ways.

Host Jo Koy took on a thankless role and probably regretted it, a last-minute pick who went down like a lead balloon. There were funnier presenting bits along the way (with Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell the highlight), and with Koy gradually disappearing throughout the night, a fix next year might just be no host at all.

Many had expected Barbenheimer to be the night’s big story, but it was more Oppenheimer than Barbie with the film leading the night scoring five major wins. Barbie didn’t go home empty-handed, but Poor Things stole most of its thunder, nabbing the bigger musical or comedy awards. On the TV side, Succession and then The Bear and Beef were the easy-to-predict winners.

There are more stops to come before the Oscars, but Oppenheimer emerges tonight as the one to beat and while the ceremony might have been flawed, it felt like business as usual for the Globes.

The fifth and final win of the night for Oppenheimer, with Nolan and company enjoying a fantastic night for their hit biopic, beating out Killers of the Flower Moon and Anatomy of a Fall, among others.

Producer Emma Thomas calls the stage “really intimidating” and praises the importance of collaboration, paying tribute to the film’s director and her husband Christopher Nolan. “Chris brings out the best in people by being the best himself,” she says.

While it seemed briefly that Sandra Huller might take this after a huge night for Anatomy of a Fall, it was always going to be Lily Gladstone, coming into the night as a hot favourite for her role in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed drama.

She starts by speaking in the Blackfeet language and then praises a “historic win” that she is holding with all of her “beautiful sisters”. She also thanks Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio for helping to change things as “tremendous allies” and hopes that other Native kids will see this and be inspired. One can easily see her repeating this win at the Oscars very soon.

Ooh a bit of a surprise here given that many had expected Barbie to triumph, although a win earlier for Emma Stone should have tipped us off.

Last year, this award was won by The Banshees of Inishirin rather than Everything Everywhere All at Once, so there is a history of going for the less obvious option. Director Yorgos Lanthimos jokes that he wanted to spend the night talking to Bruce Springsteen.

Perhaps Barbie’s box office achievement win earlier was intended as some sort of second place prize.

Following the night’s funniest bit from Globes-presenting pros Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell, another win for The Holdovers, this time for its very deserving leading man Paul Giamatti.

It’s his third Globe and he beats out Jeffrey Wright, Nicolas Cage and Joaquin Phoenix. “Surely this is the first time this award has been given to an actor playing a man who smells like fish,” he jokes. He ends the speech with a shout-out to teachers.

And another deserved win for the final season of one of the most beloved TV shows in recent memory, its fourth win of the night.

Accepting the award is Jesse Armstrong, surrounded by the very large cast. “It’s a team effort, this show, which is one of the reason it’s so lovely to do,” he says before saying that ending the show has been “bittersweet” but “things like this make it sweeter”.

The third win for Succession of the night and Sarah Snook’s second win for her role in the hit HBO show.

“I was kind of hoping I didn’t have to get up,” Snook starts by suggesting that Kieran Culkin should accept the award on her behalf. She won out over Bella Ramsey and Helen Mirren and we can expect one more Succession win of the night …

Another category sweep here for The Bear, after its two lead stars picked up awards earlier in the evening, winning against Abbott Elementary and the final season of Ted Lasso.

“Thank you to the entire restaurant community” is a nice add to an earnest speech.

No surprises here with Netflix’s critically adored limited series standing out in a category of contenders with far less buzz.

It’s the third award of the night for the show and brings together the two winning leads – Ali Wong and Steven Yeun – on stage. Beef creator Lee Sung Jin tells viewers that the show was based on a real road rage incident that happened to him, adding: “I’d be remiss not to thank that driver.”

The first ever winner of this rather confusing award (introduced surely for an expected audience boost after the Oscars tried and failed to do the same) is Barbie, deserving given its total box office domination last year.

Margot Robbie says that they “dedicate this to every single person on the planet who dressed up and went to the greatest place on Earth: the movie theatre”. Many had expected Taylor Swift to win this for her Eras Tour movie, but for the Globes, having the star show up was enough of a win.

Three nominations here for Barbie and the most impactful of all the songs was always going to be the winner (sorry Dua, sorry Ryan).

Billie Eilish and brother Finneas are on-stage to accept. She says that she was miserable and depressed a year ago when she saw the film for the first time and that it saved her in a way.

It’s the first win for Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson after multiple nominations, his score triumphing over Poor Things and Killers of the Flower Moon.

He thanks Cillian Murphy for inspiring him after seeing his face over and over and over again.

Another big win here for Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy winning against Leonardo DiCaprio and Bradley Cooper.

“Do I have lipstick all over my nose?” Murphy asks the audience after trying ton desperately wipe it off on his way up there. “One of the most beautiful and wonderful things about being an actor is you can’t do this alone,” he says before paying tribute to his co-stars.

It’s the second Globe win for Emma Stone, a much-deserved award for her incredible work in Poor Things, winning out against Margot Robbie and Jennifer Lawrence.

She gives a very charming speech, saying she will “forever be grateful” for meeting director Yorgos Lanthimos and calling her film a rom-com, but between a person and the world. Stone is also nominated tonight for her role in The Curse.

The sixth nomination and first win here for Christopher Nolan, accepting the award from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. A tough category with Nolan beating out Greta Gerwig and Martin Scorsese.

He gives a thoughtful speech, reminiscing over his last time on the stage, accepting Heath Ledger’s award after his death, calling it a “complicated and challenging” experience. That time and then now, he caught the eye of Robert Downey Jr, who he thanks for his role in the industry and in his film.

The road to his first best director Oscar looks pretty straightforward from here …

Another big international win here with Hayao Miyazaki’s “final” movie beating out Across the Spiderverse.

An unsurprisingly Succession-heavy category here with Kieran Culkin winning out against Brian Cox and the more hotly favoured Jeremy Strong.

An engagingly uncomfortable Culkin tells those giving him a standing ovation to sit down before apologising for burping and giving one of the more genuine speeches of the night.

Another win here for The Bear, a comedy, with Ayo Edebiri beating out the category’s other frontrunner Quinta Brunson, as well as Elle Fanning and Selena Gomez.

“I’m an artist and I’m very lucky to be an artist,” a nervous yet extremely excited Edebiri says in her speech. She gets a major round of applause when she thanks the assistants to her agents and managers for answering her emails.

Another major win here for the French thriller about a mysterious death soundtracked by 50 Cent, securing its place as a genuine contender leading up to the Oscars.

Director Justine Triet paid tribute to the cast, including the dog Snoop: “Thank you for being yourself: just a dog.”

As one would hope for this brand new category, Jim Gaffigan delivers a sparky standup intro, with a Hollywood paedophile joke that leads to some awkward laughs. “For 80 years, good-looking people threw a party and you finally decided to invite the talented people,” he adds.

The first ever winner is Ricky Gervais, winning over Chris Rock and Amy Schumer, for his controversial special Armageddon. The ex-Globes host was not in attendance to accept his award.

Always a shock to be reminded that The Bear is classed as a comedy by the Globes but less of a shock to see its lead actor on stage, his second win for the acclaimed show.

“I must have done something right in this life to be in your company,” he says while paying tribute to his cast. Could be the first of a few wins for The Bear.

Kind of a shock here with the French courtroom/domestic drama beating out Barbie, Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon.

A win signals the new, more international voting base and could maybe suggest that there are some more surprises in-store.

A surprisingly funny intro from presenters Keri Russell and Ray Romano (footage of which will be shared here soon-ish). Who knew!

Easier to predict was someone from Succession winning this one and Matthew Macfadyen made for the most deserving, beating out Alan Ruck and Alexander Skarsgård.

Macfadyen starts by saying how much he enjoyed playing a “human grease stain” and ends with how much he misses the production. More Succession wins to come.

A strong Netflix night continues with Elizabeth Debicki beating out Meryl Streep and Christina Ricci for playing Princess Diana in The Crown.

An overwhelmed Debicki runs out of people to thank, but it’s nice to see a speech from one’s head rather than a piece of paper.

Another deserved Beef win here with Minari’s Yeun winning for his first ever Globe nomination, beating out Jon Hamm and David Oyelowo.

It’s a strong start for Netflix, a streamer that had been struggling a little with TV awards in recent years.

Ali Wong’s first nom and first win for the buzzy Netflix series, the easy-to-predict winner in a category of shows that didn’t quite catch on in the same way. The standup turned leading lady.

She’s the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated in this category, let alone win. There will likely be more Beef wins to come …

“I took a beta blocker so this is gonna be a breeze,” Robert Downey Jr says at the start of his speech (uncomfortable laughter follows). He’s a rousing presence on stage as well as extremely self-aware, joking that he has followed his team’s advice by restarting his career by doing something subtle outside of the MCU.

While Charles Melton had been winning all of the critics prizes so far for May December, this win is a reminder that Downey Jr might well be taking home the big awards in this category.

The first award of the night was one of the easiest to predict and will also surely be one of the most deserving. Da’Vine Joy Randolph has been winning every award under the sun so far for her fantastic performance in Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, an actor working under the radar finally getting her moment in the spotlight. She delivers a fast yet emotive speech, prep for her probable Oscar win soon …

“You have made me feel seen in so many ways that I have never imagined,” she said about her character Mary.

Everyone is now sat at their tables, first wine of many in hand. Excitable host Jo Koy’s monologue is as celebratory as he suggested it would be, softly ribbing rather than anything nastier. It’s a bit of a list of attendees/shows/films and some of his jokes are a little obvious – the length of Oppenehimer (“I just have one complaint: it needed another hour”), the whiteness of Killers of the Flower Moon (“The one thing I learnt about that movie is that white people stole everything!”), Barry Keoghan’s Saltburn nudity (“Where’s your penis seated?”), Ozempic “The Color Purple is what happens to your butt when you take Ozempic”), Meryl Streep’s awards haul (“That’s the Goat right there”), etc.

There’s also a lot of laughing at his own jokes, which he claims is a result of not having written all of his own jokes. There’s a roughness around the edges (“I got the gig 10 days ago, you want a perfect monologue?”), but there’s enough rambunctious energy to get the room in the right mood for the Globes (unlike Jerrod Carmichael’s more interesting if less suitable intro last year). Also, Streep being forced to do the Wakanda Forever hand movement will likely be a gif v soon.

It always feels a little startling to welcome the Golden Globes so soon into the new year, an instant reminder that we’re still stuck in the previous one. It means that 2023’s dominating force of Barbenheimer, a pop phenomenon that cracked over $2bn at the global box office, will be making headlines once again with tonight’s set of nominations led by the two blockbuster movies.

They’ll compete in mostly separate genre categories alongside major players like Killers of the Flower Moon, Poor Things, Maestro and The Holdovers. On the TV side, it’ll likely be a big night for the final season of Succession, with The Bear and Abbott Elementary also making a strong show.

It’s year two of the Nu Globes after a bowed out year following a flurry of controversy and year one of a new, expanded voting body that organisers claim to be the most diverse in Hollywood. Whether or not that will be reflected in the winners remains to be seen though, and after last year saw some major no-shows, all eyes will be on which A-listers have decided to let the Globes back into the fold. Stick with us for all of the big moments.