0440 GMT: "The Artist", which entered the race with a leading six nominations, was the night's big winner receiving three Globes - best comedy or musical, best actor in a comedy or drama and best score.
"The Descendants", which received five nominations, came a close second with two big wins - best drama and a best dramatic actor globe for George Clooney.
The rest of the night's prizes were a division of the spoils with no other film getting more than one Globe. "The Help", which also entered with five nominations, scored only one Globe - a best supporting actress award for Octavia Spencer.
Meanwhile "The Ides of March", which got four nominations, went home empty handed, as did "Moneyball", which also received four nods.
"50/50", "Bridesmaids", "Carnage", "War Horse" and "The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo", all with two nominations, were similarly passed over.
TV-wise, "Homeland" won in two of its three nominated categories while "Downton Abbey" and "Mildred Pierce", both with four nominations, headed home with just one each.
0400 GMT: And that's it for another year. The producers have obviously run out of time and Gervais offers a swift farewell, telling the audience he hopes they enjoyed themselves and that the gold 'took your minds off the recession". Then he salutes and is back to the wings, where he seems to have spent much of the night.
That said, he didn't hold back when he was on stage, taking pops at favorite targets including the HFPA which, he said, operates like a non-profit organization "just like NBC". He also compared it to the focus of "Boardwalk Empire", a load of immigrants who engaged in "bribery and corruption - but enough about the Hollywood Foreign Press", and said the organization had told him that if he insulted the audience, they would "definitely invite me back next year".
Mel Gibson got a mention (though only in a reference to Jodie Foster's film "The Beaver"), Gervais made another reference to his penis (a theme others continued through the night) and anyone who bet his jokes would target Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber or Eddie Murphy will be collecting their winnings.
Gervais made it clear that this year would be his last stint as host so maybe it will be Clooney taking to the stage next year. Then again, the canny comic also said 2011 would be his final outing so there's no guarantee. It may well depend on how much outrage he's managed to stir up this year - and whether he'll have to disprove any critics proclaiming that this time, he'll truly never be back.
0353 GMT: And another big award goes to "The Descendants", which wins the Globe for best drama beating "The Help", "Hugo", "Moneyball", "War Horse" and "The Ides of March". It leaves Alexander Payne's Hawaii-set film with the night's second highest tally of prizes - two, just behind "The Artist", which won three.
Even though Globes success has, of late, not been a reliable indicator of Academy Award triumph, it seems highly likely both films will receive multiple Oscar nominations later this month.
0347 GMT: George Clooney wins best dramatic actor for his role in Alexander Payne's "The Descendants". The much nominated Golden Globe regular, who was up for four this year and previously won Globes for "O Brother Where Art Thou" and "Syriana", expresses thanks for the award and says the ceremony allows him to catch up with old friends such as Brad Pitt, a contender in this category.
He also beats Ryan Gosling, Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Fassbender.
0339 GMT: Jane Fonda, stunning in black, announces "The Artist", the critically adored French black and white silent film, as the winner of a third Globe for the year's best comedy or musical.
It beats "Bridemaids", "50/50", "Midnight in Paris" and "My Week With Marilyn".
0334 GMT: Gervais introduces last year's best actor winner "evil" Colin Firth, describing him as "very racist - I've seen him punch a little blind kitten". Firth replies that on the way into the awards he saw people outside with big placards threatening brimstone and pestilence "for our sins". But "what they don't realize is that we have Ricky."
Firth announces the best dramatic actress winner and it's Meryl Streep for "Iron Lady".
She's been nominated countless times and can't possibly have any shelf space left for awards but still Streep looks overwhelmed.
"Oh my God, oh my God - well, when Ricky Gervais's deal fell through and they came to me to play Margaret Thatcher....I can't joke. This is such a thrill."
Streep acknowledges her fellow nominees and the other "extraordinary performances by women in lead roles" this year. She also thanks "my agent Kevin Huvane and God, Harvey Weinstein, the punisher, old testament, I guess. And everybody in England who let me come and trample all over their history."
The wind-up music starts to play and Streep complains, "oh no - oh come on" before finishing off: "And I'm so proud of the film and I love you Viola, you're my girl." (Viola Davis, her "Doubt" co-star and fellow nominee in the category who Streep was rooting for).
0324 GMT: Globe favorite "The Artist" picks up another win with best actor in a musical or comedy going to star Jean Dujardin.
0316 GMT: Gervais finally gives NBC's censors something to do and gets himself blanked for an obscenity that my lip reading wasn't good enough to catch - something about Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas, presenters of the best television comedy or musical, who he'd previously described as "probably very interesting".
"Modern Family" wins the category. The popular ABC comedy beats last year's winner "Glee", "Enlightened" and "New Girl".
0312 GMT: Angelina Jolie introduces the nominees for best director. And the award goes to - Martin Scorsese for "Hugo", the director's 3D 1930s-set adventure drama about an orphan and a French filmmaker hiding out in a Paris train station. It's the third directing Globe for the celebrated filmmaker, who received the Cecil B DeMille award in 2010. Scorsese beats Woody Allen, George Clooney, Michel Hazanavicius and Alexander Payne.
0307 GMT: The next presenter Helen Mirren, promises to "lower the tone" as she introduces a montage of the films Morgan Freeman has starred in. She claims she has a "bone to pick with Morgan Freeman. He's been in over 50 films and I've only been in one of them - 'Red'."
Mirren says there was no reason why Driving Miss Daisy couldn't have been made in Britain, even though they would have had to drive on the wrong side of the road, and she could have been a penguin (a reference to "March of the Penguins", which Freeman narrated). "He's lifted our spirits and opened our hearts," Mirren's says in a voiceover. "At the very heart of who he is, Morgan Freeman is a true artist."
Freeman gets a standing ovation as he takes to the stage to receive his award. He addresses Mirren by saying "I can't really tell you how it feels" to be onstage with a "woman I love so much, no offence, Taylor (Taylor Hackford, Mirren's husband)." He adds of his "Red" co-star: "Watching you handle a gun makes me know I never want to piss you off." He also says that receiving the award from Sidney Poitier means that, even though it is the Cecil B DeMille award, "in my house it will also be known as the Sidney Poitier award".
0257 GMT: Sidney Poitier takes the stage to announce this year's recipient of the Cecil B DeMille award, and offer his congratulations to, Morgan Freeman.
0245 GMT: "The Help's" Octavia Spencer wins best supporting actress in a motion picture for her role as the outspoken Mississippi maid Minny Jackson. She's trembling as she takes the stage. "This is seriously..nuts." It's the first Globe nomination for the former "Ugly Betty" star. She beats Berenice Bejo ("The Artist"), Jessica Chastain (Spencer's "The Help" co-star), Janet McTeer, ("Albert Nobbs"), and newcomer Shailene Woodley ("The Descendants").
0243 GMT: Tina Fey and "Glee's" Jane Lynch announces the winner of the best actor in a TV series comedy or musical. Matt LeBlanc wins for "Episodes", the British American comedy serial. The former "Friends" star looks shocked as he takes the stage. It's his first globe win and fourth nomination. LeBlanc, 44, says he's nervous as he thanks the show's creator Jeffrey Klarik and David Crane, who, he says, "write a Matt LeBlanc who is, let's be honest, way more interesting and fun than the real thing, I wish I was him".
0234 GMT: As many expected, Claire Danes wins the Globe for best actress in a TV drama for her role in the lauded cable series "Homeland". It's the second win of the night for the Showtime drama and the third Globe for Danes, who won a Globe last year for "Temple Grandin" and for "My So Called Life" in 1995 when she was just 15. This makes it three wins for three nominations for the 32-year-old actress.
0231 GMT: Gervais introduces "The Queen of Pop - no, not you, Elton" and Madonna, who will present the best foreign language film, takes to the stage. The comedian makes a crack about the Material Girl being "like a virgin" and the singer bites back. "If I'm still like a virgin, Ricky, why don't you come over here and do something about it? I haven't kissed a girl in a few years - on TV."
Madonna announces the winner of the category and it's "A Separation", from Iran. It beats Angelina Jolie's "In the Land of Blood and Honey", China's "The Flowers of War", Belgium's "The Kid With a Bike" and "The Skin I Live In", from Spain.
0223 GMT: Jessica Lange wins her fifth Golden Globe (it's her 12th nomination) for best supporting actress in a series, mini-series or television movie for her role in "American Horror Story", the cable thriller-drama. She beats Kelly MacDonald, Maggie Smith, Sofia Vergara and Evan Rachel Wood. Lange, who first won a globe in 1977 for "King Kong", thanks the HFPA which, she says, have been very "generous to me".
0220 GMT: Woody Allen wins best screenplay for the fan and critically adored comedy "Midnight in Paris", his 45th feature film. Despite numerous Globe nominations over the years, the Oscar-winning Annie Hall director has only ever won one previous Globe, also a best screenplay award for "The Purple Rose of Cairo" in 1986. Allen isn't at the ceremony to accept the award, so presenter Nicole Kidman jokes, "Come and get it, Woody".
0213 GMT: The most lucrative category of the night is announced - the Globe for best animated film - together, these nominees have combined worldwide box office takings of $1,742,000,000. Wow. And the winner is... "The Adventures of Tintin", Steven Spielberg's first animated feature. It beats "Arthur Christmas", "Cars 2", "Puss in Boots" and "Rango".
"This is fantastic," a glowing Spielberg beams.
0210 GMT: Gervais nips back on stage - is it me or is he spending less time in front of the microphone than last year? He praises the audience for being "much better than last year's - they had a right stick up their arse." He then introduces George Clooney, "the Cloon-meister general" with the words: "If he (Clooney) gets any more popular or handsome, he'll be hosting" the Globes next year.
Clooney, introducing Brad Pitt's nominated film "Moneyball", enters with Pitt's walking cane saying, "I have to give it back to him - he has to make it to the bar." Clooney describes his close pal as "some up and comer called Brad Pitt" before a clip for the film is shown.
0207 GMT: Peter Dinklage wins the Globe for best supporting actor in a series, mini-series or motion picture for his role in the HBO series "Game of Thrones". It's the first globe nomination for the actor, who says he spoke to him mom in New Jersey before the ceremony who told him not to get his hopes up because "Guy Pearce is so good, he's going to win. I just love our moms because they keep us humble," Dinklage says. He also beats Paul Giamatti, Tim Robbins and Eric Stonestreet.
0200 GMT: Vying with Gervais in the penis-themed joke department, Seth Rogen, on stage to present the globe for best actress in a comedy or musical film, says, "I'm currently trying to conceal a massive erection." Co-presenter Kate Beckinsale can't contain her giggles.
Luckily, they announce the winner - and it's Michelle Williams for the critically lauded "My Week With Marilyn". It's the 31-year-old's third Globe nomination and first win. She beats Kate Winslet, Kristen Wiig, Charlize Theron and Jodie Foster.
Williams thanks the HFPA for "putting in my hands this award that Marilyn Monroe herself won over 50 years ago." (Monroe won for "Some Like It Hot" in 1959).
0157 GMT: Idris Elba is the surprise winner of the best actor in a mini-series or motion picture made for television Globe for his role in "Luther", the British psychological crime drama series. Many thought the winner would be Hugh Bonneville for "Downton Abbey". It is the second globe nomination and first win for Hackney native Elba, 39. "Wow, thank you very much, wow. This is for the fans, the most loyal fans in the world." Elba also beats his former "Wire" co-star Dominic West and William Hurt.
0152 GMT: So, Sir Elton was wrong - the best song Golden Globe goes to Madonna for her song in her film "WE".
"This is a surprise," the singer says, fumbling for words: "Hum hum hum - I'm not French, I have no excuse."
It is Madonna's second globe - she won one for Evita in 1997. She thanks Harvey Weinstein "the punisher" for "believing in my film".
The song beats Mary J Blige for "The Help", Sir Elton for "Gnomeo and Juliet", Glenn Close for "Albert Nobbs" and Chris Cornell for "Machine Gun Preacher".
0145 GMT: Jimmy Fallon and Adam Levine are on stage to present the Globes for best song and best score.
First up it's best score - and the award goes to Ludovic Bource for "The Artist". The Globes frontrunner, nominated for six awards, claims its first of the night.
"I'm sorry I'm French," Bource says in his strong French accent after reaching the stage. "The power of the music is that it is universal." He thanks the film's director and stars and sends kisses to his family.
0137 GMT: "Homeland" from the network Showtime wins the hotly contested Globe for best television series - drama.
The critically acclaimed national security thriller starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis beats HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" (last year's winner) and "Game of Thrones", "American Horror Story" and "Boss".
0135 GMT: Kelsey Grammer is the surprise winner of the best actor in a TV drama series Globe. He wins for the Starz series "Boss". Steve Buscemi won last year for "Boardwalk Empire" and many thought Damian Lewis of "Homeland" might win tonight or Bryan Cranston, of "Breaking Bad", whose been nominated three times for the show but never won. He also beats Jeremy Irons. It's Grammer's third Globe win in nine nominations
Gervais is back. He chides the winners for overrunning with their acceptance speeches. Don't thank everyone you've ever met, the comic says. "Just do the main two - your agent and God." Gervais, who last year closed the show by "thanking God for making me an atheist" says he knows the two have "exactly the same amount of input in my career."
0124 GMT: Kate Winslet wins the Globe for best actress in a mini-series or motion picture made for TV for her role in "Mildred Pierce", the HBO period series. She won an Emmy for this role last year and this marks her third Globe - she won twice in 2009.
She takes a deep breath on reaching the stage, no doubt thinking about the much ridiculed breathlessness of her 09 acceptance speeches, and thanks the HFPA for putting her in a category with such heavyweight actresses. She beats Romola Garai, Diane Lane, Elizabeth McGovern and Emily Watson.
0122 GMT: As expected "Downton Abbey" wins the best mini-series or motion picture made for TV Globe. The popular period drama wins in the first of the four categories it is nominated in tonight.
"How fabulous this is?" creator Julian Fellowes says, accepting the award. "The whole 'Downton' adventure has been an extraordinary one."
0113 GMT: Laura Dern wins best performance by an actress in a television series - comedy or musical for her role in HBO's "Enlightened".
This is Dern's third Golden Globe win. She is nothing but thank yous, to the HFPA, her co-stars, her family, mother Diane Ladd and "everybody who'se ever inspired any of us!" She beats Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Laura Linney and Zoey Deschanel, who many thought might win.
0109 GMT: The first award of the night Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture goes to Christopher Plummer for his role in "Beginners".
Plummer is dignity itself describing the award as "a wonderful welcome back to the home of 'King Kong', 'Rin Tin Tin' and all our youthful fantasies." He praises his "distinguished" competitors (he beat Viggo Moternsen, Kenneth Branagh, Albert Brooks and Jonah Hill in the category) and apologises profusely to them.
0106 GMT: Gervais, dapper in a burgundy suit, is off to a confident start. "So, where was I?" he opens, asking the audience if they are "nervous?"
"Don't be," he assures them. "This isn't about you."
NBC is the recipient of his first dig - he describes himself as the biggest British comedian presenting the second biggest awards show on the third biggest network, before correcting himself - "It's fourth."
Next the Globes - "It's just like the Oscars without the esteem!"
He goes even further: "The Golden Globes are to the Oscars what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton." There are groans.
Then, taking a stab at the HFPA, he refers to himself as "bit louder, a bit trashier and a bit drunker and more easily bought - allegedly, nothing's been proved."
Gervias also took a much expected swipe at Eddie Murphy in his opening monologue, referring to the actor/comedian's decision to pull out of hosting the Oscars after the controversy over Brett Ratner's gay slur. "Good for him," Gervais says of Murphy, but swiftly adds, "when the man who says 'yes' to "Norbit" says 'no' to you, you know you're in trouble."
Gervais then introduced Johnny Depp, who he attacked last year for his critically panned but nevertheless nominated film "The Tourist", describing the actor as someone who will wear just about whatever Tim Burton tells him to. When Depp reached the stage, Gervais asked him to tell him if he did actually ever see "The Tourist".
0056 GMT: The guests are being ushered into the ballroom, only a few minutes to go. Ricky Gervais is no doubt swigging lager in the wings in readiness...
Glenn Close, nominated for best actress for her role as a man in "Albert Nobbs" and also for the best song Globe for the film, tells NBC's Natalie Morales it's "so exciting to be nominated in a totally new category". Despite Sir Elton's predictions, many see Madonna as the frontrunner in this category.
0046 GMT: Madonna, addressing Ryan Seacrest as "Playboyus Maximus" in her strangely British accent, doesn't mention Sir Elton as she talks about her widely panned period piece "WE". She's wearing a tight sparkly steel-toned dress and Like A Virgin-style crucifix and gloves.
George Clooney, up for four Globes tonight, says he's not at all worried about what Ricky Gervais might throw his way. "We'll be fine," he says. But he agrees he may have directed fellow best actor contender Ryan Gosling too well in "The Ides of March". "Yeah I think I screwed up," he admits.
0038 GMT: Sir Elton John beats Ricky Gervais to make the first controversial remark of the night. Interviewed on the red carpet, the best song contender nominated for "Gnomeo and Juliet" says rival Mary J Blige might win (for "The Help") but Madonna, also nominated for the Globe, doesn't stand a "f(expletive)" chance (though the profanity is caught and blanked out by the NBC's tape delay). The remark is relayed to the queen of pop, who retorts: "Damn him.. May the best man win."
0023 GMT: First sight of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie - he's using a cane after an ACL injury, she's wearing a killer white tailored number with a dramatic red slash neckline. Jolie tells Ryan Seacrest she was nervous about how her directorial debut, Bosnian-war themed "In the Land of Blood and Honey" - nominated for best foreign film - would be received in Bosnia, but not so worried about what Hollywood would think of it. "The country has received it well - and there's no better reward for me."
Lots of old school glamour - Kate Beckinsale and Charlize Theron (who's battling laryngitis) have poured themselves into flowing pale pink gowns. Mary J Blige, a best song contender, is also in pink, a sparkly pink dress with fluffy feathery skirt. Heidi Klum and Elle Macpherson also seem to be rocking the pale pink/nude palette.
0007 GMT: The red carpet is already thronging with primped and preened stars. A nervous-looking Rooney Mara in a daring (no surprises here) black dress confesses to being "a little nervous" attending her first Globes ceremony - no wonder, the 26-year-old is up against Glenn Close, Meryl Streep, Viola Davis and Tilda Swinton in the best dramatic actress category for her role in "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo".
Another young star and Globes first-timer, Zooey Deschanel, 31, bounces up to the E! podium and tells Ryan Seacrest she's "very excited" about her best TV comedy actress nomination for the Fox sitcom The New Girl. She's wearing a slinky Prada number but her 60s-style hair makes her look like she's got sideburns. She flashes Seacrest a peek at her nails - each one a miniature tuxedo.
0000 GMT: Welcome to AFP's live coverage of the 69th Golden Globes, the first major ceremony of Hollywood's glitzy awards season and, thanks to the acid-bath humor of controversial host Ricky Gervais, now among its most entertaining - at least for those watching at home.
Some of the industry's biggest names - Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Jodie Foster, even Madonna - are currently descending on the Beverly Hilton for the Champagne-fueled night. And many are no doubt girding themselves lest they number among the celebrity "victims" of the notoriously fearless and irreverent Gervais.
Last year the British comedian's often wince-inducing jibes at all, from Scientologists to Globe organizers the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, sparked outrage and were dubbed "totally unacceptable" by then HFPA president Philip Berk. But Gervais, who has boosted the Globes' ratings by several million over the past two years, defended his remarks and defied expectations to return for a third stint promising more "bulletproof" material.
But let's not forget the point of the evening - the Globes themselves. Dominating the field with six nominations is French silent film "The Artist", a black-and-white homage to old Hollywood starring Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo. Close behind are Southern drama "The Help" and Alexander Payne's family tale "The Descendants", with five nominations each. Popular comedies "Bridesmaids" and Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" are also in the running while favorites to win in some of the TV categories include British period drama "Downton Abbey" and national security thriller "Homeland".
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