Golden Globe Glory For Firth, Portman

It’s the award ceremony that can sometimes pave the way for the big Oscar winners.

So Natalie Portman and Colin Firth could well be on track to win an Academy Award next month after taking the top honours at the Golden Globe Awards held on Sunday night. Portman was named best actress for ‘Black Swan’ while Firth was awarded the best actor award for his portrayal of King George VI in ‘The King’s Speech’.Pregnant Portman thanked her parents and fiancé Benjamin Millepied as she made her acceptance speech for her trophy, which honoured her portrayal of a tortured ballerina in the critically acclaimed movie.After giving a nod to her parents for ‘bringing me into this world’, and thanking her grandmother who was watching in Cincinnati, the 29-year-old added: ‘And thank you to Benjamin for helping me to bring more creation into the world.’Millepied, who choreographed the movie, and Portman met on set while filming last year and last month they announced their engagement and that they were expecting a baby in the summer.But she admitted before last night’s bash that she was not entirely comfortable with the extreme attention that ‘Black Swan’ and a baby bump has brought.Speaking to E! News, Portman, who wore a flowing pink silk Victor and Rolph dress, said: ‘It’s a lot and I’m really bad at taking compliments.’And she revealed she has not picked out any baby names yet adding: ‘I haven’t done the book or anything, I’m open to suggestions.’Firth (50), who beat off stiff competition from Jesse Eisenberg, James Franco, Mark Wahlberg and Ryan Gosling, thanked his ‘supernaturally talented fellow cast members’, especially Helena Bonham, Carter, his ‘exquisite no-nonsense Queen’.And he had the audience in fits of laughter as he referred to his age and said: ‘To get to this stage of your life with your dignity and judgement intact can be somewhat precarious. ‘Sometimes all you need is a bit of gentle reassurance to keep you on track but right now this (the award) is all that stands between me and a Harley Davidson.’’Glee’ was also a big winner of the night with three awards and ‘The Fighter’ also performed well with nods to Welsh-born Christian Bale and co-star Melissa Leo for best supporting actor and actress.’Batman’ star Bale paid tribute to Mark Wahlberg, his co-star in ‘The Fighter’, who missed out on the best actor award to Firth.He said: ‘I’ve really got to give a shout-out to Mark, because he drove this whole movie, and you can only give a loud performance like the one I gave when you have a quiet anchor and a stoic character.’I’ve played that one many times, and it never gets any notice.’Chris Colfer won the best supporting actor Golden Globe for his role as the camp pupil in ‘Glee’, co-star Jane Lynch was honoured for her role as the sadistic coach Sue Sylvester while the show itself won best TV musical or comedy.Lead acting honours for the Globes’ musical or comedy categories went to Annette Bening for the lesbian-family story ‘The Kids Are All Right’, and Paul Giamatti for the curmudgeon tale ‘Barney’s Version’.Best performance by an actor in a TV drama series went to Steve Buscemi for the gangster series ‘Boardwalk Empire’. Award for best TV drama series also went to ‘Boardwalk Empire’, beating ‘The Good Wife’ and ‘Mad Men’.Justin Beiber, the teen pop sensation, co-presented the best animated film along with another child sensation Hailee Steinfeld, star of the film ‘True Grit’, to the Disney -Pixar film ‘Toy Story 3’.Al Pacino took the Golden Globe, and a standing ovation, for best performance by an actor in a film made for TV: ‘You Don’t Know Jack’.Claire Danes took the best actress statuette for the TV film ‘Temple Grandin’. – www.dailymail.co.uk