Globe for Anna Paquin, double for Winslet

Kiwi actress Anna Paquin today won a Golden Globe for her role in the HBO vampire television series True Blood.

In the big catergories, Slumdog Millionaire won the Best Motion Picture award at the Golden Globes while Kate Winslet won two nods for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress and Mickey Rourke was the surprise winner for Best Actor.

Paquin won Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series for her role as Sookie Stackhouse, who has the ability to hear people's thoughts.

'This is awesome I'm so excited," she said before going on to thank an army of people.

True Blood, based on the Southern Vampire book series, is a drama featuring vampires who drink a synthetic blood that allows them to live among mortals in a small Louisiana town.

Paquin stepped into the spotlight when she won a best supporting actress Oscar at age 11 for her role in the Jane Campion film The Piano.

WINSLET DOUBLE

Winslet got up on stage looking stunned, she began her acceptance speech by apologising to the other nominees.

"I'm so sorry Anne, Meryl, Kristin and who's the other one.. Angelina!"

Earlier Kate Winslet looked startled when her name was read out for her role as Best Supporting Actress  in The Reader.

A breathless Winslet, who played a German woman with a hidden past in "The Reader," said she was "shocked" at her victory and added, "I have a habit of not winning things."

She thanked her co-stars and acknowledged the work of the other nominees including Penelope Cruz, who had been picked as Winslet's key competitor for her part as a freewheeling artist in the Woody Allen movie, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."

30 ROCK BIG WINNER

Television series 30 Rock was a big winner early on - gaining awards for Best Comedy, and Golden Globes for actor Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey.

As the cast of the show assembled on stage to accept the award for Best Comedy show, Tracy Jordon came forward to the microphone telling the audience ' Tina Fey and I had an agreement - if Barack Obama won I'd be the spokesman for the show. So deal with it.'

GOLDEN GLOBE FOR LEDGER

Heath Ledger was given an award for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight.

Director Chris Nolan accepted the award on behalf of the late actor.

"All of us who worked with Heath on `The Dark Knight' accept with an awful mixture of sadness but incredible pride," Nolan said. "After Heath passed, you saw a hole ripped in the future of cinema."

Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky) found it difficult to get through her acceptance speech for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, she was so overcome with emotion she had to put her award down.

Bruce Springsteen took the award for Best Original Song for penning the title song on the movie The Wrestler.

SPEILBERG HONOURED

Steven Spielberg has been honoured with the Golden Globes Cecile B DeMille Award for his "outstanding contribution to the entertainment field"

Sunday's award recognises the legendary director of classic films including "Jaws", "Schindlers List" and "Saving Private Ryan" had already won six Golden Globes during his career with a further 12 nominations.

The awards are closely watched for their star power and impact on the race for Oscars, the world's top movie awards. But last year's Golden Globes morphed from a glitzy ceremony into a boring news conference due to a screenwriters strike.

This year, however, the gala event given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association went as planned with the likes of Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie joining in the red carpet fashion parade outside the ceremony.

Winners at the 66th annual Golden Globe Awards:

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Winner: Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Winner: Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Winner: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Winner: Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Winner: Colin Farrell - In Bruges

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Winner: Kate Winslet - The Reader

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Winner: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Best Animated Feature Film
Winner: Wall-E

Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

Best Director - Motion Picture
Winner: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
Winner: "The Wrestler" - Bruce Springsteen

Best Television Series - Drama
Winner: Mad Men (AMC)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Winner: Anna Paquin - True Blood (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama
Winner: Gabriel Byrne - In Treatment (HBO)

Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Winner: 30 Rock (NBC)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Winner: Tina Fey - 30 Rock (NBC)

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Winner: Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock (NBC)

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
Winner: John Adams (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Winner: Laura Linney - John Adams (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Winner: Paul Giamatti - John Adams (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Winner: Laura Dern - Recount (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Winner: Tom Wilkinson - John Adams (HBO)

With Reuters

- © Fairfax NZ News