Will it be a night of many first-time winners at the Golden Globes?

Frances McDormand

LOS ANGELES—Will Frances McDormand win her first Golden Globe best actress-drama trophy for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri?” She has been nominated six times for a Globe, but never won.

Will 22-year-old rising actor Timothée Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name”) beat veteran actors Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”), Daniel-Day Lewis (“Phantom Thread”), Tom Hanks (“The Post”) and Denzel Washington (“Roman Israel, Esq.”), and bag his first best actor-drama Globe trophy?

Timothée Chalamet

Will Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”) earn her first best actress-musical or comedy Globe over Judi Dench (“Victoria & Abdul”), Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya”), Emma Stone (“Battle of the Sexes”) and Helen Mirren (“The Leisure Seeker”)?

Saoirse Ronan

Will James Franco (“The Disaster Artist”) grab his first actor-musical or comedy Globe against Daniel Kaluuya (“Get Out”), Ansel Elgort (“Baby Driver”), Hugh Jackman (“The Greatest Showman”) and Steve Carell (“Battle of the Sexes”)?

James Franco

These are some of the exciting questions that will be answered when the 75th Golden Globe Awards takes place on Jan. 7 at The Beverly Hilton. The Golden Globes, hosted by Seth Meyers, will be broadcast live in the Philippines from the United States on Monday, Jan. 8 at 9 a.m. on Blue Ant Entertainment, which is available on SKYcable channels 53 (SD) and 196 (HD), SKYdirect channel 35, Destiny Cable channel 53 and Cablelink channels 37 (SD) and 313 (HD).

Standing in Frances McDormand’s way are best actress-drama nominees Sally Hawkins (“The Shape of Water”), Meryl Streep (“The Post”), Michelle Williams (“All the Money in the World”) and Jessica Chastain (“Molly’s Game”).

In recent years, the Golden Globe race has been tight but not as close as this year, especially in the best picture competition. In the drama category, there is no clear front-runner among these nominees: “Call Me by Your Name,” “Dunkirk,” “The Post,” “The Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards … ”

The same can be said in the musical or comedy derby: “The Disaster Artist,” “Get Out,” “The Greatest Showman,” “I, Tonya” and “Lady Bird.”

In the foreign film contest, how will director Angelina Jolie’s “First They Killed My Father” (Cambodia) fare against “A Fantastic Woman” (Chile), “In the Fade” (Germany/France), “Loveless” (Russia) and “The Square” (Sweden/Germany/France)?

Angelina also has a stake in the animated feature race. She produced a nominee, “The Breadwinner,” which competes against “Coco,” “Ferdinand,” “Loving Vincent” and “The Boss Baby.”

It will be interesting if Christopher Plummer wins the supporting actor race. In an unprecedented move, “All the Money in the World” director Ridley Scott deleted Kevin Spacey’s scenes as J. Paul Getty when sexual allegations surfaced against the actor.

Christopher Plummer

Standing in Christopher’s way are these men who also gave stunning turns: Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”), Armie Hammer (“Call Me … ”), Richard Jenkins (“The Shape of Water”) and Sam Rockwell (“Three Billboards … ”).

Armie Hammer

Will Hong Chau (“Downsizing”), the Thailand-born daughter of Vietnam boat refugees, be among the first-time victors in Hollywood’s party of the year?

Hong Chau

Any one of Hong’s fellow supporting actress nominees could be first-time awardees as well, except Octavia Spencer (“The Shape … ”) who won in this category in 2012: Allison Janney (“I, Tonya”), Laurie Metcalf (“Lady Bird”) and Mary J. Blige (“Mudbound”).

As in the supporting actress derby, there are four potential first-time winners in the director race: Martin McDonagh (“Three Billboards … ”), Ridley Scott (“All the Money … ”), Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape … ”) and Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk”). Steven Spielberg (“The Post”) has won twice in this field.

Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Fil-Am Robert Lopez, who won in the Oscars for best song but not at the Globes, could score this Sunday, thanks to their “Remember Me,” from “Coco.”

Fil-Am Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson Lopez
Contributed photos

In the TV categories, will “Game of Thrones” finally win TV series-drama after several nominations over the years?
The competition is quite formidable: “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “This Is Us,” “Stranger Things” and “The Crown.”

Will 2018 be it for Caitriona Balfe (“Outlander”)? She was also up for best actress in a TV series-drama honors in 2016 and 2017. Caitriona’s fellow nominees are equally good: Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”), Claire Foy (“The Crown”), Maggie Gyllenhaal (“The Deuce”) and Katherine Langford (“13 Reasons Why”).

Except for Jason Bateman (“Ozark”), the actor in TV series-drama nominees are potential first-time winners: Liev Schreiber (nominated five times for “Donovan”), Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”), Freddie Highmore (“The Good Doctor”) and Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”).

Speaking of nominations, “Will & Grace” has chalked up a total of 29 nods in various categories, but no wins since 2000. Will the show finally bag the TV series-musical or comedy prize? It’s up against shows which also have not yet won in this category: “Black-ish,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Master of None” and “SMILF.”

All nominees in the actress in TV series-musical or comedy have not yet won the coveted Globe trophy. They are: Pamela Adlon (“Better Things”), Alison Brie (“Glow”), Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous … ”), Issa Rae (“Insecure”) and Frankie Shaw (“SMILF”).

Eric McCormack (“Will & Grace”) and William H. Macy (“Shameless”) also have yet to win a Globe. They are competing for actor in a TV series-musical or comedy honors against: Anthony Anderson (“Black-ish”), Aziz Ansari (“Master of None”) and Kevin Bacon (“I Love Dick”).

Awards prognosticators are betting on “Big Little Lies” to clinch the limited series or movie made for TV prize. But the Globes are known for being unpredictable, so don’t count out “Fargo,” “Feud: Bette and Joan,” “Top of the Lake: China Girl” and “The Sinner.”

Similarly, Nicole Kidman of “Big Little Lies” is favored by awards forecasters to win, but her fellow actresses in a limited series or a movie made for TV nominees are outstanding in their own right: Reese Witherspoon, also from “Big Little Lies”; Susan Sarandon (who has yet to win a Globe after nine nominations) and Jessica Lange, both from “Feud: Bette and Joan” and Jessica Biel (“The Sinner”).

Will Jude Law’s performance as “The Young Pope” make him win the actor in a limited series or movie made for TV honors? A Globe win has eluded Jude, who has been nominated four times.

Will the third time’s the charm for Chrissy Metz (“This Is Us”), who is nominated again for supporting actress in a series, limited series or movie made for TV?
The other contenders are Laura Dern (“Big Little Lies”), Ann Dowd (“The Handmaid’s Tale”), Michelle Pfeiffer (“The Wizard of Lies”) and Shailene Woodley (“Big Little Lies”).

There are four potential first-time winners in the supporting actors in a series, limited series or movie made for TV derby: David Harbour (“Stranger Things”), Alfred Molina (“Feud: Bette and Joan”), Alexander Skarsgard (“Big Little Lies”) and David Thewlis (“Fargo”).

Will Christian Slater (“Mr. Robot”), who won this category in 2016, triumph again?

Find out when the Golden Globe Awards presenters open the envelopes.

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