Hugh set for Golden Globes win
Hugh Jackman is set to get his Oscar campaign back on track with a Golden Globe win after playing bridesmaid to Daniel Day-Lewis.
The Australian actor has had to sit back and watch the transcendent Day-Lewis, playing American Civil War hero and 16th US president Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's biopic Lincoln, dominate the first few weeks of the Hollywood award season, including Thursday night's Critics' Choice trophy.
However, the Golden Globes are tailor-made for Jackman's performance in Les Miserables.
First up, he is not competing against Day-Lewis.
The Globes' best actor and actress categories are divided into two sections, drama and musical/comedy, and thankfully for Jackman he can sit in the Beverly Hilton ballroom at today's Globe ceremony knowing he does not have to worry about London-born Day-Lewis, a two-time Oscar winner and seven-time Globe nominee.
"Daniel? Who is that?" Jackman joked with AAP on the red carpet at the G'Day USA black tie gala in Los Angeles on Saturday.
"No, I'm just happy to be in the same show that his name is mentioned, let alone category.
"Trust me. That guy is incredible," Jackman said.
Day-Lewis is up against Denzel Washington (Flight), Richard Gere (Arbitrage), John Hawkes (The Sessions) and Joaquin Phoenix (The Master) in the Globe drama category.
Bookmakers have Day-Lewis at the almost unbackable odds of 1/20, while Washington is the next closest, but a long way away at 12/1.
At 4/11 odds, the only true competition Jackman faces in the Globes' comedy/musical race is Bradley Cooper (9/4) for Silver Linings Playbook.
Jackman's other three challengers are 50/1 longshots and non-Oscar nominees: Jack Black (Bernie), Ewan McGregor (Salmon Fishing In The Yemen) and Bill Murray (Hyde Park on Hudson).
The Globes could also re-charge Naomi Watts' Oscar campaign.
Watts, nominated for The Impossible, has also been overshadowed, with Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) and Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) stealing the early awards limelight.
Watts also benefits with the Globes' split acting categories, with Lawrence in comedy/musical while Chastain is her biggest threat in drama.
Australia's other acting Oscar nominee, Jacki Weaver, was snubbed for a Globe nomination so can sit back and enjoy the free-flowing champagne inside the Beverly Hilton.
Nicole Kidman and hubby Keith Urban scored big with Globe nominations but on Thursday failed to pick up Oscar nods.
Kidman is nominated in two Globe categories: supporting actress for the film The Paperboy; and actress in a TV mini-series-movie for Hemingway and Gellhorn.
Urban secured a Globe best original song nomination for For You, which featured in Act of Valor, an action film about a team of Navy SEALs.
Urban is competing for the Globe against Jackman's performance of Suddenly in Les Mis, Jon Bon Jovi's Not Running Anymore (for the movie Stand Up Guys), Taylor Swift's Safe & Sound (for The Hunger Games) and Adele's James Bond tune, Skyfall.
