Hollywood festivities return as 'Barbie' vies for Golden Globes

Margot Robbie, Oprah Winfrey and Leonardo DiCaprio will mingle with other top stars on Sunday at the Golden Globe awards, Hollywood's first big celebration since twin strikes shut down most of show business last year.

The red carpet awards ceremony will honour the best of film and television selected by a new group of 300 entertainment journalists from around the world, part of reforms made after a diversity and ethics scandal among voters.

Barbie, the summer blockbuster starring Robbie as the iconic doll, leads all nominees with nine nominations. Historical drama Oppenheimer, about the making of the atomic bomb, follows with eight nods.

The Globes kick off Hollywood's annual awards season, which culminates with the Oscars on March 10, and will bring top stars together after six months of strikes by actors and writers in 2023. The ceremony will give celebrities the chance to shine a spotlight on their films and TV shows after months when promotion was prohibited.

"I'm a little biased, but this is the best awards show and we're going to have fun," said comedian Jo Koy, who will host his first major awards show starting at 8 pm ET (0100 GMT on Monday).

Acting nominees include Robbie and Barbie co-star Ryan Gosling, plus Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro, who starred in Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, also are up for trophies.

Winfrey is among the night's presenters. Pop superstar Taylor Swift also may join the A-list crowd as a nominee for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, her concert film that is in the running in a new category for cinematic and box office achievement.

In the television field, Succession is expected to win accolades for its final season about the high-stakes battle for control of a global media empire. It leads all nominees with nine nods, followed by restaurant dramedy The Bear with five.

There are 27 first-time nominees for this year's Globes.