Golden Globes awards show officially cancelled

The Golden Globes awards show has been officially cancelled because of the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike.

Organisers were forced to pull the plug on Sunday's TV spectacular yesterday (MON) in the face of a threat of a boycott from A-list stars.

Coverage of one of the biggest showbiz nights in the Hollywood calendar will be replaced by a low-key press conference announcement of the winners.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and event broadcasters NBC issued a statement confirming the traditional dinner and awards ceremony in Beverly Hills is off.

It said: "We are all very disappointed that our traditional awards ceremony will not take place this year and that millions of viewers worldwide will be deprived of seeing many of their favourite stars celebrating 2007's outstanding achievements in motion pictures and television.

"We take some comfort, however, in knowing that this year's Golden Globe Award recipients will be announced on the date originally scheduled."

Writers had threatened to picket the black-tie event if it went ahead. And top stars had vowed to boycott the red carpet in a show of solidarity.

A scaled-down 65th Golden Globes ceremony was on the cards as recently as last week.

But a weekend announcement by Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg that none of the 72 actors nominated for Golden Globes would cross writers' picket lines virtually guaranteed glamour would be in short supply.