KEY POINTS:
BEVERLY HILLS - Movie musical Dreamgirls collected two early Golden Globe awards on Monday, one for veteran comedian Eddie Murphy and a second for newcomer Jennifer Hudson, giving each a boost in Hollywood's annual Oscar race.
Murphy was named best supporting actor in a movie for playing a rhythm-and-blues singer whose career hits hard times. Hudson earned the trophy for best supporting actress as a singer who is kicked out of an all-girl singing group that rises from rags to pop stardom riches.
Dreamgirls is based on the hit Broadway stage show that was loosely based on the ascent of Diana Ross and the Supremes, and it is picked as one of this year's top films
Hudson fought back tears in accepting her award.
"Oh, my God. Thank you so much," she said. "Wow. I have always dreamed but never, ever this big. This goes far beyond anything I could ever have imagined."
Comic actor Murphy said, "I'll be damned," then went on to thank director Bill Condon for "putting me in such a wonderful movie."
The Golden Globe awards, which are voted on by nearly 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are a major stop on the road to the February 25 Academy Awards because winners here often go on to compete for Oscars -- the film industry's top awards.
The show also is televised around the world so the stars show up dripping in diamonds and wearing glamorous designer gowns and tuxedos. Parading up the red carpet outside the awards gala were a who's who of superstardom: Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg, Brad Pitt alongside companion Angelina Jolie, Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
- REUTERS
