Are People Caring About Award Shows Again?

Ali Allarde discusses the many factors leading to the success of the 2025 Golden Globes.
Ali Allarde, Staff Writer
February 25, 2025
Are People Caring About Award Shows Again?
Private: The State of Award Shows

It’s safe to say that award shows, once prestigious events that garnered tens of millions in viewership, have been going on a downward spiral. With numbers taking a nosedive after the pandemic and younger audiences showing a lack of interest in the shows, they have become less and less important. The Grammys, dubbed as music’s biggest night, only had 9.6 million viewers in contrast to 39 million in 2012. The Oscars, arguably the biggest award show of the season, which gained over 43 million viewers in 2014, only had 19 million in 2024. The public simply didn’t seem to care about award shows anymore. 

However, 2025 seems to be different, with the former spirit of award shows coming back in full force. The Golden Globes, often thought of as second to the Academy Awards, opened awards season with an enthusiastic audience, memorable wins, and an electric host. Winners such as Zoe Saldaña and Demi Moore tearfully accepted their awards with heartfelt speeches, and Nikki Glaser kept up the energy with good-natured celebrity roasts and a bright demeanor. This year’s awards were so drastically different in atmosphere from last year’s that one might even wonder if they were watching the same show. After all, the Globes don’t exactly have the best reputation. Bland hosts, bribery allegations, and a distinct lack of diversity within their voting all led to them being canceled and dropped by NBC in 2021, only to be picked up by CBS in 2023. What made this year’s awards different?

Brady Corbet, the director of The Brutalist, accepting the Golden Globe for Best Director.
Private: The Wins

The winners of the 82nd Golden Globes were memorable, to say the least. Some of the big winners were Emilia Pérez, winning four Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy; and Shōgun, also winning four Golden Globes, including Best Television Series – Drama. Wicked, to no one’s surprise, won the Golden Globe for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement.

However, one of the most notable winners is The Brutalist—which tells the story of a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor who immigrated to the United States. It won three Globes for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director (Brady Corbet), and Best Male Actor – Drama Motion Picture (Adrien Brody). Once thought of as unreleasable, the film took seven years to make, with a budget of only $10 million and the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine preventing filming. Despite not having the support of a big-budget studio, “The Brutalist” shows how independent and indie films shouldn’t be discounted for awards and global recognition.

Brady Corbet, the director of The Brutalist, accepting the Golden Globe for Best Director.
Nikki Glaser hosting the Golden Globes.
Private: The Host

One of the major highlights of this year’s Golden Globes was its host, Nikki Glaser. Throughout the night, she kept the audience laughing as she roasted celebrities such as Timothée Chalamet and Harrison Ford, poking fun at them and yet never going too far. Glaser told Vogue, “I don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable or feel like they were called out.” Glaser’s exuberance and confidence is a stark contrast to last year’s host, Jo Koy, whose flat jokes and lack of audience reaction led to him blaming his writers and the fact that he was signed on to host the Globes ten days before showtime. “Yo, I got the gig ten days ago…You want a perfect monologue? Shut up,” he said. The host of an awards ceremony, a generally straightforward and dry event, can make or break a show. Nikki Glaser, who seemed legitimately excited to host the Globes, made the awards more enjoyable for everyone.

Nikki Glaser hosting the Golden Globes.
Zoe Saldaña and her Golden Globe.
Private: The Speeches

The first award of the night was Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, given to Zoe Saldaña. Tearfully accepting the award, Saldaña expressed her gratitude for the cast and crew of Emilia Pérez for helping her win her first Golden Globe. Later on, Demi Moore won for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. With this Golden Globe being her first-ever award in the movie industry, Moore gave an acceptance speech worthy of the Oscars. “I’ve been doing this a long time, like over 45 years…When we don’t think we’re smart enough, or skinny enough, or successful enough, or basically just enough, I had a woman say to me, ‘Just know: you will never be enough. But you can know the value of your worth if you just put down the measuring stick.” Moore’s speech was elegant, heartfelt, and most of all, genuine.

Zoe Saldaña and her Golden Globe.
Private: Talent Wins Out

At the end of the day, the awards, speeches, and the host; the things that made this year’s Golden Globes great; are just the bare bones of an awards show.

It might sound cheesy, but think about it for a second. Would The Brutalist‘s three Golden Globes feel just as hard-won if they simply had everything handed to them? Would Nikki Glaser be half as entertaining if she didn’t actually enjoy and care about the show she was putting on, or would she just be another forgettable, half-hearted host who just came for the money? Would Demi Moore’s first award ever be as impactful if she didn’t pour 45 years of her heart and soul into her career? No. Even though it’s fun to see big-budget movies from established studios like Disney and Universal Studios sweep an awards ceremony, it falls flat after a while. These movies are given the highest resources and production budgets available, which allows for high-quality movies, but can take away the artistic soul of the project. This year, the Globes didn’t just pass on their awards to big studio names like a transaction. Instead, they celebrated individuals with true talent.