Five Things You Didn't Know About The Golden Globes

The 69th Golden Globes, that kick off the awards season in Hollywood, are scheduled to be telecast over the weekend and like every year, there's quite a buzz around it.

With celebrated British comedian Ricky Gervais set to host the awards show for the third time in a row and an impressive list of nominations, it is set to be one exciting affair. 

The nominations were declared by actors Sofia Vergara, Gerard Butler and Rashida Jones last month.

Now, given the popularity of the show, you might have lapped up all info about the year's nominations and the stars' back story but here, we've got five little known facts about the awards that you might have missed. Take a look!

1. The Trophy

The award statue was designed in 1946, depicting a Globe with a strip of film around it.

The film is known to be flimsy, and many have broken it before leaving the podium, including Laurence Olivier -- one of the most famous and revered actors of the last century and a three-time Golden Globe winner.

Organised by The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Globes have come under scrutiny and criticism for some dubious awards over the years.

It all started when Pia Zadora won New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture in 1982 for Butterfly, a film that hadn't even opened at the time of the awards. The rumour was that a lavish junket to Los Angeles helped get her the win.

Similarly, this year, Angelina Jolie's directorial debut In The Land Of Blood And Honey (based on the Bosnian war) has been nominated in the Foreign Film category even though it opens on January 20.

The Globes were handed out by journalists until 1958, when a bunch of celebs including Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr, ran up on stage and started telling jokes.

They were asked to officially do it the next year, and since then celebrities have handed out the awards.

Legendary actress Meryl Streep, who's nominated this year for her sensational portrayal of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, holds the distinction of being the only star with most number of individual nominations at 25.

The Golden Globe Awards ceremony has been held at the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hills Hilton in Los Angeles since 1961.