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Depp, Reese are favourites
09/01/2008 08:02 - (SA)
Los Angeles - Johnny Depp and Reese
Witherspoon were among the celebrities who won People's Choice
Awards on Tuesday in a televised programme that was drastically
altered due to the Hollywood writers strike.
Instead of receiving their statuettes to great applause
during a traditional awards ceremony, the recipients taped
acceptance speeches for a canned broadcast that aired on CBS.
The event's organisers were forced to change their plans
last month because the Writers Guild of America is refusing to
allow many awards shows to hire union writers and actors are
not crossing the writers' picket lines.
This one-two punch knocked out the Golden Globes on Monday,
reducing that awards gala to a news conference next Sunday.
Roughly 10 500 Writers Guild members went on strike against
Hollywood's major studios in November in a dispute that centres
on fees writers want when their work appears on the internet.
The strike has ended production of TV shows, derailed films
and altered many awards shows that air at this time of year.
In all, there were 38 categories for the 34th annual
People's Choice Awards, split among film, TV and music. Winners
were voted on by audiences, and Queen Latifah hosted the
two-hour telecast in a "magazine-style" TV format.
Speeches by presenters that would have been written by
striking union members in a traditional awards ceremony were
dropped, and the winners avoided having to cross a live
broadcast's picket line by taping speeches in advance.
Depp and Witherspoon were named favourite male and female
movie star. Neither was cited for any particular film, though
Depp was in theatres last year with Pirates of the Caribbean:
At World's End, which won two other awards. Witherspoon
appeared in only one movie, the box office bomb Rendition.
Joaquin Phoenix and Drew Barrymore also had a quiet year at
movie box offices, but that did not stop them from being named
favourite leading actors.
Matt Damon and Keira Knightley, respective stars of The
Bourne Ultimatum and Pirates of the Caribbean, took the honours for favourite action stars.
Pirates of the Caribbean was also named favourite movie
and "threequel", and Bourne Ultimatum favourite action movie.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix won favourite drama, Knocked Up favourite comedy, and Shrek the Third favourite family movie.
Grey's Anatomy actors Patrick Dempsey and Katherine Heigl
were named favourite TV stars. But another medical show,
House, won favourite drama. The comedy category went to Two and a Half Men.
Justin Timberlake and Gwen Stefani won for favourite
singers. Country combo Rascal Flatts was named favourite group.
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