Golden Globes go on without fanfare

BEVERLY HILLS , Calif., Jan. 14 (UPI) -- About 500 journalists and entertainment industry people -- but no nominees -- attended the Golden Globes press conference in Beverly Hills Sunday night.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association scrapped its traditional gala after striking writers threatened to picket the event and stars said they would not cross a picket line to get inside.

The absence of celebrities and the glitz, glamor and adoring fans that accompany the usually star-studded affair led one attendee to describe the scene as something out of the post-apocalyptic movie "I Am Legend," Variety.com reported Monday.

"It's the first time the HFPA instructed security to keep people in," quipped another attendee.

The trade paper said photographers clamored to snap pictures of veteran TV personality Mary Hart because she was the biggest star there.

"It's like a non-event," said Kyle Batty, a Beverly Hills Police Department officer, sitting outside the hotel where limos are usually lined up and the red carpet is laid out for the event.

"We all hope that the writers strike will be over soon so that everybody can go back to making good movies and television, which is what the Golden Globes is designed to celebrate," HFPA president Jorge Camara said.