( CNN ) Wait ! Were these really the Golden Globes that we watched on Sunday night ? Could n't have been . Where was the rampaging snark or the woozyboozy stage patter we 've hated to love -- or vice versa -- year after year ? It was a Globes ceremony on its best grown-up behavior . The outside world was more present than usual at this year 's show , with a few shout-outs of freedom-of-speech solidarity with the victims of last week 's deadly Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in Paris . The topical jokes from co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler -- including a couple of pointed ( and not too shabby ) impressions of a lascivious Bill Cosby -- landed deftly enough , though the running gag featuring Margaret Cho as a grim-faced North Korean representative of the Hollywood press may have gone on slightly longer than it needed . In fact this year 's show seemed to work harder than ever to keep the traffic flowing and the loose ends from dangling . Even those who were glumly pretending at humiliation ( looking at you , Ricky Gervais ) or succeeded at humiliating themselves ( maybe we wo n't see your movie on Friday after all , Kevin Hart ) did n't seem to have their hearts in it . For the most part , there was so much deportment , grace and dignified good intentions on display that you 'd have thought you were watching the Oscars or something ! And they 're not the Oscars . That much has n't changed . Voters for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association , a group of about 90 who write about movies and TV for the international press , have very little connection with or bearing upon the thousands of actors , directors , cinematographers , producers , writers , directors and other movie trades people who 'll be voting on the Academy Awards . But perhaps this year , more than any other in recent memory , people peered into the Globes to get an early sense of who 's got the legs to score big . That 's because after a year that movie pundits considered among the more dismal in both overall quality and box office returns , there has n't been a movie showing big-footed momentum heading into awards season . The verdict ? Cloudy , but with some signs . Michael Keaton 's prize for best actor in a comedy or musical seemed to signal a big night for `` Birdman , '' which also won for best screenplay . But `` The Grand Budapest Hotel '' scored the best comedy or musical Globe , while `` Boyhood '' won for best drama . `` Boyhood 's '' front-running status for best picture is likely solidified after winning so many year-end critics ' awards . But that could change . Sunday night 's audience -- which by the way contained far more people who will cast Oscar votes than it did HFPA voters -- seemed most galvanized when Prince awarded the best original song Globe to Common and John Legend for collaborating on the song `` Glory '' from `` Selma . '' In his acceptance speech , Common further roused the house by saying , `` I realize I am the hopeful black woman who was denied her right to vote . I am the caring white supporter killed on the front lines of freedom . I am the unarmed black kid who maybe needed a hand but instead was given a bullet . I am the two fallen police officers murdered in the line of duty . 'Selma ' has awakened my humanity . '' It 's not improbable that those listening may find themselves feeling the same way in a few weeks when they fill out their Oscar ballots . The outside world has a way of intruding on the bigger show , even in a year where there was more to be nervous about than inspired by .
Gene Seymour : Golden Globes shed snarky vibe for more sober ceremony this year . Topical jokes touched on N. Korea , Cosby ; there were solidarity shout-outs to Parisians . Seymour : Enthusiasm after `` Selma '' best song win may be a hint at where Oscar will go .