Hello, everybody. The keyword in President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address Tuesday night was "civility", as he urged a divided Congress to "move forward together or not at all." Of course, he noticed that one empty chair usually reserved for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who is still recovering in Texas from that horrific assassination attempt in Tucson a few weeks ago. Her husband, astronaut Mark Kelley, was watching from her bedside.

During the speech, Obama said America was facing a new "Sputnik moment", as just like the showdown for space between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, the economy and jobs are in dire need for an boost to keep up with the other countries. Though his approval rating is back up again after months of decline, the president also called for a replacement of No Child Left Behind, which hasn't been working as far as our education is concerned.

Another thing that was touched on: Energy, as he wants 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 and 80 percent of clean electricity from clean energy sources such as wind, coal, and even solar. Obama also went on the defensive of his health care overhaul law, saying he's mustering to improve it.

By the way...though Rep. Don Young was in attendance in his first State of the Union in 37 years, Sen. Lisa Murkowski had to leave during the speech as her youngest son was in the hospital for appendectomy surgery. Also, the seating arrangements had an unusual twist: Republicans and Democrats sitting together.

Now...presidential speeches are not award-worthy, but earlier this morning, it was about "The King's Speech" as it leads the 83rd Academy Awards nominations with 12 including Best Actor (Colin Firth), Supporting Actress (Helena Bonham Carter), Supporting Actor (Geoffrey Rush), and, along with "Black Swan", "The Fighter", "Inception", "The Kids Are All Right", "127 Hours", "The Social Network", "Toy Story 3", "True Grit", and "Winter's Bone", Best Picture of 2010.

Speaking of "The Social Network", it picked up Best Actor (Jesse Eisenberg), Director (David Fincher), and Adapted Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin) nods as expected. And fresh off both her Golden Globe win and "No Strings Attached" tops at the box office, Natalie Portman is also up for Best Actress in "Black Swan", though she'll be in for a showdown with Annette Bening ("The Kids Are All Right"), newcomers Jennifer Lawrence ("Winter's Bone") and Michelle Williams ("Blue Valentine"), and 2003 winner Nicole Kidman ("Rabbit Hole") for that prize.

But then there were those whose phones weren't ringing, like Leonardo DiCaprio ("Inception"), Mila Kunis ("Black Swan"), Andrew Garfield ("The Social Network"), Gwyneth Paltrow ("Country Strong", though it picked up Original Song) or Julianne Moore ("The Kids Are All Right").

"The Social Network" seemed to be the early favorite to take Best Picture after their Golden Globes victories, but it may or may not be the case now as "The King's Speech" came away the winner at the Producers Guild of America awards. But at the Oscars, there are no guarantees; see 2006 when heavy favorite "Brokeback Mountain" lost to "Crash" in an upset.

We'll see which film is liked the most when Anne Hathaway and Best Actor nominee James Franco front the 83rd Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, February 27. So long and stay strong.

Hello, everybody. We begin my first blog of 2011 with, what else, the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday where they liked "The Social Network" so much, it claimed Best Motion Picture-Drama, Director (David Fincher), and Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin). Meanwhile, Colin Firth ("The King's Speech") and Natalie Portman ("Black Swan") picked up Drama acting honors with Paul Giamatti ("Barney's Version") and Annette Bening ("The Kids Are All Right", also Best Picture winner) on the Comedy-Musical side. And yes, unlike last year, everybody -- including the cameramen -- were on their best behavior...everybody except for host Ricky Gervais, of course.

On the television front, "Glee" repeated their victory for Comedy-Musical Series with "Boardwalk Empire" taking the Drama prize. Jane Lynch, Jim Parsons, and Claire Danes all added Supporting Actress ("Glee"), Best Actress (Miniseries/Movie, "Temple Grandin"), and Best Actor (Comedy/Musical, "The Big Bang Theory") respectively to the Emmys they already picked up months ago.

Now there may have been snow all over the country except Florida, but the red carpet prior to the show made us melt. There was pregnant Natalie Portman pretty in Viktor & Rolf, Lea Michele peachy in Oscar de la Renta, Angelina Jolie vivacious in green Versace, Kelly Osbourne and Eva Longoria both donning Zac Posen, and Heidi Klum and Halle Berry not afraid to show some leg.

So...who were the night's show-offs? Have to say Olivia Wilde (a princess in Marchesa), Anne Hathaway (Armani), cleavy Longoria and 'Access Hollywood's" Maria Menounos, who totally rebounded from that unfortunate bikini malfunction she suffered in Miami a few weeks back. Yeah, what better way to say goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011 than with Maria providing us a little more "Access" to her lower body!

As for Helena Bonham Carter in a hairdo that would make Snooki proud as well as mis-matched shoes? She should be shown the door!

Just like the WWE Royal Rumble in which the winner gets a title shot at Wrestlemania, this year's Golden Globe winners like Firth and Portman are already given an express ticket to the Academy Awards. In the case of Portman, this could be shaping up to be quite the year for her with two possible new members of her family: an Oscar and a baby on the way. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Like I said, "The Social Network" won big on Sunday night, and if you scoped the scene inside the International Ballroom at the Beverly Hilton while watching the Globes, the stars were social networking on their tables. If you check out my Facebook page, you notice that I have a handful of celebrity friends like Portman, Danes, and Hathaway, as well as local ones like my good old friends Glen "Glenner" Anderson and Jerry Evans, plus of course my high school buddies.

So I'm asking you: Which celebrities would you like to see on Facebook and/or Twitter? Contact me facebook.com/johnnyafairbanksak or twitter.com/jonathanallen and I'll post some of your responses on my next blog.

Recently, we had the first rags-to-riches story in quite a while in Ted Williams (no relation to the former Boston Red Sox player), the homeless guy with a voice that would make Don LaFontaine, Johnny Olson, and Charlie O'Donnell proud up above. Within days after a newspaper reporter discovered him slumming on the streets of Columbus, Ohio and putting the video on YouTube, he got offers left and right including a Kraft Macaroni and Cheese commercial he did.

But then, we learned a dark secret: Since mid-2008, he became sober, but started drinking again after the worldwide media attention. He was admitted to a drug rehab facility in Texas arranged by Dr. Phil McGraw in the hopes to better himself. Hmmm...with Lindsay Lohan out and Ted Williams in, rehab is pretty much the celebrity hot spot these days.

In all seriousness, we have lost some great voices over the last 25 years including those I already mentioned. Ted Williams would be a breath of fresh air, though I don't know if the pipes are strong enough to belt out "In a world..." or "Come on down!" So long and stay strong.