"The Social Network", a drama about the founding of Facebook, won the Golden Globe for the year's best drama, ensuring it heads into the home stretch of the Hollywood awards season as the hot Oscar favourite. It also won the best original score, beating Indian music maestro A.R. Rahman works in "127 Hours".

The movie, which focuses on billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, won three other awards Sunday night, for best screenplay, director and score. On Friday it dominated the Critics Choice Awards after sweeping up handfuls of other prizes early in the awards season.

"Kids Are All Right", a comedy about a lesbian couple who meet the man who fathered their children, won the Golden Globe Sunday for the year's best comedy or musical. Television variety show "Glee" won for best TV comedy, while prohibition-era gangster series "Boardwalk Empire" won for best TV drama.

"The Social Network" had been criticised in some areas for its unflattering portrayal of the young internet magnate. But producer Scott Rudin used his acceptance speech to thank Zuckerberg "for his willingness to allow us to use his life and work as a metaphor to tell a story about communication and how we relate to each other".

Writer Aaron Sorkin also used his speech to praise Zuckerberg. "You turned out to be a great entrepreneur a visionary and an incredible altruist," he said.

The royalty of Hollywood had gathered for stars convened Sunday at the Beverley Hilton Hotel for the 68th annual Golden Globes, widely considered Hollywood's second most important awards show after the Oscars.

From cancer survivor Michael Douglas to teen star Justin Bieber, and from Hale Berry to Angelina Jolie, anyone who was anyone in tinseltown came in their finest designer clothes.

The leading contender had been "The King's Speech", about the stuttering British monarch King George VI with seven nominations. In the end it only won one award for lead actor "Colin Firth".

Natalie Portman won best actress in a drama for her role as a dancer in "Black Swan". Paul Giamatti won the comic actor award for "Barney's version", while Annette Bening was named best comic actress for "The Kids Are All Right".

The first trophy of the night went to Christian Bale who picked up the best supporting actor award for his role in boxing drama "The Fighter". The movie also yielded a supporting actress award for Melissa Leo.

The glittering spectacle took place in the shadow of a legal scandal after the event's former publicist filed a lawsuit late last week alleging that member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organises the awards, accepted bribes and favours from movie studios in return for supporting movies.

"Boardwalk Empire"'s Steve Buscemi and "Sons of Anarchy"'s Katey Sagal won the Golden Globes for best actors in a TV drama, while the best actors in a TV comedy or musical were Laura Linney for "The Big C" and Jim Parsons for "The Big Bang Theory". The honour for best TV mini-series or movie went to the French mini-series "Carlos", while the best foreign film was Denmark's "In a Better World".

The Globes are often touted as a predictor of Oscar glory but its record has been less than stellar in recent years. In the past six years only one winner of the best picture Globe, "Slumdog Millionaire", won the corresponding Oscar prize.

Last year, the Globes awarded the dramatic film to "Avatar" with James Cameron winning for directing, while the academy gave best picture to "The Hurt Locker" and director to Kathryn Bigelow.

Robert De Niro received the Cecil B DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.