BEIJING, Jan. 16 -- British actress Helen Mirren, who knows how to play a queen, and British actor Sacha Baron Cohen, who is a prince at playing boors, may dominate Monday's 64th annual Golden Globe awards -- an event that likes to think of itself as a precursor to the Oscars.

    The awards, which are voted on by 83 members of the minuscule Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are indeed a major stop on the road to the Feb. 25 Academy Awards. The show is televised around the world and is filled with high fashion and high spirits -- just like the Oscars.

    "Babel" has the most nominations of any film -- seven -- while "The Departed" is second with six.

    Also nominated in that category are "Bobby," about the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, "The Queen" and "Little Children," about an adulterous affair starring Kate Winslet.

    But Scorsese is a popular figure with Globes voters, who named his "Gangs of New York" its best drama in 2003. Besides the nomination for "Departed," he is also nominated for best director, up against Clint Eastwood who has two films in that category, Frears and Inarritu,

    Cohen's unexpected box office hit, "Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" was nominated in the best comedy or musical category along with "The Devil Wears Prada," "Dreamgirls," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Thank You for Smoking."

    Both "Dreamgirls" and "Sunshine" are strong favorites to be nominated for best picture Oscars and an unexpected "Borat" victory at the Globes in that category might raise a few eyebrows.

    But Cohen is the favorite in the best actor for a musical or comedy category where he is nominated alongside Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhard,Chiwetel Ejiofor and Will Ferrell.

    Leonardo DiCaprio has two nominations for best actor in a drama, one for "The Departed" and one for "Blood Diamond." Also in that category are Peter O'Toole, playing an aging actor in "Venus," Will Smith for "The Pursuit of Happyness" and Forest Whitaker as the brutal dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland." Whitaker is the favorite but Globe voters have been very friendly to DiCaprio in the past.

    Mirren leads the field for best actress in a drama. Also nominated are Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Kate Winslet.