George Clooney Will Present Joel Siegel Award at Critics Choice Awards

George Clooney has signed up for the Critics Choice Awards a special presenter. The director-actor of “The Ides of March” and “The Descendants”  is the first big Hollywood A list name I can tell you about for the January 12th Critics Choice Awards. Clooney, I am told, will present the prestigious Joel Siegel Award at the star studded event that’s shown live on VH-1.

Siegel, the late great film critic, is remembered with an award for social consciousness.Luckily, with several nominations, Clooney will already be at the Critics Choice Awards, so it won’t require a special trip. The winner of the award has not yet been revealed. Past winners include Kevin Bacon, Matt Damon, and Richard Gere.

I am told that all of the big name nominees will be present for the VH-1 show, making the “Critics Choice” awards the first big televised star-cast of the season. The show should be on a big network like CBS, but there’s a conflict, it seems, with the People’s Choice Awards that air the prior night. (This is so strange since “People’s Choice” is not considered a legit enterprise by the entertainment press.)

Anyway: the other big name set for the Critics Choice will be a “major rock star” to present a lifetime achievement award to Martin Scorsese. This will likely be either Eric Clapton, Keith Richards or Robbie Robertson. Sadly, the subject of this year’s Scorsese doc, George Harrison, isn’t available. But he’ll be sending good vibes from the beyond for his terrific “Living in the Material World” film.