HELMUT VOSS / FOREIGN PRESS CHIEF

The last Golden Globes nearly stole the Oscars’ thunder--at least in such unrehearsed twists as Christine Lahti’s ill-timed ladies’ room run and Jack Nicholson’s podium antics.

Will the next be as exciting? With nominations to be announced Thursday, Helmut Voss, 59, president of the sponsoring Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. and L.A. bureau chief for Germany’s Springer newspaper group, hopes so.

COUNT FIVE: “This is one of the most difficult years I’ve encountered [to select the five most-deserving best movie candidates]. There really hasn’t been a movie in the fall season that’s blown people away. If ‘The Truman Show’ had come out in late November, it would have made great impact. Still waiting to see ‘The Thin Red Line.’ ”

THINK GLOBALLY: “The major popcorn blockbusters are being made more and more for the international market. ‘Titanic’ really cleaned up. ‘Armageddon,’ ‘Deep Impact,’ they really address themselves to an international market where you don’t even have to hear the dialogue to know what’s happening.”

TACKLE DUMMY: “I’m flabbergasted by the success of ‘The Waterboy.’ That’s a trend I’m watching with astonishment. But those movies also do very well abroad, physical slapstick humor. Those of us looking forward to intelligent films that leave you enriched feel kind of left out there.”

TRADE DEFICIT: “Unfortunately, Americans still have a problem with subtitles. Some of these [foreign] movies are extraordinary--the Brazilian film ‘Central Station,’ a movie that basically consists of two people, and you’re enthralled from beginning to end. After ‘Armageddon’ and ‘Godzilla,’ that gives you a great deal of relief.”

SPONTANEITY: “I have to tell you, it was definitely not a member of the press association who held the door to the ladies’ room closed for Christine Lahti. But those are moments you dream of for live television.”

JACK’S BACK: “We are happy and excited that Jack Nicholson is going to be the Cecil B. DeMille Award recipient. I’m sure it will make for a wonderful moment. This is one of the few years that he’s not in contention for acting awards, so if we wanted to honor him, we had to act fast.”

CRYSTAL BALL: “I got a request from one of our magazines to predict the winners for next year. But I’m not really aware of any major upcoming films for 1999--apart from ‘Star Wars,’ of course, a total phenomenon. But nothing else seems to be making waves.”