Awards Season 2010 started with a guzzle on Tuesday night in Palm Springs, as Hollywood's heavy hitters rolled into the desert and started the drinkin' and carousin' early.

Cocktails began at 4:30pm, the Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala Awards started at 6, and by the time "Breakthrough Performance Actor" Jeremy Renner of "The Hurt Locker" fame hit the stage at about 6:30, the party was rollin' hard.

"Thanks for giving us a night to drink and celebrate," he cheered, after skipping across the stage to grab his statue from "The Stoning of Soraya M." star Shoreh Aghdashloo, who was dripping in show-sponsor Cartier diamonds. "This was the role of a lifetime, one that I would have sold my sister to do!"

But Renner's jubilant high was nothing compared to Mariah Carey's, as she teetered onstage to accept the PSIFF's "Breakthrough Performance Actress" from her "Precious" director Lee Daniels. Poured into a slinky black gown and flashing her humongous engagement ring (no Cartier supplied jewels for the diva), Mariah snuggled Lee and began a long, disjointed ramble that made the 1000-plus audience at the city's convention center start to squirm and wonder just what she was smoking in the 'green' room.

Sean Penn, a festival darling from years past, left no doubt as to what he'd been doing, as he hit the stage to present the "Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing" to T-Bone Burnett
for his fine work on "Crazy Heart."

"I had intended to do this in absolute sobriety," Penn chortled, cocktail in hand at the podium, "but that didn't work out. So forgive me if I squeak."

T-Bone cleared up the mystery of what may have been going on behind the scenes, at least on the set of "Crazy Heart," with his shout-out to star Jeff Bridges, who watched from front row center.

"It's not bad working with the Dude," Burnett joked, "all you have to do is show up with a guitar and a spliff."

Things got a bit more sedate as Norman Jewison honored Jason Reitman for directing "Up in the Air," and lovely Michelle Pfeiffer seemed stone cold sober as she handed Jeff Bridges the "Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor." "Nine" helmer Rob Marshall gave the Actress version of that award to Marion Cotillard, who gushed that "The American Dream is happening to me!"; then Clint Eastwood added his star wattage to the scene, offering up the festival's "Career Achievement Award, Actor" to his buddy Morgan Freeman.

"I can't think of anybody to say thank you to," Freeman said candidly, proving that, like many of the others on hand, he's just working the awards-season run toward Oscar nominations. After all, the 72-year-old thesp has never won for Best Actor, and "Invictus" just may be his ticket in, so why not show up and schmooze?

He turned the tables and handed the fabulous Helen Mirren the "Career Achievement Award, Actress" statue; she did a Kathy Griffin imitation (sans the F-bomb, though) and shouted out to all the gays in the well-heeled Palm Springs gang.