Logie Awards

Logie Awards
Gold Logie Award statuette
Awarded for Excellence in Australian television
Sponsored by TV Week
Location Gold Coast, Australia
Country Australia
Presented by TV Week
First awarded 1959
Website www.tvweeklogieawards.com.au
Television/radio coverage
Network Nine Network (1959–present)
ABC (1961–1965)
Seven Network (1989–1995)
Network Ten (1981–1993)
Runtime 3 hours

The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards) are an annual institution that celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by magazine TV Week since 1959.

The Awards are presented in twenty categories representing both public and industry voted nominations, with the highest honour and most widely publicised award being the Gold Logie, which is awarded to the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television for the previous year.

History

The event has been strongly associated with TV and former radio personality Bert Newton, who has hosted the ceremony on the most occasions. Over the years, the Logies have been hosted in Melbourne and Sydney. From 2018, the Logie Awards moved the ceremony moved to new location on the Gold Coast, Queensland.

Logie winning Rove McManus

Originally known as the "TV Week Awards", the awards were instigated by TV Week magazine with the first voting coupons provided in the magazine in late 1958, two years after the introduction of television in Australia. The first awards were presented on 15 January 1959 on an episode of In Melbourne Tonight. Only Melbourne television personalities were nominated and awards were given in eight categories, including two for American programs.[1]

The most prestigious award in 1959 was Star of the Year presented to entertainer Graham Kennedy. The following year, Kennedy coined the name Logie Awards, to honour Scottish engineer, innovator after the contributor to the development of television as a practical medium, John Logie Baird. [2]

The Logie statuette was designed by Alec De Lacy, chief designer for Melbourne-based trophy makers KG Luke Ltd. The first Gold Logie, the equivalent of the Star of the Year Award, was also presented to Graham Kennedy in 1960. The record for most wins goes to Kennedy and Ray Martin.

The latest ceremony, the Logie Awards of 2018, were held on 1 July 2018, with the Gold Logie winner being Grant Denyer.

Logie milestones

In 1960, the ceremony is coined "Logie Awards" to honour inventor John Logie Baird, by Graham Kennedy, after he won what was previously known as the "Star of the Year Award".
In 1961, the awards ceremony was televised for the first time, with the ABC screening the first half hour of the awards in Sydney.
In 1962, Australian variety presenter, singer and actress Lorrae Desmond, best known for her role as Shirley Gilroy on A Country Practice was the first female star to win a Gold Logie, for her music variety program The Lorrae Desmond Show.
In 1963, the planned televised ceremony was cancelled due to the host, Tony Hancock cancelling his trip to Australia.
In 1968, there was no award for the Most Popular Female in Television. According to Bert Newton, who was hosting that year, "it appears no one was deemed worthy enough to receive it". He pleaded with the producers to never be put in that position again.[3]
In 1973, the media was invited for the first time to attend the Logies.
In 1974, Number 96 star Pat McDonald became the first "soap star" actress (not television personality) to win the Gold Logie.
In 1976, the first and only fictional character to win a Logie was Norman Gunston, with the award being presented to portrayer Garry McDonald, who appeared to except the award in character.
In 1984, the Hall of Fame Logie was introduced by TV Week, awarded to recognise outstanding and continued contribution to television by an individual or program with the first induction being former conductor turned producer and television pioneer Hector Crawford (see below, under Logie Hall of Fame).
In 1988, Actress and future international pop star Kylie Minogue became the youngest person to win a Gold Logie (aged 19) for her role as Charlene Mitchell in Neighbours.
Jamie Dunn is the only undefeated man in Logie's history winning seven consecutive Logies in seven consecutive nominations for his work in Agro's Cartoon Connection
In 2006, a new Logies category was introduced, named Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding Newcomer, to honour Kennedy's career and legacy and to commemorate the 50th year of broadcasting of television in Australia.
In 2016, the Logies accepted nominations from locally produced digital content.
In 2010, Ray Meagher became the oldest person to win an award (age 66), for his portrayal of Alf Stewart in Home and Away.
In 2017, TV Week announced that after 30 years, the awards ceremony will no longer be held in Melbourne, due to the withdrawal of financial support by the Victorian government. The Logie awards ceremony will be held at The Star Gold Coast on the Gold Coast, Queensland for four years, with support of the Queensland government.[4][5]

Logies Hall of Fame

The prestigious Logie Hall of Fame was first introduced in 1984; former conductor, turned television producer and pioneer and founder of Crawford Productions, Hector Crawford was the first inductee. The induction was a posthumous honour for TV cameraman Neil Davis, actor Maurie Fields, conservationist Steve Irwin, news anchor Brian Naylor and journalist Peter Harvey. In 2017, Kerri-Anne Kennerley was only the third woman to be inducted after Ruth Cracknell and Noni Hazlehurst. It has been criticised for its lack of women .

Four Corners, Neighbours, Play School, Home and Away and 60 Minutes are the only programs that have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.[6]

Nomination and voting procedures

Public voting

Voting for the Most Popular Logie categories is done using an online form, or by SMS (short message service) voting for the final nominees. Ten of the Logie Award categories are fan awards. In the past, the "Most Popular" Logies categories were voted by the readers of TV Week magazine using a coupon.

SMS (short message service) voting was introduced in 2006 for the Gold Logie. In 2008, internet votes could be cast for the first time without having to buy a copy of the TV Week magazine.[7] From 2016,

Public voting for the awards usually lasts for four weeks, beginning in December/January, while the ceremony itself was in late April or early May. However, in 2018, voting began in March with the 2018 Logie Awards held in July.

Industry voting

The Most Outstanding categories are voted on by a jury comprising members of the Australian TV industry peers. There were 15 categories in the industry awards at the Logie Awards of 2018.

Eligibility

To be eligible to receive a Logie, a program must be Australian produced, set in Australia and have a predominantly Australian cast. Although in other years there has been a Logie for overseas programs, these awards are no longer part of the awards. People eligible for a Logie must have appeared on an Australian-produced show that was broadcast on Australian television in the previous year.

There are long-held suspicions that network publicists engage in mass voting to rig the results. However, no hard evidence had emerged for this, other than the experiment by the satirical newspaper The Chaser, who attempted to have low-profile SBS newsreader Anton Enus nominated for the Gold Logie. They did so by getting their small readership to buy copies of TV Week and vote for Enus for the award. While the attempt failed (they came "reasonably close", to earning a nomination for Enus, according to a "TV Week Insider"), their failure gives some cause for the widespread derision in the industry (particularly the 'quality' end) towards the popular-vote awards.[8]

Community television, Channel 31, personalities and shows are eligible for nomination for Logies, however since their audiences are far smaller than those of the commercial channels and public broadcasters, they are at a tremendous disadvantage. For a time they had their own community television awards, known as the Antenna Awards. Despite this, in 2009 The Logies were dogged by minor controversy after organisers refused to allow an acclaimed community television show, The Bazura Project, to be nominated in the category of Outstanding Comedy Show, stating; As TV Week does not cover community television within the magazine, we are unable to consider individual programs on this platform. The ABC's Media Watch program first reported the story on Monday 9 March 2009,[9] with many media outlets covering the growing support for the community television program since.

Logies ceremonies by year

Year Venue Host Broadcaster Gold Logie winner(s)
1959 Awards presented on In Melbourne Tonight (Googie Withers – Guest Presenter) GTV-9 Graham Kennedy
Panda Lisner
1960 Brighton Savoy Hotel, Brighton, Melbourne Hugh O'Brian Graham Kennedy
1961 Chevron-Hilton Hotel, Sydney Jimmy Edwards ABC Bob Dyer
1962 Chevron Hotel, Melbourne Gerald Lyons
(Awards Presented by Bob Dyer)		 ABC Lorrae Desmond
Tommy Hanlon, Jr.
1963 On board the Liner 'Changsha' (originally to have been
Chevron-Hilton Hotel, Sydney)[10][11]		 Originally to have been
Tony Hancock with Marie McDonald		 Originally to have been ABC[12] Michael Charlton
1964 On board the Lloyd Triestino Liner 'Marconi' Nine Network Bobby Limb
1965 Palais De Dance, Melbourne Gerald Lyons ABC Jimmy Hannan
1966 Southern Cross Hotel, Melbourne Nine Network Gordon Chater
1967 The Zodiac Room on cruise liner the Fairstar Bert Newton GTV-9 Graham Kennedy
Hazel Phillips
1968 Southern Cross Hotel, Melbourne Nine Network Brian Henderson
1969 Graham Kennedy
1970 Barry Crocker
Maggie Tabberer
1971 Gerard Kennedy
Maggie Tabberer
1972 Gerard Kennedy
1973 Tony Barber
1974 Graham Kennedy
Pat McDonald
1975 Ernie Sigley
Denise Drysdale
1976 Norman Gunston
Denise Drysdale
1977 Don Lane
Jeanne Little
1978 Graham Kennedy
1979 Hilton Hotel, Melbourne Bert Newton
1980 Mike Walsh
1981 Centrepoint Convention Centre, Sydney Michael Parkinson Network Ten Bert Newton
1982 Hilton Hotel, Melbourne Bert Newton Nine Network Bert Newton
1983 Wentworth Regent Hotel, Melbourne Mike Willesee Network Ten Daryl Somers
1984 Hilton Hotel Melbourne Bert Newton Nine Network Bert Newton
1985 World Trade Centre, Melbourne Greg Evans Network Ten Rowena Wallace
1986 State Theatre, Sydney Mike Willesee Nine Network Daryl Somers
1987 Hyatt on Collins, Melbourne Don Lane Network Ten Ray Martin
1988 Daryl Somers Nine Network Kylie Minogue
1989 Bert Newton Seven Network Daryl Somers
1990 Mark Mitchell Network Ten Craig McLachlan
1991 World Congress Centre, Melbourne Daryl Somers Nine Network Steve Vizard
1992 Radisson President Hotel, Melbourne Steve Vizard[13] Seven Network Jana Wendt
1993 Grand Hyatt, Melbourne Bert Newton Network Ten Ray Martin
1994 World Congress Centre, Melbourne Ray Martin Nine Network Ray Martin
1995 Concert Hall, Melbourne Andrew Daddo
Noni Hazlehurst		 Seven Network Ray Martin
1996 Melbourne Park Centre, Melbourne Daryl Somers Nine Network Ray Martin
1997 The Palladium Room, Crown Towers, Melbourne Daryl Somers Lisa McCune
1998 Daryl Somers Lisa McCune
1999 Andrew Denton Lisa McCune
2000 Andrew Denton Lisa McCune
2001 Shaun Micallef Georgie Parker
2002 Wendy Harmer Georgie Parker
2003 Eddie McGuire Rove McManus
2004 Eddie McGuire Rove McManus
2005 Eddie McGuire
Rove McManus
Andrew O'Keefe		 Rove McManus
2006 Bert Newton
Ray Martin
Daryl Somers
Lisa McCune
Georgie Parker		 John Wood
2007 Adam Hills
Dave Hughes
Fifi Box		 Kate Ritchie
2008 No host. Only a series of presenters. Kate Ritchie
2009 Gretel Killeen Rebecca Gibney
2010 Bert Newton Ray Meagher
2011 Shane Bourne Karl Stefanovic
2012 No host. Only a series of presenters. Hamish Blake
2013 Asher Keddie
2014 Scott Cam
2015 Carrie Bickmore
2016 Waleed Aly
2017 Samuel Johnson
2018 The Star, Gold Coast Grant Denyer

Awards ceremony

The Logie Awards ceremony is televised and became generally more elaborate as years went by. The awards have mostly been held in a ballroom, rather than a theatre, which is common for the Emmy Awards and Academy Awards. Dinner is served just before the ceremony and drinks are served during the ceremony.

Bert Newton, who has won the Gold Logie four times, hosted the awards a total of 19 times. GTV-9/Nine Network is also strongly associated with the history of the Logies. Nine has hosted the awards 46 times in their 60-year history.

Controversies

In 1973, American actor Michael Cole generated controversy after accepting an award while apparently drunk, uttering the word "shit" in a short, incoherent acceptance speech. This was the first time the word had been said on Australian television.[14] According to Bert Newton, Channel Nine received thousands of complaints about the use of the word, however, when it was edited for the repeat transmission "they got double the calls complaining it had been dropped."

In 1979, during a notable appearance with Muhammad Ali as co-presenter, Newton made a comment "I like the boy!" (in reference to a series of TV advertisements Bert had recently done). That was seen as racist by Ali, although Newton was oblivious to the term and claimed this was not his intention. Ali was upset at the comment and a full apology was issued by Newton and the Awards producers.

The most difficult guest to interact with, according to Newton was Vic Morrow in 1967. He would just stand there saying nothing, silently handing out the Logies. According to Bert, "every so often, I'd say 'how are you going, Vic?' and he would just nod his head."[3]

Grant Denyer's 2018 Gold Logie win has proved controversial with people believing he only won because of Tom Gleeson's campaign.[15] Gleeson has shrugged off those suggestions.[16]

Performers

Many local and overseas performers have appeared at the Logie Awards ceremony. While it had been a tradition to choose performers with a television connection, this has not always been the case.

In 2001, Ricky Martin was the headline performer. In 2002, Destiny's Child performed, with Elton John and Shakira making appearances. In 2004, it was Michael Bublé with Delta Goodrem. In 2011, Katy Perry performed an opening number and then presented the Best Children's Show award with comedy personalities Hamish and Andy. 2012 saw One Direction and Delta Goodrem perform on the night with appearances from Flo Rida, Tony Bennett and Seal. In 2013, it was Bruno Mars and 2014 Ed Sheeran. [17]

Award categories

Public voted categories

Gold Logie

Silver Logie

Program Awards

Industry voted categories

Gold Logie

Silver Logie

Former categories

Most Wins

Programs

As of 2017, Home and Away is the most successful program in Logies history, having won 46 awards since it premiered in 1988. Neighbours is the second most successful having won 31 Logies since it began in 1985. A Country Practice follows as the third most successful program, having won 29 awards throughout its twelve-year run. Blue Heelers is fourth with 25 Logies.

People

Television personalities with the most national wins (excluding state-based Logie awards) are:

Rank Name Total Wins Awards Won
1 Rove McManus 10 3 Gold Logies (2003–05) and 7 consecutive Most Popular Presenter (2003–09)
2 Bert Newton 9 4 Gold Logies (1979, 1981, 1982, 1984), 4 Best Compere (1970, 1972 – 74), Hall of Fame inductee (1988)
3 Graham Kennedy 8 6 Gold Logies (1959, 1960, 1967, 1969; 1974, 1978), 1 Special Gold Logie – Star of the Decade (1967), Hall of Fame inductee (1998), 10 state Logies
3 Daryl Somers 8 3 Gold Logies (1983, 1986, 1989), 3 Most Popular Light Entertainment Personality (1993, 1995 – 97), 1 Most Popular Light Entertainment/Comedy Personality (1990) and 1 Most Popular Comedy Personality (1995)
3 Ray Martin 8 5 Gold Logies (1987, 1993 – 96), 2 TV Reporter of the Year (1981, 1983), 1 Most Popular Light Entertainment Personality (1995)

Actors / Actresses with the most national wins:

Rank Name Total Wins Awards Won
1 Lisa McCune 10 1 New Talent (1995), 5 Most Popular Actress (1996–2000) and 4 Gold Logies (1997–2000)
2 Georgie Parker 7 1 New Talent (1990), 4 Most Popular Actress (1991 – 1993, 2001), 2 Gold Logies (2001, 2002)
3 Asher Keddie 7 5 Most Popular Actress (2011–2015), 1 Most Outstanding Actress in a Series (2014), 1 Gold Logie (2013)
4 Kate Ritchie 5 2 Gold Logies (2007, 2008), 3 Most Popular Actress (2006–2008)
4 Martin Sacks 5 5 Most Popular Actor (1997–2001)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Crook, Frank (2 May 2008). "Logies celebrate 50 years". The Daily Telegraph. News.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
  2. ↑ "Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent". ninemsn.com.au. Archived from the original on 31 August 2009.
  3. 1 2 TV Week magazine, 13 March 1993, pages 16–18. "The Way We Were" text by Bert Newton, edited by Chrissie Camp.
  4. ↑ http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/entertainment/gold-coast-steals-tvs-night-of-nights-with-star-casino-to-host-the-logies-in-2018/news-story/e7df284fd42d961089e946bb3293ab45
  5. ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/logie-awards-set-for-the-gold-coast-20170907-gyd35x.html
  6. ↑ Jonathon Moran (19 April 2015). "Logies Hall of Fame awaits Australia's favourite soap Home and Away". The Sunday Telegraph.
  7. ↑ "Logies voting switch a boon". Herald Sun. News.com.au. 4 February 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2008.
  8. ↑ Taylor, Chris (17 May 2003). "The insider". smh.com.au. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  9. ↑ "Project Logies, Media Watch Episode 05". 9 March 2009.
  10. ↑ http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104592569
  11. ↑ http://televisionau.com/2013/04/tv-week-logie-awards-50-years-ago-3.html
  12. ↑ http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104591297
  13. ↑ https://www.webcitation.org/6OyNbTNWk?url=http://www.tvweeklogieawards.com.au/logie-history/1990s/1992/
  14. ↑ "The Logies". ABC.
  15. ↑ "Tom Gleeson: "You don't blame me, you thank me"". Nine.
  16. ↑ "Logies 2018". TV Tonight.
  17. ↑ https://www.nowtolove.com.au/celebrity/tv/international-performers-at-the-tv-week-logies-46012
  18. ↑ Knox, David (4 November 2015). "Logies announce new categories, voting to open shortly". TV Tonight. Retrieved 4 November 2015.

Other references

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.