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Social media pushes Gold Logie contenders

Campaigns for Gold were rewarded in the annual surprise of Logie nominees.

It’s only taken 35 years for Neighbours to land a nomination as Most Outstanding Drama at the TV Week Logie Awards.

It has beaten out competition such as Rake, A Place to Call Home, Playing for Keeps, Wanted, 800 Words and The Heights in its category. It will go up against Wentworth, Mystery Road, Doctor Doctor and Secret City: Under The Eagle.

Eve Morey (who this year was a prominent name in TV Tonight Awards as Most Underrated Performer), is nominated for both Gold and Most Popular Actress. Her on-screen partner in crime Ryan Moloney is also nominated for Most Popular Actor. Key storylines involving a tragic death were on-screen during the voting period, but the duo were also at the centre of a social media campaign aimed at overseas fans to vote using fake Australian addresses.

Social media is again a big factor in some of the results announced by TV Week yesterday. These again remind us the Popular nominees bear little correlation to OzTAM ratings.

The Sunrise army has pushed Sam Mac to the top of the heap, ahead of its hosts, for a Gold nomination. Mac undoubtedly gives his all to the role, but his screen time is much briefer than higher-paid hosts in a breakfast timeslot. Might be time to push for a raise?

Upstart ABC presenter Tom Gleeson, who shocked everybody by quitting Hard Quiz on Friday, has finally landed his own Gold nomination after heavy lobbying. Gleeson now says he will “un-axe” his own show if he wins. An ABC spokesperson told TV Tonight, “Tom’s statement that he has sacked himself from Hard Quiz is news to us, particularly as we have 10 new episodes airing later this year. Sounds like Tom needs to have a good old HARD chat with himself.”

Gardening Australia host Costa Georgiadis is another surprise name. While he was also part of a social media push, ABC resources are far slimmer than commercial networks.

Also up for Gold are Waleed Aly, no doubt boosted by reactions to his recent work with NZ PM Jacinda Ardern, actor nice-guy Rodger Corser and tireless host Amanda Keller.

Expect a lot more campaigning to come, when voting for the Gold re-opens in the week preceding the big event.

There were some other surprising announcements yesterday.

  • BBC’s The Cry is up for Drama categories along with UK star Jenna Coleman and Aussies Ewan Leslie & Asher Keddie. Its inclusion knocks out other local productions and lead actresses for coveted spots. ABC has always maintained the show was a “minority co-production,” meaning it had limited money and editorial input into the UK series. That was enough to give it the all-clear under the rules.
  • US singer Joe Jonas has a nomination for Most Popular New Talent, for his work on The Voice. This category was previously awarded to another import, Joel Madden. Jonas has over 10 million Twitter followers alone, making it a tough fight for the likes of  Courtney Miller, Bonnie Anderson, Tasia Zalar, Dylan Alcott and Eddie Woo (the latter 2 have around 20K followers each on Twitter).
  • New names in Most Outstanding Actor  /Actress categories: Robbie Magasiva, Jay Ryan, Scott Ryan …oh and someone named Judy Davis. Never heard of her.
  • Great to see a nod for Eurovision: Australia Decides as Most Outstanding Entertainment.
  • Change:  Gold Logie increases from 6 to 7 nominees. Reality TV gets its own Outstanding category. Alas, Comedy still does not. Most Popular Panel Or Current Affairs Program has also returned. The returning Most Popular TV Commercial will not be presented during the ceremony, thank goodness.  That “Dundee” ad has this one in the bag.
  • Well done to 10’s Pilot for Taboo scoring a nomination in the Most Outstanding Factual or Documentary Program. A 3 part series is on the way.
  • Several of the Sports nominees rely heavily on international feeds, bookended by local hosts  / commentary.
  • It’s a crime Hannah Gadsby’s name was not submitted for the Comedy category. Biggest thing in Comedy last year.

Total nominations:

ABC: 44
10: 29
Foxtel: 20
Nine: 17
Seven: 10
SBS: 7
Stan: 4
NITV: 1
Netflix: 0

Michael Carrington, ABC Acting Director Entertainment & Specialist, said: “Congratulations to our Logie Awards nominees across the ABC for their hard work and dedication, in front of and behind the camera. Our 44 nominations highlight the depth and diversity of home-grown talent on show at the ABC across multiple genres. Best of luck to the ever-entertaining Costa and Tom and to all our nominees. No broadcaster backs Australian stories more than the ABC.”

Brian Walsh, Foxtel’s Executive Director of Television, said: “What a huge achievement for Foxtel.  It’s fantastic to see Wentworth embraced by fans and critics alike, year after year. It is such a distinguished production with incredible storylines and brilliant actors, and we’re looking forward to another riveting season premiering this week. I’d also like to congratulate Foxtel’s other nominees who have been recognised today by both the industry and our viewers. To receive a record-breaking number of nominations across so many categories and genres is something to be proud of, and is testament to the hard work, professionalism and creativity of everyone involved.”

Chris Oliver-Taylor, CEO Asia Pacific, Fremantle, said: “We are all incredibly proud of the success of our drama productions. The Neighbours team have worked tirelessly to elevate our iconic show and after nearly 35 years on air it is phenomenal to be having this impact. Wentworth is brave, confronting story-telling performed by an exceptional cast. Its success globally demonstrates the power Australian stories can have on the world stage. ONJ is a fitting tribute to an Aussie legend.”

Winners will be announced a The Star, Gold Coast airing on Nine Sunday June 30.

Who will win the Gold Logie 2019?

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14 Responses

    1. I’m stunned but extremely pleased! I think the cast and crew would be more surprised than anyone else, to be honest. Long overdue and great to see!

  1. Was Judy not nominated for a Logie for Water Under The Bridge in 1980 or 1981. ? I know you were being cute David regarding the actress once dubbed the best in the world.

      1. yes i thought i should back up my assertion. Wikipedia of Logies 1981 lists Robyn Nevin as Outstanding Actress in a Mini Series for Water Under The Bridge. No nominees listed just winners. David you probably remember the Penguin awards? You and I of the same vintage 🙂 Judy may well have won there. But you are right, she has not been nominated in this category. But I may have been close! Logie history info is sketchy at best to find.

        1. TV Week used to have an amazing set of web pages that had a comprehensive breakdown of nominees, winners etc. for every single Logies ever. It disappeared when Bauer took over and hasn’t been uploaded again, unfortunately. They really need to publish a book on the Logies, including every tiny detail we could ever hope to know.

          1. I agree. Logies history is very sketchy. It is very hard to find many nominees prior to 1985 in the popular awards, and harder to find any nominees in the outstanding awards prior to 1995.

  2. Apologies to Neighbours fans, but this is just plain wrong that overseas votes are manipulating our Logies. Something needs to be done to stop it happening again. If a show or individual isn’t ,strong enough to be nominated by voters living in Australia only, then it shouldn’t be nominated at all.

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