Amanda Keller: Staying power

Of all 7 Gold Logie nominees, none comes close to the longevity of the crowd favourite, Amanda Keller.

Since her research days on Wonder World in 1983, Keller has worked at every network (including Foxtel) in both presenting and acting roles. Whether in variety, light entertainment, factual or scripted comedy, she’s just about done it all.

But despite never winning a Logie Award, the 10 presenter hates having to campaign for votes.

“I would love to win a Gold Logie, but it’s so hard to say to people ‘Please vote for me!’” she tells TV Tonight.

“It’s a strange week because it’s not like the old days when Don Burke would get all his assistants to fill out the vouchers to TV Week. Now voting is open until the end of the red carpet so there’s this campaign feeling to it. I hope I’m not Hillary on the night.”

This year Keller has skin in 4 categories: Gold Logie, Most Popular Presenter, Most Popular Entertainment (Dancing with the Stars), Most Popular Lifestyle (The Living Room). Ahead of a holiday break she is pacing herself for the big night.

“It’s a very long night, but it is fun because people I have worked with for 35 years I see in the room. The layers to your life when you work in the media, for this long… you see producers, presenters, all kinds of people who have been intertwined with you, as it were, along the way,” she continues.

“But being up for the Gold, it was 2 hours on the red carpet last year. This time I’m thinking of wearing sneakers to cut down on the areas of pain.

“I don’t think I went to the party last year. It wraps up about 12 so by the time you find your way out of the room, I was so exhausted.

“But then I’m going on holidays, so I’m looking forward to being bored, having an empty head, reading a thousand books and doing nothing!”

1. How important is winning a Logie award?
AK: I don’t think career-wise it makes a difference, and it wouldn’t change my life. But it would be a lovely reward for a long career.

2. What was the TV highlight of your year?
AK: The risk of doing Dancing with the Stars. I didn’t want to be any busier, but the offer of doing a show that tested all my skillsets -reading autocue, having formatics in your head, the ability to ad-lib which I do on radio every morning- somehow all of them came together. At my age, what a gift to be given a challenge like that, when I could easily be wearing my slippers and staying at home.

3. Aside from yourself, who is your tip to win and why?
AK: If it’s not me I’d like it to be Waleed. I’m so proud of Australian media that we have someone like Waleed, when something happens in the world … ‘what does Waleed think?’ I turn to him for all kinds of guidance -not that he is my moral arbiter by any means- but I always enjoy seeing his spin on something. He has a light touch as well, he’s not just a ‘heavy dude.’ p.s. he’s already got a Gold so shove over!

4. If you win, where will you put your Gold Logie?
AK: I have polystyrene Logie from the Denton show in a cupboard at home, so I thought wouldn’t it be great to put a real one next to it?

5. Why should viewers vote for you?
AK: All I would say is many of the shows I’ve been lucky enough to work on have been shows that have been part of the Australian psyche. Simon Townsend’s Wonder World as a researcher, Beyond 2000, the Midday show, working with Andrew Denton, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, The Living Room which has touched people in many ways, and now Dancing with the Stars. If these are shows that in any way have meant anything to you then maybe throw a vote my way.

Voting in the 2019 Logie Awards is open until 7:30pm AEST Sunday June 30.