The 54th TV Week Logie Awards

Comedian Hamish Blake (pictured) was last night (Sunday) awarded the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television at the 54th annual TV Week Logie Awards.

There was also celebration for Blake and his comedy cohort Andy Lee with their program Hamish And Andy’s Gap Year also winning a Logie for Most Popular Light Entertainment Program.

Following the usual Red Carpet coverage, Gold Logie nominee Adam Hills was the first presenter on stage at Crown Palladium.  Although Hills stressed that he was not hosting the show last night, his opening monologue showed that perhaps he was someone who should have been.

Other presenters on the night included Chrissie Swan (pictured), Lincoln Lewis, Rodger Corser, Jacki Weaver, Alison Langdon, Hamish Macdonald, Alex Dimitriades, John Wood, Sigrid Thornton, Rove McManus, Kate Ritchie, Shane Jacobson, Tracy Grimshaw, Kerry O’Brien, Julia Morris, Manu Feildel, Denise Scott, Essie Davis, Stephen Curry, Don Hany, Georgie Parker, Lisa Wilkinson and Karl Stefanovic as well as Blake and Lee.

It was a long night, with Shaun Micallef appearing on screen after midnight to announce the winner of the Gold Logie – however controversy occurred behind the scenes, with the Herald Sun apparently reporting Blake’s victory online before it had been formally announced at the event itself and almost two hours before it appeared on air in the eastern states.

The newspaper said the mishap occurred during “live testing” of its iPad application and blamed the glitch on Google, claiming that the search engine had found the article before it had been published and hence perpetuated the headline online even after the Herald Sun had removed the article.  Media reports say Google has refuted the claim, stating that it can not access material that has not been published.

The Nine Network claimed six Logies on the night, including Underbelly: Razor star Chelsie Preston Crayford winning the Graham Kennedy Award for Outstanding New Talent, Nine News’ coverage of the Queensland floods winning Most Outstanding News Coverage and Nine’s coverage of the NRL State Of Origin III winning Most Outstanding Sports Coverage.

Seven’s Packed To The Rafters came away with two Logies – Most Popular Drama and Most Popular Actor (Hugh Sheridan) – prompting an unusual response from star Rebecca Gibney (pictured):  “For a show that’s in decline, we’re doing OK.”  Seven’s other dramas Winners And Losers and Home And Away also collected awards.

Network Ten’s Bondi Rescue won again for Most Popular Factual Series, and the network’s coverage of the 2011 AFL Grand Final won Most Popular Sports Program.  The network also ‘shared’ a Logie with ABC, with actress Asher Keddie winning the award for Most Popular Actress for her roles in Ten’s Offspring and ABC’s Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo.

ABC took away a number of awards, particularly among the industry-voted categories, for programs including The Slap, My Place, Spicks And Specks and Four Corners.  Adam Hills was awarded the Silver Logie for Most Popular Presenter, following a year that saw Spicks And Specks wind up after seven years and the debut of Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight.

SBS won the Logie for Most Outstanding Documentary Series for its widely-acclaimed series Go Back To Where You Came From.

There were musical performances from UK teen band One Direction, the legendary Tony Bennett, Flo Rida and The Voice judges Seal and Delta Goodrem.

As speculated in recent media reports, Ian ‘Molly Meldrum (pictured) was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards’ Hall Of Fame, with tributes from John Paul Young, Red Symons, Delta Goodrem, Dannii Minogue and Michael Gudinski.  The segment had a fairly sombre tone about it, appearing more like an obituary rather than a celebration of Meldrum’s work, but nevertheless Meldrum is a worthy recipient of the honour and it was well overdue.  The former Countdown and Hey Hey It’s Saturday presenter is recovering from severe injuries sustained from a fall just before Christmas and was not able to attend the awards presentation.

Mick Molloy’s moving tribute to actor and former colleague Bill Hunter (pictured) led the list of those that have passed on in the last year – including Ian Turpie, Vince Lovegrove, Carl Bleazby, Godfrey Philipp, Jon Blake, David Fordham, Sean Flannery, Bob Davis, Michele Fawdon, Googie Withers, Paul Lockyer, Ian Carroll, John Bean, Gary Ticehurst, Rex Mossop and Harold Hopkins.

With the debut of The Voice and the four-hour Logies telecast, the Nine Network claimed a massive ratings victory, on a night where all three commercial networks rolled out the big guns to kick off the ratings after the Easter break. 

Nine led the field on 37.2 per cent, followed by Seven (18.4%), Ten (13.4%), ABC1 (10.1%), SBS One (4.0%), 7mate (2.9%), One (2.6%), GO! (2.5%), GEM (2.3%), Eleven (2.1%), 7TWO (2.0%), ABC2 (0.9%), ABC3 (0.7%), ABC News 24 (0.6%) and SBS Two (0.4%).

The Voice topped the chart with 2.1 million viewers (OzTAM, 5 cities), with the TV Week Logie Awards occupying second and fourth spots (1.8m for the Red Carpet, 1.379 for the awards presentation).  Seven’s series return of Dancing With The Stars scored 1.076 viewers and ranked sixth for the night, while Ten’s screening of the movie Avatar was well down the list on 553,000 viewers.

Public-voted categories:

TV WEEK GOLD LOGIE – Most Popular Personality
Hamish Blake

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE — Most Popular Actor
Hugh Sheridan (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE — Most Popular Actress
Asher Keddie (Offspring, Network Ten / Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo, ABC1)

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE — Most Popular Presenter
Adam Hills (pictured) (Spicks And Specks, ABC1/Adam Hills In Gordon St Tonight, ABC1)

MOST POPULAR NEW MALE TALENT
Steve Peacocke (Home And Away)

MOST POPULAR NEW FEMALE TALENT
Melissa Bergland (Winners & Losers Channel Seven)

MOST POPULAR DRAMA SERIES
Packed To The Rafters (Channel Seven)

MOST POPULAR LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
Hamish & Andy's Gap Year (Nine Network)

MOST POPULAR LIFESTYLE PROGRAM
Better Homes And Gardens (Channel Seven)

MOST POPULAR SPORTS PROGRAM
2011 AFL Grand Final (Network Ten)

MOST POPULAR REALITY PROGRAM
The Block (Nine Network)

MOST POPULAR FACTUAL PROGRAM
Bondi Rescue (Network Ten)

Industry-voted categories:

TV WEEK LOGIE AWARDS’ HALL OF FAME
Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE — Most Outstanding Drama Series, Miniseries or Telemovie
The Slap (ABC1)

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE — Most Outstanding Actor
Rob Carlton (pictured) (Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo, ABC1)

TV WEEK SILVER LOGIE — Most Outstanding Actress
Melissa George (The Slap, ABC1)

GRAHAM KENNEDY AWARD FOR MOST OUTSTANDING NEW TALENT
Chelsie Preston Crayford (Underbelly: Razor, Nine Network)

MOST OUTSTANDING NEWS COVERAGE
The Queensland Floods (Nine News, Nine Network)

MOST OUTSTANDING PUBLIC AFFAIRS REPORT
"A Bloody Business" (Four Corners/Sarah Ferguson, ABC1)

MOST OUTSTANDING LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM
Spicks And Specks (ABC1)

MOST OUTSTANDING SPORTS COVERAGE
State Of Origin III (Nine Network)

MOST OUTSTANDING CHILDREN'S PROGRAM
My Place (ABC3)

MOST OUTSTANDING FACTUAL PROGRAM
Go Back To Where You Came From (SBS) (pictured)

Source: TV Week, Herald Sun, The Australian

Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2012. The Data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) without the prior
written consent of OzTAM.  Program performance and ranking information subject to change when not based on final program logs.

TV Week Logie Awards–the nominations

Last night saw TV Week reveal the list of nominees for this year’s TV Week Logie Awards to take place at the Crown Entertainment Complex, Melbourne, on Sunday 15 April.

 

Publicly-voted categories:

GOLD LOGIE

Most Popular Personality on Television
Adam Hills (Spicks And Specks/Adam Hills In Gordon St Tonight, ABC1)
Asher Keddie (Offspring, Network Ten / Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo, ABC1)
Carrie Bickmore (The Project, Network Ten)
Esther Anderson (Home And Away, Channel Seven)
Hamish Blake (Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year, Nine Network)
Karl Stefanovic (Today, Nine Network) (pictured)
(Last year’s winner: Karl Stefanovic, Today)

SILVER LOGIES

Most Popular Actor
Daniel MacPherson (Wild Boys, Channel Seven)
Eddie Perfect (Offspring, Network Ten)
Erik Thomson (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
Hugh Sheridan (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
Ray Meagher (Home And Away, Channel Seven)
(Last year’s winner: Hugh Sheridan, Packed To The Rafters)

Most Popular Actress
Asher Keddie (Offspring, Network Ten / Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo, ABC1) (pictured)
Danielle Cormack (Underbelly: Razor, Nine Network / East West 101, SBS)
Esther Anderson (Home And Away, Channel Seven)
Jessica Marais (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
Rebecca Gibney (Packed To The Rafters, Channel Seven)
(Last year’s winner: Asher Keddie, Offspring)

Most Popular Presenter
Adam Hills (Spicks And Specks/Adam Hills In Gordon St Tonight, ABC1) (pictured)
Carrie Bickmore (The Project, Network Ten)
Chrissie Swan (The Circle, Network Ten)
Hamish Blake (Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year, Nine Network)
Karl Stefanovic (Today, Nine Network)
(Last year’s winner: Karl Stefanovic, Today)

LOGIE AWARDS

Most Popular New Male Talent
Dan Ewing (Home And Away, Channel Seven)
James Mason (Neighbours, Network Ten)
Peter Kuruvita (My Sri Lanka With Peter Kuruvita, SBS)
Steve Peacocke (Home And Away, Channel Seven)
Tom Wren (Winners & Losers, Channel Seven)
(Last year’s winner: Firass Dirani, Underbelly: The Golden Mile)

Most Popular New Female Talent
Anna McGahan (Underbelly: Razor, Nine Network)
Chelsie Preston Crayford (Underbelly: Razor, Nine Network)
Demi Harman (Home And Away, Channel Seven)
Melissa Bergland (Winners & Losers, Channel Seven)
Tiffiny Hall (The Biggest Loser Australia, Network Ten)
(Last year’s winner: Chrissie Swan, The Circle)

Most Popular Drama Series
Home And Away (Channel Seven)
Offspring (Network Ten)
Packed To The Rafters (Channel Seven)
Underbelly: Razor (Nine Network)
Winners And Losers (Channel Seven) (pictured)
(Last year’s winner: Packed To The Rafters)

Most Popular Light Entertainment Program
Australia’s Got Talent (Channel Seven)
Hamish & Andy’s Gap Year (Nine Network)
Spicks And Specks (ABC1)
Sunrise (Channel Seven)
The Project (Network Ten)
(Last year’s winner: The Circle)

Most Popular Lifestyle Program
Better Homes And Gardens (Channel Seven)
Getaway (Nine Network)
iFISH (Network Ten)
Ready Steady Cook (Network Ten)
Selling Houses Australia Extreme (LifeStyle Channel, Foxtel)
(Last year’s winner: Better Homes And Gardens)

Most Popular Sports Program
2011 AFL Grand Final (Network Ten)
Before The Game (Network Ten)
The AFL Footy Show (Nine Network)
The NRL Footy Show (Nine Network)
Wide World Of Sports (Nine Network)
(Last year’s winner: The Footy Show (AFL))

Most Popular Reality Program
Beauty And The Geek Australia (Channel Seven)
MasterChef Australia (Network Ten)
My Kitchen Rules (Channel Seven)
The Block (Nine Network)
The X Factor Australia (Channel Seven)
(Last year’s winner: MasterChef Australia)

Most Popular Factual Program
Bondi Rescue (Network Ten)
Bondi Vet (Network Ten)
Border Security: Australia’s Front Line (Channel Seven)
RPA (Nine Network)
World’s Strictest Parents (Channel Seven)
(Last year’s winner: Bondi Rescue)

Industry-voted categories:

SILVER LOGIES

Most Outstanding Drama Series, Miniseries or Telemovie
Cloudstreet (Showcase, Foxtel)
Offspring (Network Ten)
Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo (ABC1)
The Slap (ABC1)
Underbelly: Razor (Nine Network)
(Last year’s winner: Underbelly: The Golden Mile)

Most Outstanding Actor
Alex Dimitriades (The Slap, ABC1)
David Wenham (Killing Time, TV1, Foxtel)
Don Hany (East West 101, SBS)
Geoff Morrell (Cloudstreet, Showcase, Foxtel)
Rob Carlton (Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo, ABC1) (pictured)
(Last year’s winner: Richard Roxburgh, Rake)

Most Outstanding Actress
Asher Keddie (Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo, ABC1)
Diana Glenn (Killing Time, TV1, Foxtel)
Essie Davis (The Slap, ABC1)
Kat Stewart (Offspring, Network Ten)
Melissa George (The Slap, ABC1)
(Last year’s winner: Claire van der Boom, Sisters Of War)

LOGIE AWARDS

Graham Kennedy Award – Most Outstanding New Talent
Anna McGahan (Underbelly: Razor, Nine Network)
Chelsie Preston Crayford (Underbelly: Razor, Nine Network)
Hamish Macdonald (Senior Foreign Correspondent, Network Ten) (pictured)
Hamish Michael (Crownies, ABC1)
Melissa Bergland (Winners & Losers, Channel Seven)
(Last year’s winner: Firass Dirani, Underbelly: The Golden Mile)

Most Outstanding News Coverage
“Lockyer Valley Flood” (Brisbane News, Channel Seven)
“Qantas Grounded” (Sky News National, Sky News Australia, Foxtel)
“Skype Scandal” (Ten News At Five, Network Ten)
“The Queensland Floods” (Nine News, Nine Network)
“Unfinished Business” (SBS World News Australia, SBS)
(Last year’s winner: “New Zealand Mine Disaster”, Seven News)

Most Outstanding Public Affairs Report
"A Bloody Business" (Four Corners/Sarah Ferguson, ABC1)
After The Deluge: The Valley (Paul Lockyer, ABC1)
"Rescue 500" (Sunday Night, Channel Seven)
"Salma In The Square" (Foreign Correspondent/Mark Corcoran, ABC1)
Tour Of Duty: Australia’s Secret War (Network Ten)
(Last year’s winner: “Smugglers' Paradise”, Four Corners)

Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program
Australia’s Got Talent (Channel Seven)
Gruen Planet (ABC1)
Spicks And Specks (ABC1) (pictured)
Talkin’ ’Bout Your Generation (Network Ten)
The Project (Network Ten)
(Last year’s winner: Spicks And Specks)

Most Outstanding Sports Coverage
2011 Australian Open Tennis (Channel Seven)
2011 Bathurst 1000 (Channel Seven)
2011 Melbourne Cup Carnival (Channel Seven)
State Of Origin III (Nine Network)
Tour de France 2011 (SBS)
(Last year’s winner: The Ashes 2010 First Test – Day One at the Gabba)

Most Outstanding Children’s Program
Camp Orange: Wrong Town, (Nickelodeon, Foxtel)
Lockie Leonard (Nine Network)
My Place (ABC3)
Saturday Disney (Channel Seven)
Scope (Network Ten)
(Last year’s winner: Dance Academy)

Most Outstanding Factual Program
Go Back To Where You Came From (SBS) (pictured)
Leaky Boat (ABC1)
Mrs Carey’s Concert (ABC1)
Outback Fight Club (SBS)
Tony Robinson Explores Australia (The History Channel, Foxtel)
(Last year’s winner: Trishna & Krishna: The Quest For Separate Lives)

TV Week is yet to announce this year’s inductee into the Logie Awards’ Hall of Fame.

The 54th annual TV Week Logie Awards will be held on Sunday 15 April and telecast on the Nine Network.

Source: The Age.

ABC to say goodbye to Gordon Street?

ABC is set to expand its premises in inner-city Melbourne with construction of a new television studio.

The new development, which has now been approved by the ABC board, will be built adjacent to the broadcaster’s existing radio and administration complex in Southbank.

The new television studios will be used for both internal productions as well as being made available for external hire.

No timeline for the development has been announced and neither has there been any announcement as to the future of ABC’s existing Melbourne television studios in Gordon Street, Elsternwick, although The Age reports that it appears that the property will be sold off to assist in funding the new development.  In 2009 the Elsternwick site was estimated to be valued at around $25 million.

The Elsternwick studios, located next door to the historic Ripponlea homestead, were opened in May 1958 – eighteen months after ABC’s Melbourne television station ABV2 commenced transmission.  For the previous eighteen months the various functions of the new television station were carried out from makeshift premises scattered around Melbourne.

The studios have hosted various productions for ABC including Bellbird, Adventure Island (pictured), Countdown, Power Without Glory, The Saturday Show, Australia – You’re Standing In It, The Factory, Countdown Revolution, The Big Gig, The Late Show, Phoenix and Seachange. 

Spicks And Specks, The Marngrook Footy Show and Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight are also produced at Elsternwick.

The potential sale of the Elsternwick site comes after the sale of the historic GTV9 studios in Richmond last year – while Seven and Ten have long moved out from their original studio premises in South Melbourne and Nunawading respectively.

Source: The Age, The Australian, ABV, ABC, Real Estate Source

Seven-year itch for Spicks And Specks

After seven years and 277 episodes, the team from ABC’s Spicks And Specks announced yesterday that the show’s current season will be its last.

Host Adam Hills said in a statement:

“I have loved every second of my involvement with Spicks And Specks, and especially working with Alan and Myf. We always said we wanted to leave when we were on top and while we were still having fun, and now feels like the right time.  We are indebted to our loyal fans for giving us seven amazing years on Australian television, and I hope they’ll hold the memories of Spicks And Specks close to their hearts.”

Team captain Myf Warhurst said the show has allowed her some great experiences:

“It's been a wonderful privilege to be part of Spicks And Specks. I've worked with an incredible team of people, both on and off screen, and miraculously, managed to keep a job on TV for seven years, on a show that people love.  I’ve been lucky enough to experience many great things. I've seen Frank Woodley's privates, been naked under a desk with Pete Murray, and met many of my childhood musical crushes. Life can't get much better than that, so this seems like the perfect time to wind things up.”

Fellow team captain Alan Brough said it was best to walk away too soon rather than too late:

“For seven years I've had a job where I've met Gourd Orchestras, Oompah bands and Status Quo. Very few people can say that.  I'd rather people were upset because we stopped a little early, than upset because we stayed far too long.”

Recorded at the ABC studios in Melbourne (in the same studio that hosted Countdown) the show began rather modestly back in February 2005, only a week after another music-based quiz show, RocKwiz, had debuted on SBS.  There were inevitable comparisons between the two programs, especially as both shows were hosted by comedians and comprised a three-on-three battle on questions related to music, but it was evidently clear that both have their own distinct style.

Spicks And Specks became a popular performer in its Wednesday night timeslot on ABC and was the springboard into a Wednesday night comedy and youth-oriented line-up for the network.  With the popularity that Spicks And Specks was attaining, it was inevitable that a string of similar team-versus-team shows would follow on various genres – history (ADbc), sport (The Squiz, The Locker Room, Between The Lines), television (The White Room) and popular culture (Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, You May Be Right) – though few have been a success.

More than 150 guests have appeared on the show over its seven years, representing almost a who’s who of Australian entertainment, including Marcia Hines, Jimmy Barnes, Jon English, Jim Keays, Renee Geyer, Denise Drysdale, Hamish Blake, Kamahl, David Campbell, Colin Lane, Meshel Laurie, Debbie Byrne, Ella Hooper, Cal Wilson, Pete Helliar, Fiona O’Loughlin, Toni Lamond, Patti Newton, Wilbur Wilde, Ian Turpie, Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum, Noeline Brown, Tina Arena, Dave Hughes, Amanda Keller, Geoffrey Rush, Caroline O’Connor, Kate Miller-Heidke, Shaun Micallef and Rhonda Burchmore.

The show was recognised this year with a TV Week Logie Award for Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program, and host Adam Hills has been nominated for the Gold Logie four times since 2008.  This year saw Hills launch his own talk show, Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight, which will return for a second series.  ABC is also in discussions with Warhurst and Brough over potential future projects.

The final episode of Spicks And Specks is scheduled to screen on ABC1 on Wednesday, 23 November at 8.30pm.

Gordon Street goes back to the future

Spicks And Specks host Adam Hills (pictured) launches his new talk show, Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight, this week on ABC1.

The title of the program refers to the location of the Melbourne ABV2 studios, which were opened in May 1958 and have hosted many productions for the national broadcaster in the decades that have followed.

In promoting the new series – with the tagline “it’s the future of television” – ABC has dug out some archival footage of some early programs to come from the Gordon Street studios, including children’s series Adventure Island (1967-1972).

Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight. Premieres Wednesday 9 February, 8.30pm.  ABC1.  Repeated Saturday 7.30pm, ABC2.