The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''

TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...

''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the TV Week Awards. Awards are presented in twenty categories, representing both public and industry voted prizes. The Gold Logie is the most prestigious award and the industry's highest honour; it's awarded to the ''Most Popular Personality on Australian Television'' for the previous year. The award receives much publicity and media attention. The event has been strongly associated with the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

, who have hosted the ceremony on the most occasions, and TV and former radio personality Bert Newton, particularly in the early days, who served as a solo host of the ceremony on 17 occasions, with a constant run from 1966 until 1980 and as co-host on three other occasions. Over the years, the Logies have been hosted in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

. From 2018 onward, the ceremony has been held in its new location in the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the na ...

Foundation

Known from their inception 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 ''In Melbourne Tonight'', also known as ''IMT'', was a highly popular nightly Logie award-winning Australian variety television show produced at GTV-9 Melbourne from 6 May 1957 to 1970. Overview Graham Kennedy was the show's main host and ...

''. Only Melbourne television personalities were nominated and awards were given in eight categories, including two for American programs. The most prestigious award in 1959 was Star of the Year presented to IMT host

Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...

. The following year, Kennedy coined the name ''Logie'' Awards, to honour the Scottish engineer and innovator who contributed to the development of

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

as a practical medium,

John Logie Baird John Logie Baird FRSE (; 13 August 188814 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first live working television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent the first publicly dem ...

. 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 presented in 1960, and again won by Graham Kennedy. The record for most "Gold Logie" wins—at five apiece—is a tie between Kennedy and Ray Martin. The 2020 and 2021 ceremonies were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Logie institutions and milestones

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 Maurice Fields (born Maurice Sheil, 4 August 1926 – 18 December 1995) was an Australian vaudeville performer, actor and stand-up comedian. Career Fields became a well-known face on television first thanks to his comic sketches on live progr ...

, conservationist Steve Irwin, news anchor Brian Naylor and journalist Peter Harvey. 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.

TV programs

These are the only programs that have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

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 ''

'' 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. Before 2018, public voting usually lasted for four weeks, beginning in December or January, while the ceremony itself was in late April or early May. Since 2018, voting begins in March and the ceremony is 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 The Chaser are an Australian satirical comedy group, best known for their television programmes and satirical news masthead. The group take their name from their satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste. Th ...

'', 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. 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 ''The Bazura Project'' is a comedy show about the history of cinema, written and presented by Shannon Marinko and Lee Zachariah. It originally ran on Australian community television from 2006 to 2008, and on ABC2 in late 2011. On Australian Com ...

'', 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, with many media outlets covering the growing support for the community television program since.

Logies ceremonies by year

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 The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. 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/

is also strongly associated with the history of the Logies. Nine has hosted the awards 46 times in their 60-year history. The

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

will take over from the

as host broadcaster. Seven had last broadcast the Logie Awards in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

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 such profanity had been said on Australian television. 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 Newton stated "they got double the calls complaining it had been dropped." In 1979, during a notable appearance with

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...

as co-presenter, Newton made a comment "I like the boy!" (in reference to a series of TV advertisements Bert had recently done). Ali became upset at the comment, as the term "boy" carried negative racial connotations for many black Americans, although Newton was oblivious to this use of the term and claimed this was not his intention. After realising his faux pas, Newton quickly apologised to Ali on stage. 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." Grant Denyer's 2018 Gold Logie win has proved controversial with people believing he only won because of

Tom Gleeson Thomas Francis Gleeson (born 2 June 1974) is an Australian stand-up comedian, writer, television and radio presenter. Gleeson formerly co-hosted ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'' alongside Judith Lucy and currently hosts ''Hard Quiz'', both ...

's campaign. Gleeson has shrugged off those suggestions. Tom Gleeson's 2019 Gold Logie win has proved controversial with him not being so humble by the victory. The trial of the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins was delayed because of comments from Lisa Wilkinson's acceptance speech. Every year before public voting opens, major commercial networks ABC, SBS, Seven, Nine, and 10 are restricted in the number of personalities and programs they can submit for consideration in the publicly voted category, including up to 10 names in both the Most Popular Actor and

Actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

categories, 15 names for Most Popular Presenter and five programs for Most Popular Drama. These restrictions often are introduced over those who are not listed in the voting form, and as a result, they are not eligible to be nominated for an award.

Live 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 Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography spanning ...

was the headline performer. In 2002,

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...

performed, with

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular ...

making appearances. In 2004, it was

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

with

Delta Goodrem Delta Lea Goodrem AM (born November 9, 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Goodrem signed to Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut album, '' Innocent Eyes'' (2003), topped the ARIA Albums Chart for 29 non-consecutive wee ...

. In 2011,

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her campy style, she has been referred to ...

performed and presented an award, while 2012 saw

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the g ...

and

perform on the night with appearances from

Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), better known by his stage name Flo Rida (, ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 breakout single " Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the record for digital dow ...

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

and Seal. In 2013, it was Bruno Mars and 2014 Ed Sheeran.

Award categories

Public voted categories

Gold Logie * Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television Silver Logie * Most Popular Actor * Most Popular Actress * Bert Newton Award for Most Popular Presenter * Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent Program awards * Most Popular Drama Program * Most Popular Comedy Program * Most Popular Entertainment Program * Most Popular Reality Program * Most Popular Lifestyle Program * Most Popular Panel or Current Affairs Program

Industry voted categories

Former categories

* Most Outstanding Comedy Program * Best Australian Drama (1961–1976) * Best Variety Show (1961–??) * Most Popular Variety Program * Most Popular Children's Program * Most Popular Australian Program (1961–2004) * Most Popular Factual Program (until 2017) * Most Popular Live Show (1966–1967) * Most Popular Game Show (2002) * Best Commercial (1962–1976) * Most Popular Overseas Program (2003, 2005) * Most Popular Overseas Drama (2004) * Most Popular Overseas Comedy (2004) * Most Popular Comedy Personality * Most Popular Light Entertainment Personality * Most Outstanding Sportscaster * Most Popular Sports Event * Most Popular Sports Program (until 2017) * Most Popular Telemovie or Miniseries * Most Outstanding Public Affairs Report * Most Outstanding News Coverage * Most Outstanding Current Affairs Program * Best News Panel or Current Affairs Program (2016–2017) * Most Popular Public Affairs Program * Most Outstanding News or Public Affairs Broadcaster * George Wallace Memorial Logie for Best New Talent (1969–1977) * Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding Newcomer (2006–2017) * Most Popular New Male Talent (1999–2013) * Most Popular New Female Talent (1999–2013) * Most Popular Commercial

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: Actors/actresses with the most national wins:

References

Citations

General and cited references

* Chris Taylor, 17 May 2003
"The Insider"
''Sydney Morning Herald'' – article describing the Logies, as well as a comic attempt to rig the Gold Logie voting process
IMDB page on the Logie Awards

External links

*
The History of Australian Television—The Logies

Archived list of Logie Awards
{{Logie Awards hosts 1959 establishments in Australia Australian comedy awards Awards established in 1959 Nine Network specials Television shows set in Gold Coast, Queensland Television shows set in Melbourne