The Ali Clarke Breakfast Show wins radio award for Mel Dzelde episode
Ali Clarke and her radio team have won a radio award for an episode in honour of SA radio personality Mel Dzelde who later died in December 2022.
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The Ali Clarke Breakfast Show has won a national radio award for an episode honouring SA radio personality Mel Dzelde.
Hosted in Sydney on Saturday night, the Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs) awarded The Ali Clarke Breakfast Show the award for best community campaign for a metropolitan station for their campaign: ‘Mel Dzelde Rescue: The Spirit of Christmas’.
The campaign, hosted late last year, called on the station’s listeners and clients to help ease the financial burden on the Dzelde family and provide them with an early Christmas while Mel was confided to hospice.
Soon after the episode aired SA radio identity and author Mel Dzelde later died after battles with cancer and motor neurone disease.
“For our little team to win and honour Mel’s life for her family was incredible and very emotional,” Clarke told The Advertiser.
“She loved radio and what it can do for a community so I know she would be as happy as I am that our amazing listeners and the generosity of South Australia was on show to the rest of the country.
“An orchid I gave her when she first moved into Mary Potter Hospice flowered the day before we won, so we think it was a sign.”
Mr Dzelde told The Advertiser: “Mel actually said that ‘if this doesn’t win an ACRA, nothing will’ so she kinda foresaw this happening”.
“Most people aren’t aware of the huge amount of work that goes into even submitting an entry to the ACRAs, must less making it to the actual nomination stage,” he said.
“Amanda Keller was a great friend of Mel’s, and she was also a part of the broadcast on the day, so that she actually presented the award was beautifully serendipitous.
“I’m so thrilled for all the MIX102.3 team, their support and kindness for Mel and I is something I will never forget.”
After winning the award, the MIX102.3 show’s host Ali Clarke FaceTimed Mel’s husband radio personality Chris Dzelde and posted the moment to Instagram.
“This one’s for you Mel ... you were with us every moment,” she wrote.
“To everyone involved in this, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
South Australian, Triple M’s Laura O’Callaghan, also took out an ACRA this year for best new talent on air radio (metro).
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