The most awkward moments from Australian TV’s ‘night of nights’
The Logies can be entertaining, excruciating and controversial. Here, we look back at the best, worst and wackiest of TV’s night of nights. HAVE YOUR SAY
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From Kylie Minogue's s dazzling Gold Logie win to shocking moments that made global headlines, the Logies have always been entertaining.
And they've had their fair share of controversy, which is hardly surprising when you throw alcohol and rampant egos into the mix.
With the 61st Logie Awards airing this Sunday, we celebrate the best, worst and wackiest of TV’s night of nights:
1. BERT'S AWKWARD SPEECH
The 2018 Logies were all going swimmingly until Bert Newton made clanger about TV king Graham Kennedy. Moon Face's unfortunate remark failed to read the room and disregarded the the entire #Me Too movement, which at that stage was sweeping the entertainment world. Newton's monologue got off to a bad start when he referred to himself using a gay slur. He then joked that his former co-star Kennedy enjoyed "mentoring" young talent behind closed doors. "Speaking of young talent, Graham Kennedy was always the sort of man who nurtured young talent," Newton said. "He enjoyed giving young people a chance on television, he was a great mentor, he mentored a lot of young people.
2. ALI vs BERT NEWTON
International guests didn’t come more famous than Muhammad Ali, who was the star import at the 1979 Logies. The boxing legend was lauded on stage, as he was around the world, with an adoring ballroom of local TV personalities in awe. But things went from awe-struck to awry, when host Bert Newton inadvertently offended the towering heavyweight, when he quipped, ‘I like the boy,’ unaware ‘boy’ was regarded as a demeaning racial slur in the US. A confused Ali physical recoiled at the comment, shaping to turn on Newton, who looked to the audience for support and side of stage, in case he needed to make a quick exit.
3. WHEN INTERNATIONAL GUESTS UNLEASH
Ali wasn’t the only guest to make the headlines, with a drunk Mod Squad actor Michael Cole making Logies history by being the first star to say ‘sh*t’ during the telecast. As Newton recalls, “the program aired on a Friday night and the network received a couple of hundred calls from people complaining. Back in those years they always replayed the Logies on a Sunday afternoon. They edited out his piece and we got 2000 calls complaining. That tells you something about the significance of it.” Other car crash guests included the late Joan Rivers, who told the celebrity crowd at the 2006 Logies, “I know I’m sitting with important people, but I don’t know who you are,” adding “I don’t know why the f*ck I’m here.”
4. THE HOST WITH THE MOST (CHEEK)
In recent years, hosting the Logies has proved a poisoned chalice but when comic Andrew Denton took the reins in 1999 and 2000 he had full control of the room — and then Nine media boss, James Packer. Doing a lap of the ballroom, the Interview host picked off stars to sledge and skewer, but singled out the young TV heir for particular attention. After asking permission, he settled on Packer’s lap, before asking him to drink a glass of water while Denton declared he was no one’s ventriloquist’s dummy. It earned him one of the biggest laughs in Logies history.
5. KYLIE’S GOLDEN MOMENT
While Australia was celebrating its bicentennial, then Neighbours starlet Kylie Minogue was being toasted as the youngest-ever winner of the Gold Logie. The 19-year-old took home the top gong, as well as two silver Logies for most popular actress and most popular music video (for Locomotion). With her tuxedo-clad sister Dannii by her side, Minogue was crowned Australia’s favourite star for her role as Ramsay Street grease monkey Charlene Mitchell who would later drive off into the sunset with on-screen husband Scott (played by then real-life boyfriend Jason Donovan).
6. HOME AND A RAY
From youngest to oldest, Home and Away’s Ray Meagher would prove the Logies’ most sentimental favourite when he finally won Gold in 2010. His role as Alf Stewart on Seven’s soap earned him cult status, while his on-screen ockerisms became part of the vernacular. Accepting the gong from host Bert Newton, the then 66-year-old joked: “In 1965, at the Regatta Hotel in Brisbane, I won a chook raffle … so it’s been a long time between drinks.” And the room went wild.
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7. THE MOURNING AFTER
Overdoing it at the afterparties was almost written into the contracts of most stars, especially through the excess of the 1980s. But it was Karl Stefanovic’s slurring appearance on Nine’s breakfast show Today the morning after the 2009 Logies which will live long in the memories of TV fans. With his former co-host Lisa Wilkinson trying her best to right the ship, the drunken sailor beside her slurred his way through the broadcast. But rather than damn him, the public was won over and Stefanovic argues it was a career gamechanger: “I was worried about it initially, but I think it broke down a barrier for me. It’s that age-old theory in TV that if you haven’t harmed anyone, the public might find it funny. The public have been tremendously supportive — the only drama is that every time I go out now, everybody wants me to get drunk with them.”
8. GRIMSHAW’S NAKED AMBITION
Stefanovic’s Channel 9 co-star and one of this year’s Gold Logie nominees, Tracy Grimshaw, also made news with her post-party antics — locking herself out of her hotel suite naked after too many tequilas with her then boss James Packer. The A Current Affair host explained this week she had partied through the night, only to realise at 3am she needed to freshen up before returning to air at 7am. Stripping off her red carpet gown, she mistook her front door for the bathroom and found herself starkers in the Crown hotel hallway. Grabbing a copy of The Australian, she wrapped herself in the broadsheet, found a phone and called for help.
9. THEY WORE WHAT?
As she would also lament last week, Grimshaw has avoided more red carpets than she’s walked in recent years, after being slammed for fashion choices. One purple kaftan comes to mind, which the Logies fashion police said made her look like McDonald’s character, Grimace. SBS newsreader Lee Lin Chin has been immune to the criticism of her unusual wardrobe, taking even greater risks at the Logies. But no one has courted controversy more than former morning TV host Susie Elelman who made headlines with this plunging dress, which she wore twice — just in case you missed her the first time.
10. MAJOR BRUMMER
Not all the Logies after-party action could be laughed off, with soap star Dieter Brummer escaping court conviction after being charged with assaulting Crown casino security staff outside Nine’s party in 2012. The former Home and Away and Underbelly actor had allegedly tried to bite and kick the bouncers, with a Melbourne magistrate ordering the star to write a letter of apology and pay a $500 fine to a children’s charity.
11. CARRIE’S WIN FOR BRAIN CANCER
As powerful speeches go, Carrie Bickmore’s inspiring Gold Logies victory in 2015 launched a national awareness campaign for brain cancer and has raised more than $4 million in funding since. The Project favourite pre-planned to use her winning moment to urge viewers and her industry pals to wear beanies for brain cancer, which had taken the life of her first husband, Greg five years earlier.
12. MOLLY STORMS STAGE
It was meant to be Samuel Johnson’s moment to shine — harnessing the power of the cancer charity started in the name of his beloved sister, Connie, to win Gold. But the actor had to share it with the man he played to win it — Molly Meldrum. The music guru gatecrashed the Crown casino stage, ostensibly to give Johnson a gold version of his iconic hat; but rambled away, as aghast production staff tried to get him off.
* 61ST ANNUAL TV WEEK LOGIE AWARDS air from 7pm, Sunday on Nine.
Originally published as The most awkward moments from Australian TV’s ‘night of nights’
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