Logies 2023 as it happened: Sonia Kruger wins Gold in a night of upsets

Thanks for joining us for the 2023 TV Week Logie Awards. I think we’re all in furious agreement that Sam Pang nailed it as host. There we certainly a few surprises (and surprised winners themselves), heartfelt tributes, and a lot of well-deserved recognition.

You can read Karl Quinn‘s take on the night’s events and style editor Damien Woolnough’s expert view of the red carpet fashion. Check out our gallery of all the fabulous outfits below. Goodnight!

From the moment we saw Daryl Somers on stage to present the Gold Logie award it seemed a fait accompli; Sonia Kruger had won the Gold Logie.

Kruger, who is set to co-host Channel Seven’s 20th season of Dancing With The Stars this year alongside Somers, won the top gong at the 63rd annual TV Week Logie Awards.

Sonia Kruger accepts her Gold Logie.Credit: Seven

Kruger is a previous Gold Logie nominee and hosts a suite of shows for Channel Seven including Dancing With The Stars, Big Brother and The Voice. Kruger’s win comes after Channel Seven picked up the Logie broadcast from Channel Nine this year, and the network campaigned hard for their golden girl.

Hamish Blake was the hot favourite to win a third Gold Logie, but in recent days odds had shortened on Kruger.

Sonia Kruger arrives on the red carpet at the awards in Sydney. Credit: Hanna Lassen/Getty Images

After another marathon broadcast, Daryl Somers took to the stage well after 11pm. Somers was dusted off to present the award, the former Hey Hey It’s Saturday! presenter indulging in a too-long monologue before finally getting it underway.

If we’re being honest, and it’s nearly midnight so we must be, Daryl’s entire bit was much like his career, a bit awkward and something we’d rather not discuss in depth.

After hosting the red carpet arrivals for Seven’s coverage of the event, Kruger changed outfits for the award ceremony. Credit: Getty

After a long but mostly enjoyable ceremony once again the Logies couldn’t get out of its own way, fixating on the past, rather than embracing the future. Somers’ entire speech was tiresome, unnecessary, and (the biggest crime), just not that funny.

Then came the moment we’d all been waiting for, Kruger’s golden win and a win for Channel Seven too. To her credit, the 57-year-old was quick to pay tribute to the powers that be.“I’d like to thank God, AKA [Seven CEO]James Warburton, who had the genius idea of stealing an idea from Channel Nine [The Voice] and making it better,” she joked.

“I’d also like to thank my family, whose names escape me, and if my dad was here, he would just be so proud.”

Kruger was initially introduced to Australian audiences in the role of Tina Sparkle in Baz Luhrmann’s 1992 breakthrough hit, Strictly Ballroom, and that appearance morphed into a long and successful career in TV.

It’s often become an easy gag that Sonia Kruger hosts everything in TV, and during her acceptance speech, Kruger spoke warmly about the value of presenting.

“I read a sign backstage that said, ‘Hosting is not about what you do, but how you make other people feel,’ and you have made me feel so good.”

Kruger’s career has not been without controversy. In 2016, during an appearance on the morning show Today, Kruger called for a complete ban on Muslims entering Australia, in agreement with an opinion piece by commentator Andrew Bolt.

The statement triggered widespread debate and condemnation. Fast forward to 2023 and Kruger has won the Gold Logie, handed out to the most popular personality on Australian television.

Kruger kept her acceptance speech short and sweet, perhaps conscious of the long run time, signing off with a simple: “Thank you so much, I don’t know what else to say.”

We’re about to learn who has won the 2023 Gold Logie. According to more than 2000 of you who have voted in our reader poll, it is going to be, once again... Hamish Blake.

Talk about a long time between drinks. Brooke Satchwell has won her second ever TV WEEK Logie Award, winning Most Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role on Foxtel drama, The Twelve.

Satchwell’s first win came way back in 1998, when she picked up the Logie award for Most Popular Talent for her role on Neighbours.

Yes, this is the still the Logies live blog but Australia are doing remarkably well in the final match of this Ashes series, so I thought it was worth shouting out.

After a less than stellar start, Australia are clawing their way into a pretty commanding position and could pull this one off.

For more, check out our Ashes blog.

Of course it takes someone with Sam Neill’s vintage and calibre to stop the Colin from Accounts juggernaut. Neill wins for his role in the courtroom drama The Twelve, and gives a stutter-laden speech expressing his shock, and his appreciation of the show’s ensemble cast.

Sam Neill (fifth from left) and the cast of The Twelve on the red carpet. Credit: Getty

“I’ve run out of things to say, I’m just so gobsmacked,” Neill says.

It’s Neill’s second Logie, and he walks off very quickly after his short speech. I love Sam Neill (where are my Jurassic Park heads?) but at this stage I’m very glad he kept it so short. We are getting close, folks.

Joking about how long the Logies run is a rite of passage (I’ve already done it once tonight), but I seriously can’t remember a time when the Logies wasn’t happening.

Which brings me to question why, why did we need this performance from Australia’s most famous drummer, G Flip, Australia’s loosest duo Peking Duk, May-A (you’ll know her from Flume’s Say Nothing) and Heartbreak High’s Ayesha Madon (is she seeking revenge on Amy Shark for stealing her Logie?).

It was…fine? Kind of felt liked my high school battle of the bands, and I won’t pretend I didn’t bop along while wondering what year it was, but given it’s so late, and everyone is keen for a hard wrap, perhaps this could’ve been a hard pass. If there’s any upside, Ayesha’s obvious musical talent should place her in good stead to win the Most Popular New Talent at next year’s Logies, which at this rate, will probably start right after this year’s Logies.

Another big win for Colin from Accounts with Patrick Brammall scoring the Logie for outstanding actor.

The show has already picked up the comedy series award, and Brammall’s co-star, co-creator and wife Harriet Dyer has already picked up outstanding actress.

Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer have also won for most outstanding comedy program.Credit: Sam Tabone/Getty Images

The two had to get special dispensation from the Screen Actors Guild in the US to attend the awards, due to the actors’ strike.

Brammall thanks everybody who made the show and implores his parents to not fall asleep as they watch along at home.

Colin from Accounts is emerging as the big winner from the Logies, sweeping the biggest categories. It’s a massive result for the Brammall/Dyer powerhouse duo.

Half of this category’s nominees star on Home and Away (Ada Nicodemou, Emily Symons and Lynne McGranger) and another two came from Fisk (Kitty Flanagan and Julia Zemiro) so the odds were strongly in favour of one of these shows picking up the award.

In the end it was the star of Fisk, Kitty Flanagan who scored the prize.

Flanagan isn’t at the ceremony so she sent Zemiro in her stead to deliver a thank you speech, which ended up meaning Zemiro thanked herself.

Check out this piece from Kerrie O’Brien on the relationship between Flanagan and Zemiro, and how the two went head-to-head for this award.

The award for most outstanding factual or documentary program goes to The Australian Wars, from Blackfella Films, the company that was founded by writer-director-producer Rachel Perkins and producer Darren Dale in 2001 and has gone on to be one of the most prolific producers of First Nations-themed content in the country.

Filmmaker Rachel Perkins.

Dale speaks first, and thanks SBS, which has, he says, “championed us telling First Nations stories for over 20 years … you can’t do enough to support us and privilege our stories on screen and make us feel like we are part of Australia’s landscape.”

Then it’s the turn of Perkins, who created and presented the three-part series, the making of which consumed five years of her life.

“It obviously is a difficult part of our history but it is something that we are coming to terms with and it is part of this great nation of ours,” she says. “And actually this year, in October, hopefully, we will have the opportunity to embrace our history and bring the country together with one simple word.

“What is that word,” she asks, and the audience shouts back a resounding “Yes”.

If he’s watching, Anthony Albanese must be thinking “if only it were that easy”.