Hamish Blake backs Leigh Sales to nab Gold Logie ahead of TV’s biggest night
Gold Logie nominee Hamish Blake doubts he’ll walk away with a third trophy this year. Here’s who he’s tipping to win TV’s top gong.
Gold Logie frontrunner Hamish Blake has build his career on comedy but he is not joking when he says doubts he is a shot at a third trophy.
“I do get the sense I’ll be the guy to hand it over this time, which I’m happy to do,” the hugely-popular Blake said.
“I mean, I’ll be voting for Leigh Sales – I think we all will be.
“Leigh and I bonded over our love of Survivor and I think she’d be happy to have that alliance heading into voting.”
Blake, Sales, Shaun Micallef, Sonia Kruger, Osher Gunsberg, Julia Morris and Mark Coles Smith gathered in Sydney for a shoot for TV Week’s annual Logies special edition, which is out Monday.
Sales might have Blake’s vote but she’s convinced someone made a terrible mistake including her on the list.
“It feels kind of surreal and it’s not lost on me that I currently have the least amount of (air) time on TV,” she said
“The less the Australian public sees of me, the more popular I become.”
Sales said she is still finding out who she is, a year on from quitting ABC’s flagship 7.30.
“I think that is a work in progress,” she says.
“I needed the time to slow down and not have the phone ringing every five seconds – that’s been kind of liberating.”
As one of the three women over 50 up for Australian television’s highest honour, Sonia Kruger hopes one of the female nominees takes it out
“Leigh is incredible, and Julia is one of the greatest people on TV, as far as I’m concerned,” she said, adding.
“She makes me laugh. I totally get her. I’d love to see one of the girls take it out. For the sisters out there.”
Nominated for the second-year-in-a-row, the prolific presenter’s a little more relaxed.
“I thought the first year was an anomaly,” Kruger said.
“But it means more this time. I know what to expect and I can enjoy it a bit more.”
Meanwhile, Morris feels the tide is turning for women in television.
“That’s pretty awesome (all the female nominees being over 50),” she said.
“We may have to have a think about how we talk about women in the industry and when their time is up.
“It feels like the wave is starting to come that says, ‘Nah there will be work for you if you want to work’.”
It’s not only Coles Smith first nomination, but the Mystery Road: Origin actor’s first-ever Logies. He’s never even watched the awards on TV.
“I feel like a deer in the headlights,” he says.
“Everything is a new experience and I feel like I’m being invited into an incredibly glamorous world to celebrate Australian television.”
Coles Smith hopes he’s an inspiration to young Indigenous Australians.
“To be an inspiration to others is a profoundly beautiful thing,” Coles Smith said. “Our young mob deserve to feel inspired, so if I can be a part of that, I feel blessed.”
Gunsberg, who’s previously been candid about his struggles to find work for years after Australian Idol wound up, feels the nod validates all the changes he’s made in his life.
“For me, the Gold isn’t the prize you win, it’s who you become to win the prize,” he said. “The person I am now … to be considered and accepted by my industry and the public, that’s the prize for me. I’ve already won.”
Micallef detailed his complicated relationship with the Logies in his autobiography, Tripping Over Myself, which was released last year. Despite his nomination, he’s not backing down from his description of Australian TV’s night of nights as a “tawdry Z-grade burlesque of the Emmys”.
“It absolutely is that as well,” he said. “But I’m not saying I didn’t like it. As Ray Martin used to say about the Logies, they’re the only game in town.”
“You have to believe in it. You can be sceptical, but not cynical.”
Fans can now vote for their favourites from the short-listed nominees at tvweeklogiesvote .com. For the first time, voting for the Gold Logie will remain open throughout the ceremony, only closing at 10.30pm next Sunday.
Watch 63rd Logie Awards, Sunday, from 7pm, Seven and 7Plus.
LOGIES’ TOUCHING TRIBUTE TO BRIAN WALSH
For 40 years, his creative ideas and promotional wizardry changed the Australian television landscape.
And next Sunday, Brian Walsh will be posthumously inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame.
Walsh, whose shock passing on March 16 devastated the industry, launched hundreds of shows and thousands of careers — both behind and in front of the camera — including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Guy Pearce.
The small screen titan was also responsible for the global success of Neighbours.
In 1995, he was a key member of the team to establish Australian subscription television with the launch of Foxtel and remained the organisation’s cultural heart and soul.
Foxtel Group chief content and commercial officer Amanda Laing said Walsh would have been embarrassed by the attention and would have sought to share the spotlight with the creative community of cast, crew, director and writers who make incredible storytelling possible.
“But at the end of the day he was the ringmaster of all of it,” she said.
“I know he would be so incredibly proud.
Ms Laing said Walsh’s legacy was unrivalled.
“He was always our Hall of Famer. We feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with him and this award recognises the extraordinary gift he gave so many, from the team at Foxtel to actors, writers, producers, directors and many more,” she said.
“Of particular note is Brian’s deep commitment to identifying and fostering emerging talent. This dedication has produced countless stars who have had stellar careers both in Australia and globally. He is deeply missed.”
Walsh, whose final role was Foxtel Group’s executive director of drama, brought home more than 100 awards for the channel in his three decades there.
He supervised all scripted and unscripted commissions for the group including the beloved television series Wentworth, Upright, Deadline Gallipoli, The Kettering Incident, The End and most recently the award-winning and globally distributed series Love Me, Colin from Accounts and The Twelve.
Fittingly, The Twelve is the most nominated drama at this year’s 63rd TV Week Logie Awards, garnering nine nods including Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actress for Marta Dusseldorp.
Dusseldorp, who had worked with Walsh on many projects including A Place To Call Home and counted him as friend, has dedicated her nomination to the late legend.
“He personally asked me to be in The Twelve,” she said.
“For me, this is a beautiful memory and I dedicate it to him.”
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