Lee Lin Chin And Waleed Aly Just Set A New Record For Gold Logies Diversity
That's all it took: two non-white people.
Last year SBS newsreader-turned-real life id Lee Lin Chin attended her first TV Week Logies Awards and, after scoping the scene for Home and Away boys who’ll “put out”, summarily decided she’d be winning the Gold next year.
Just decided to win the gold next year, I deserve it #TVWEEKLogies
— Lee Lin Chin (@LeeLinChinSBS) May 3, 2015
Now, the time as arrived. After an aggressive internet campaign featuring her “live-in lover” Osher Gunsberg and “shameful son” Rove McManus, she’s collected enough of your votes to cop an official nomination for the 2016 Gold Logie. But that’s not the only interesting thing about the nominees which were announced yesterday afternoon. With The Project‘s Waleed Aly also earning his first nod in the category, the race for the top award is actually the most diverse it has ever been.
Yes… it only took two non-white people.
The glaring whiteness of those nominated for TV Week Logies is a well-documented fact — one which extends from a lack of diversity on Australian screens more generally. In last year’s awards ceremony, Larrakia woman Miranda Tapsell used her acceptance speech for Most Popular New Talent to tell showrunners to “put more beautiful people of colour on TV”. “Connect viewers in ways which transcend race and unite us,” she said.
Nowhere is this problem more pronounced than the category for Best Personality on Australian TV (a category which is decided by popular vote). Since the award’s inception in 1960, you can count the nominees of colour on one hand, and the repetition of names featured paints a bleak picture of the opportunities afforded to outside voices. Hamish Blake and Andy Lee are regulars. The old man from The Block will never be stopped. Rove McManus and Daryl Somers have each won three times. Ray Martin once won four years in a row. With recent years seeing The Project‘s Carrie Bickmore, Offspring‘s Asher Keddie and Today‘s Karl Stefanovic take out the award, a non-white person hasn’t even been nominated for the better part of a decade.
This is something well noted by those in charge of the ceremony. “In all my time I don’t think we’ve ever seen a list like this,” TV Week editor Emma Nolan told The Age this morning. “It’s different, in a good way — it’s diverse in terms of gender, age and background.”
Check out the full list below:
2016 TV Week Logies Nominees
Gold Logie – Best Personality On Australian TV
Waleed Aly – The Project
Carrie Bickmore – The Project
Scott Cam – The Block
Lee Lin Chin – SBS World News/The Feed
Essie Davis – Miss Fisher’s Murder Myteries
Grant Denyer – Family Feud
–
Best Presenter
Amanda Keller – The Living Room
Carrie Bickmore – The Project
Grant Denyer – Family Feud/ The Great Australian Spelling Bee
Lee Lin Chin – SBS World News/The Feed
Waleed Aly – The Project
–
Best New Talent
Adam Dovile – Better Homes and Gardens
Benson Jack Anthony – 800 Words
Dan Reilly – The Block
Joel Jackson – Deadline Gallipoli/ Peter Allen: Not The Boy Next Door
Pia Miller – Home and Away
–
Best Drama Program
800 Words
A Place To Call Home
Home and Away
House Husbands
Love Child
–
Best Entertainment Program
Family Feud
Gruen
Have You Been Paying Attention?
The Voice
The X Factor Australia
–
Best News Panel or Current Affairs Program
60 Minutes
Q&A
Sunrise
The Project
Today
–
Best Reality Program
I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!
MasterChef Australia
My Kitchen Rules
The Bachelorette Australia
The Block
–
Best Sports Program
AFL 360
Marngrook Footy Show
The AFL Footy Show
The NRL Footy Show
Wide World of Sports
–
Best Lifestyle Program
Better Homes and Gardens
Gardening Australia
Getaway
Selling Houses Australia
The Living Room
–
Best Factual Program
Australian Story
Bondi Rescue
Bondi Vet
Gogglebox
Who Do You Think You Are?
–
Most Outstanding Actor
Alex Dimitriades – The Principal
Hugh Dancy – Deadline Gallipoli
Malcolm Kennard – Catching Milat
Patrick Brammall – Glitch
Sam Neill – House of Hancock
–
Most Outstanding Actress
Deborah Mailman – Redfern Now: Promise Me
Essie Davis – Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
Mandy McElhinney – House of Hancock
Pamela Rabe – Wentworth
Sarah Snook – The Beautiful Lie
–
Most Outstanding Supporting Actor
Dan Wyllie – No Activity
David Berry – A Place To Call Home
Ryan Corr – Banished
Tim Minchin – No Activity
Tim Minchin – The Secret River
–
Most Outstanding Supporting Actress
Celia Ireland – Wentworth
Emily Barclay – Glitch
Harriet Dyer – Love Child
Jenni Baird – A Place To Call Home
Rarriwuy Hick – Redfern Now: Promise Me
–
Most Outstanding Drama Series
800 Words
A Place To Call Home
Glitch
Love Child
Wentworth
–
Most Outstanding Miniseries or Telemovie
Deadline Gallipoli
House of Hancock
Peter Allen: Not The Boy Next Door
The Beautiful Lie
The Secret River
–
Most Outstanding Entertainment Program
Gruen
Have You Been Paying Attention?
The Voice
The Weekly With Charlie Pickering
The X Factor Australia
–
Most Outstanding Comedy Program
No Activity
Open Slather
Please Like Me
Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell
Utopia
–
Most Outstanding News Coverage
‘Iraq-Syria War Coverage’ – ABC 7pm News
‘Liberal Leadership Crisis: Abbott V Turnbull’ – Foxtel – SKY NEWS LIVE
‘Migrant Crisis – Special Report’ – ABC 7pm News
‘Paris Attack’ – Seven News
‘Parramatta Shooting’ – Seven News
–
Most Outstanding Public Affairs Report
‘Catching A Monster’ – 60 Minutes
‘Hitting Home’ – Hitting Home
‘Making A Killing’ – Four Corners
‘The Killing Season’ – The Killing Season
‘The Siege Survivors’ – 60 Minutes
–
Most Outstanding Sports Coverage
2015 Australian Open – Channel Seven
Emirates Melbourne Cup – Channel Seven
KFC T20 Big Bash League – Network Ten
NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final – Nine Network
Holden State Of Origin II – Nine Network
–
Most Outstanding Children’s Program
Bottersnikes & Gumbles
Bushwacked!
Little Lunch
Play Along With Sam
Ready For This
–
Most Outstanding Newcomer – Actor
Joel Jackson – Deadline Gallipoli
Joel Jackson – Peter Allen: Not The Boy Next Door
Rahel Romahn – The Principal
–
Most Outstanding Newcomer – Actress
Hannah Monson – Glitch
Melina Vidler – 800 Words
Sara West – Peter Allen: Not The Boy Next Door
–
The Graham Kennedy Breakthrough Star of Tomorrow
Benson Jack Anthony – 800 Words
Ky Baldwin – Peter Allen: Not The Boy Next Door
Olivia DeJonge – Hiding
–
The 2016 Logies will air live on Nine on May 8.