Crown Palladium in Melbourne played host to Australia’s most popular TV stars for the 2013 Logie Awards last night.
by Jessica Chandra
Crown Palladium in Melbourne played host to Australia’s most popular TV stars for the 2013 Logie Awards last night. The show didn’t have an official host but Gold Logie nominees Hamish Blake and Andy Lee kicked off the proceedings by entering the stage on red mobile spinning chairs á la The Voice (a nod to the series’ season two premiere on the same night) after an energetic opening performance from Bruno Mars, the first of many international guests to perform during the show.
Over the next few hours awards were handed out in the popular (public-voted) and outstanding (peer-voted) categories, with Asher Keddie, Steve Peacocke and drama series House Husbands among the first winners. Joel Madden took home his first Logie for most popular new male talent and made fun of the fact that he’s been in the entertainment industry for a long time. Puberty Blues star Brenna Harding was overwhelmed when she won most popular new female talent and gave an emotional speech, while another touching moment was when Deborah Mailman won most outstanding actress for her role as Benita Mabo in Mabo — during her speech she brought the real Benita Mabo to the stage, and it was a double celebration as it was also Benita’s birthday. Channel Nine newsreader Brian Henderson was inducted into the Logie Awards Hall of Fame and brought his intelligence, humour and signature sign-off to the show. There was also a special tribute to Peter Harvey, who passed away last month.
Performances from Michael Bublé, Birdy and Olly Murs were scattered throughout the broadcast — some people on social media aired their disappointment at the lack of Australian performers on Aussie TV’s night of nights — before it came to the big one: the Gold Logie. Bert Newton presented the Gold Logie to a “discombobulated” (her word) Asher Keddie at the end of the night and during his time on stage he made jokes about his long career, Network Ten and even his sex life. Asher admitted, “I’m not sure what it means to me,” about winning the Gold Logie, but went on to thank fans for their support as well as the people who have helped her throughout her career.
Click through for all the press room pictures — you can find the full list of winners here.