The Project presenter Waleed Aly could become the first back-to-back Gold Logie winner in almost 10 years.
Not since Home and Away star Kate Richie took home the top prize in 2007 and 2008 has someone won consecutive trophies.
Aly was announced by TV Week on Sunday as one of six nominees alongside The Project colleague Peter Helliar, Family Feud host Grant Denyer and actors Rodger Corser and Samuel Johnson. Love Child and Wrong Girl actress Jessica Marais is the sole woman in contention for the Australian television accolade.
The editor of TV Week, Emma Nolan, responded to criticism that the awards were snubbing female talent, telling News Corp this year’s results were “what the viewers wanted”.
Marais plays midwife Joan Millar on Love Child and TV producer Lily Woodward on The Wrong Girl and said her nomination was down to the quality of the two shows.
“It makes me incredibly proud that Love Child is well loved [and] probably just reaffirms that we have a great thing going and that people are excited to see the show, because it’s definitely got legs,” she told News Corp. “As for The Wrong Girl, the show has the potential to cover material that we haven’t seen on Australian television before. Lily as a character is such a juicy, open and accessible character. I feel very lucky to be playing [her].”
It’s the sixth year running a presenter from The Project has been nominated. Denyer and Aly are also nominated for best presenter.
When it came to nominations for programming, the ABC led the way with 26 followed by Ten with 18, Seven with 14 and Nine with 11.
Australia’s public broadcaster swept all five nominations for most outstanding comedy program. Black Comedy, Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell and suburban snapshot Upper Middle Bogan are all in the running.
Corser is also up for best actor for his work in ABC crime series The Doctor Blake Mysteries which is set in the Victorian town of Ballarat. He’ll have stiff competition though from lead Craig McLachlan (Doctor Lucien Blake).
After a breakthrough nomination last year, streaming service Stan received its second nod with Deborah Mailman nominated for best actress and most outstanding supporting actress for playing Bernadette in six-part drama series spin-off Wolf Creek.
Half the Logies are jury-voted and recognise excellence in entertainment, comedy, children’s television, news and sport, as well as series and miniseries. The other half are based on audience voting, which closed in December.
The 59th annual Logies ceremony is on 23 April at Melbourne Crown’s Palladium Room.
Full list of nominees
Awards voted by viewers:
Best actor
• Craig McLachlan (Deep Water/The Doctor Blake Mysteries/The Wrong Girl) (SBS/ABC/Network Ten)
• Erik Thomson (800 Words) (Channel Seven)
• Richard Roxburgh (Rake) (ABC)
• Rodger Corser (Doctor Doctor/The Doctor Blake Mysteries) (Nine Network/ABC)
• Samuel Johnson (Molly) (Channel Seven)
Best actress
• Asher Keddie (Offspring) (Network Ten)
• Deborah Mailman (Cleverman/Jack Irish/Offspring/Wolf Creek) (ABC/Network Ten/Stan)
• Jessica Marais (Love Child/The Wrong Girl) (Nine Network/Network Ten)
• Jessica Mauboy (The Secret Daughter) (Channel Seven)
• Marta Dusseldorp (A Place To Call Home/Jack Irish/Janet King) (Foxtel – Showcase/ABC)
Best presenter
• Amanda Keller (The Living Room) (Network Ten)
• Carrie Bickmore (The Project) (Network Ten)
• Grant Denyer (All Star Family Feud/Family Feud/The Great Australian Spelling Bee) (Network Ten)
• Sarah Harris (Shark Tank/Studio 10) (Network Ten)
• Waleed Aly (The Project) (Network Ten)
Gold Logie – best personality on Australian TV
• Grant Denyer (All Star Family Feud/Family Feud/The Great Australian Spelling Bee) (Network Ten)
• Jessica Marais (Love Child/The Wrong Girl) (Nine Network/Network Ten)
• Peter Helliar (The Project) (Network Ten)
• Rodger Corser (Doctor Doctor/The Doctor Blake Mysteries) (Nine Network/ABC)
• Samuel Johnson (Molly) (Channel Seven)
• Waleed Aly (The Project) (Network Ten)
Best new talent
• Hayley Magnus (The Wrong Girl) (Network Ten)
• Penny McNamee (Home And Away) (Channel Seven)
• Rob Collins (Cleverman/The Wrong Girl) (ABC/Network Ten)
• Shalom Brune-Franklin (Doctor Doctor) (Nine Network)
• Tiarnie Coupland (Love Child) (Nine Network)
Best drama program
• 800 Words (Channel Seven)
• Doctor Doctor (Nine Network)
• Home And Away (Channel Seven)
• Molly (Channel Seven)
• Offspring (Network Ten)
• Wentworth (Foxtel – Showcase)
Best entertainment program
• Anh’s Brush With Fame (ABC)
• Family Feud (Network Ten)
• Have You Been Paying Attention? (Network Ten)
• The Voice Australia (Nine Network)
• Upper Middle Bogan (ABC)
Best news panel or current affairs program
• Four Corners (ABC)
• Studio 10 (Network Ten)
• Sunrise (Channel Seven)
• The Project (Network Ten)
• Today (Nine Network)
Best reality program
• Australian Survivor (Network Ten)
• I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! (Network Ten)
• MasterChef Australia (Network Ten)
• My Kitchen Rules (Channel Seven)
• The Block (Nine Network)
Best sports program
• In Rio Today (Channel Seven)
• Monday Night With Matty Johns (Foxtel – FOX SPORTS)
• The AFL Footy Show (Nine Network)
• The NRL Footy Show (Nine Network)
• Wide World Of Sports (Nine Network)
Best lifestyle program
• Better Homes And Gardens (Channel Seven)
• Gardening Australia (ABC)
• Luke Warm Sex (ABC)
• Selling Houses Australia (Foxtel – LifeStyle)
• The Living Room (Network Ten)
Best factual program
• Australian Story (ABC)
• Bondi Rescue (Network Ten)
• Bondi Vet (Network Ten)
• Gogglebox Australia (Foxtel – LifeStyle/Network Ten)
• Todd Sampson’s Body Hack (Network Ten)
Jury-voted awards:
Most outstanding drama series
• A Place To Call Home (Foxtel – Showcase)
• Cleverman (ABC)
• Rake (ABC)
• The Code (ABC)
• Wentworth (Foxtel – Showcase)
Most outstanding miniseries or telemovie
• Barracuda (ABC)
• Deep Water (SBS)
• Molly (Channel Seven)
• Secret City (Foxtel – Showcase)
• The Kettering Incident (Foxtel – Showcase)
Most outstanding actor
• Henry Nixon (Fergus McFadden, The Kettering Incident, Foxtel – Showcase)
• Noah Taylor (Nick Manning, Deep Water, SBS)
• Richard Roxburgh (Cleaver Greene, Rake, ABC)
• Rodger Corser (Hugh Knight, Doctor Doctor, Nine Network)
• Samuel Johnson (Ian “Molly” Meldrum, Molly, Channel Seven)
Most outstanding actress
• Anna Torv (Harriet Dunkley, Secret City, Foxtel – Showcase)
• Danielle Cormack (Bea Smith, Wentworth, Foxtel – Showcase)
• Elizabeth Debicki (Anna Macy, The Kettering Incident, Foxtel – Showcase)
• Jessica Marais (Joan Millar, Love Child, Nine Network)
• Marta Dusseldorp (Janet King, Janet King, ABC)
• Yael Stone (Tori Lustigman, Deep Water, SBS)
Most outstanding supporting actor
• Ben Oxenbould (Chris Toohey, Deep Water, SBS)
• Damon Herriman (Kim Gordon, Secret City, Foxtel – Showcase)
• Matt Nable (Coach Frank Torma, Barracuda, ABC)
• Rick Donald (Woody, 800 Words, Channel Seven)
• Ryan Johnson (Matt Knight, Doctor Doctor, Nine Network)
Most outstanding supporting actress
• Debra Lawrance (Mum, Please Like Me, ABC)
• Deborah Mailman (Bernadette, Wolf Creek, Stan)
• Jenni Baird (Regina Bligh, A Place To Call Home, Foxtel – Showcase)
• Nicole da Silva (Franky Doyle, Wentworth, Foxtel – Showcase)
• Victoria Haralabidou (Stephanie Kelly, Barracuda, ABC)
Graham Kennedy award for most outstanding newcomer
• Elias Anton (Danny Kelly, Barracuda, ABC)
• Geraldine Hakewill (Chelsea Babbage, Wanted, Channel Seven)
• Hunter Page-Lochard (Koen West, Cleverman, ABC)
• Rob Collins (Waruu West, Cleverman, ABC)
• Tilda Cobham-Hervey (Eliza Grayson, The Kettering Incident, Foxtel – Showcase)
Most outstanding entertainment program
• Anh’s Brush With Fame (ABC)
• Gruen (ABC)
• Have You Been Paying Attention? (Network Ten)
• The Voice Australia (Nine Network)
• The Weekly With Charlie Pickering (ABC)
Most outstanding comedyprogram
• Black Comedy (ABC)
• Please Like Me (ABC)
• Rosehaven (ABC)
• Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell (ABC)
• Upper Middle Bogan (ABC)
Most outstanding children’s program
• Beat Bugs (Channel Seven)
• Bottersnikes & Gumbles (Channel Seven)
• Little Lunch: The Nightmare Before Graduation (ABC Me)
• Nowhere Boys: Two Moons Rising (ABC Me)
• Tomorrow When The War Began (ABC Me)
Most outstanding sports coverage
• 2016 NRL Grand Final (Wide World Of Sports, Nine Network)
• 2016 Supercars Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 (Network Ten)
• 2016 AFL Grand Final (Channel Seven)
• Cricket: KFC Big Bash League (Network Ten)
• Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Channel Seven)
Most outstanding news coverage
• “Bankstown Hospital” (Nine News, Nine Network)
• “Federal Election 2016” (Seven News, Channel Seven)
• “Inside Syria” (SBS World News, SBS)
• “S.A. Waste Dump” (NITV News, NITV)
• “Sky News Election Coverage 2016” (Sky News, Sky News/Foxtel)
Most outstanding public affairs report
• “Anita Cobby: You Thought You Knew It All…” (Seven News Investigates, Channel Seven)
• “Australia’s Shame” (Four Corners, ABC)
• “George Pell Investigation” (7.30, ABC)
• “Good Cop, Bad Cop” (60 Minutes, Nine Network)
• “Money For Nothing” (Four Corners, ABC)
Most outstanding factual or documentary program
• Conviction (ABC)
• Deep Water: The Real Story (SBS)
• Gogglebox Australia (Foxtel – LifeStyle/Network Ten)
• Keeping Australia Alive (ABC)
• Todd Sampson’s Body Hack (Network Ten)
Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
