After a two-year hiatus, the TV WEEK Logie Awards are back for the 62nd edition, baby! This year, the glamorous soiree will be held on Sunday, June 19 at The Star Gold Coast Entertainment Resort precinct, just metres away from the stunning beaches of Broadbeach.
The pandemic put a stop to a lot of things over the last two years and sadly, the Logies was one of them. Thankfully, the world is slowly going back to normal, and with 2022 marking the reopening of international borders and the return of major events, Australian television’s night of nights is taking place as it once did.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was thrilled after hearing the news, saying the Logies was a major stepping stone towards the recovery of Australia’s television industry.
“Queensland is the home of the screen industry in Australia. It’s great to have the Logies back on the Gold Coast in 2022 — our third time hosting television’s night of nights. I can’t imagine the Logies being anywhere else,” she said.
This year, big names such as Melissa Leong and Karl Stefanovic are in the running for the most coveted prize of the night: The Gold Logie. If Leong wins, she will be the second person of colour, after The Project’s Waleed Aly, and the first woman of colour to win the prestigious award.
“Ten-year-old Mel would never have dreamed a weird, late bloomer outcast migrant kid like me would be nominated for a bloody GOLD LOGIE…” she wrote on her Instagram account.
Leong is the only person of colour to be nominated among the many categories this year, shining a light on Australia’s diversity problem. After Aly’s win in 2016, he gave a powerful acceptance speech that touched on race and representation.
“Someone who is in this room — and I’m not going to use the name they use in the industry — came up to me, introduced themselves and said, ‘I really hope you win. My name is Mustafa. But I can’t use that name because I won’t get a job,'” Aly said on stage.
“He’s here tonight. And it matters to people like that that I am here. I know it’s not because of me. I know that. But if tonight means anything, it’s that the Australian public, our audience, as far as they’re concerned, there is absolutely no reason why that can’t change.”
Speaking to Yahoo Australia two years later, Aly said not much had changed for people of colour in the media industry since he stepped off that stage.
“I wouldn’t say that there’s been a huge change but these things are all incremental,” Aly said. “The progress is slow, I’d love it to be quicker but I don’t have control over that. These things take time.”
However, despite the glaring hole in Australian television, Leong’s nomination should still be celebrated, which is why I’ll be tuning in to see her hopefully take the stage and accept the award.
So, Where Can You Watch the 62nd TV WEEK Logie Awards?
The 2022 Logie Awards will be broadcasted live on Channel 9 and 9Now on Sunday, June 19. Voting is now open and will close after the red carpet concludes on the night. You can vote for your favourites at the Logies here.
