Tom Gleeson’s Troll Campaign To Get Grant Denyer The Gold Logie Actually Worked
"Let’s push the Logies to its most absurd extreme ever and give the Gold Logie to a guy that doesn’t have a TV show."
The most quintessential Logies moment ever has happened — a joke nominee from a cancelled show has won the big award during a ceremony that nobody watches. But big congratulations to Grant Denyer, I guess — he’s the showbiz version of Steven Bradbury.
So, if you’re one of the majority of people who didn’t watch the Logies, the highlights are basically: a bunch of Aussie shows watched only by the soon-to-die won awards, Bert Newton was racist, Kelly Rowlands did a performance that can only be described as “suitable” and Dave Hughes accidentally said he loved alleged abuser Don Burke.
So, a fairly standard Logies night to be honest — except this time it was in Queensland!
But back to Grant Denyer. He’s a television host of some pedigree, mostly recently known for his work on Family Feud, which was cancelled this year. He seems tiny and lovely.
So comedian Tom Gleeson took to The Project to announce that he would campaign for Grant Denyer to win the gold Logie, after having Denyer on Hard Chat.
Here’s the brand new #HardChat with @GrantDenyer. LET’S GET HIS AXED TV SHOW A GOLD LOGIE! SHARE! RT! #TheWeekly #Denyer4Gold https://t.co/oIgKOm3nip pic.twitter.com/YyjaVNigaL
— Tom Gleeson (@nonstoptom) June 27, 2018
“I used to be angry at the Logies, because Denyer was voted for gold for the popular personality on TV for a game show that has been axed due to low ratings on the third highest rating network and I thought this is idiotic,” Gleeson told The Project.
“Then I thought why get angry, when you can get behind the poor little bastard, so I thought let’s get him the Gold Logie because it’s perfect. Let’s push the Logies to its most absurd extreme ever and give the Gold Logie to a guy that doesn’t have a TV show. It’s beautiful.”
And it worked! Denyer was up against industry veterans Tracy Grimshaw and Amanda Keller, who honestly should have won — but then against it’s the Logies, so maybe talent and success shouldn’t be counted as reasons to win.
Gleeson’s campaign — #Denyer4Gold — clearly mobilised a large voting public.
I want @GrantDenyer to win the Gold Logie for an axed TV show. Who’s with me? #Denyer4Gold pic.twitter.com/Nwjlkj6r2O
— Tom Gleeson (@nonstoptom) June 27, 2018
“Tom Gleeson, thanks,” Denyer said in his acceptance speech. “Sometimes in this country you need an angry redhead to get things done, and Pauline Hanson wasn’t available.”
Grant Denyer winning the Gold Logie after his show was cancelled is just perfect Australian television
— Rob Stott (@Rob_Stott) July 1, 2018
didnt think i cared about the logies but just found out grant denyer won the gold logie and honestly god bless that lovely tiny man
— kt (@kjtalb) July 1, 2018
Dear Tom, I’m stuck in Bali after the volcano erupted . Once you’ve finished with Denyer could you float up here in your little cup and rescue me ? Now that rescuing axed, has-been game show hosts is clearly your thing .. thanks
— Larry Emdur (@larryemdur) June 29, 2018
What a great acceptance speech @grantdenyer. So important for those who have hit rock bottom to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Congratulations #logies
— Kumi Taguchi | 田口久実 (@kumitaguchi) July 1, 2018