MOST SPANKABLE FEMALE TV PERSONALITY - AUSTRALIA ( FUGLY AWARDS ) by SPANKOZ AUSTRALIA

In the category that really sums up the entire spirit of the Annual TV Fugly Awards , the new host of Australia's Funniest Home Video Show Toni Pearen has been bestowed with the honour of being " Australia's Most Spankable Female TV Personality " .

( Another category is " Spunkiest Male TV Personality " . Of course these pictures are only a minor part of these candidate's appeal , personality is the main factor . )

   1. Sami Lukis (38%)
   2. Natalie Gruzlewski (22%)
   3. Holly Valance (10%)
   4. Claudia Karvan (5%)
   5. Sandra Sully (4%)
   134 Other Female TV Personalities (21%)

27% Toni Pearen ( Australia's Funniest Home Video Show , 9)
23% Sami Lukis ( Today Show , 9 )
14% Holly Valance ( Neighbours , 10 )
14% Natalie Gruzlewski ( NRL Footy Show , 9 )
6% Charli Robinson ( Hi-5 , 9 )

Please Note: 16% of votes for this category were spread across another 149 female television personalities .

2004

Sami Lukis (9)

We've been been massive supporters of the Today Show star since she was voted as the winner of this category in our first ever awards. The good judgement and insight of our male voters really is amazing! Well done guys we again agree 110% with your choice in this category that reminds everyone what the Fuglies are really about!

Nominees

Jo Ashton (10)
Tammin Sursok (7)
Toni Pearen (9)
Erika Heynatz (10)

2005

Paid testimonials about the Fuglies ...
“ People are much more passionate about these . I mean , who has actually voted or knows anyone who has voted for the Logies ? ”

Knee-jerk responses indicate the jury is out on Sandra Sully's new demeanour on Channel Ten.

The Late News with Sandra Sully's Knee

If there's anything to rouse the average heterosexual male from the state of semi-consciousness induced by watching too much quality ABC-TV drama of an evening, it's the sight of the new-look Sandra Sully presenting the late-night news on Channel Ten.

Sandra Sully presenting the news was never an issue back in the days - many weeks ago now - when all she did was present the news.

She still presents the news, of course, but now, as part of Channel Ten's much-touted "more relaxed" approach to the presentation of late-night news, Sandra is also presenting a lot more of herself.

This, in and of itself, it not such a bad thing. Sandra Sully is an attractive woman with a pleasing TV presence, as any quick Google search will attest. She is also a good journalist, as her exemplary work covering the September 11, 2001 attacks as they happened proved.

Since February, however, Sandra Sully has been offering us a lot more than the usual head-and-shoulders approach to news reading.

We still get that, but now we also get full-length shots of Sandra taken from the side of her news desk showing her sitting on her stool with legs crossed, usually with knee exposed.

To further enhance the informal air of Ten's news broadcast, Sandra will even go the bar-lean, casually resting an elbow on the newsdesk as she reads the news.

She is also prone to wearing less formal attire than before, including low necklines and even see-through numbers, one of which she featured recently and which almost prompted me to start taping.

The presentation of self has always been the cornerstone of TV news. The reigning wisdom has been that what people generally want is fairly straightforward: a credible newsreader with a sufficiently pleasant visage.

If a network is lucky they can end up with an anchor whose face comes to symbolise trust and reliability, as with Eric Pearce and Brian Naylor, and, in the United States, Walter Cronkite.

Late-night news, however, has always had the latitude to go a bit more casual, and when done well can give you a pleasing mix of news and entertainment, as we got in the late-1980s with Clive Robertson's Newsworld and Graham Kennedy's classic Coast to Coast.

But late-night news has never really been much of a forum for cheesecake - until, that is, the advent of Sandra Sully's knee. And what a tanned, attractive and singularly newsworthy knee it is. Indeed, an extensive search of the news databases confirms that never in the history of TV news broadcasting has one newsreader's knee attracted so much attention.

Since the knee's appearance in February, Sandra Sully's legs and revealing wardrobe have been covered by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Courier Mail, the Sunday Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun and The Sunday Mail.

The principle behind Ten's "more relaxed" approach to the news is, of course, that the showing of knees and legs can make the news - especially tough, hard-to-swallow news - easier to digest. It's a valid point.

Compare the two photographs at left. Now, be honest. From which Sandra Sully would you prefer to hear news of a 1.5 per cent jump in interest rates? The Sandra Sully on the left (no knee) or the Sandra Sully on the right (with knee).

Clearly the balance of opinion during strategy meetings in the Network Ten boardroom is that Sandra Sully with knee is better than Sandra Sully without knee.

However, this view of late-night news presentation by female newsreaders is not universally shared by other networks. Over on Nine, usually at around the same time as Sandra is on, we have Nightline, which is presented by the very presentable and able Helen Kapalos, a journalist who adheres to a more traditional, businesslike demeanour behind the desk.

We contacted Channel Nine to suss out if there were any plans for Helen Kapalos to go the Sandra Sully route and start showing one or other of her knees.

On this point we got an adamant response from David Hurley, Nine's director of corporate affairs: "Absolutely not. Helen is firmly behind the desk and that's where she is happy to stay."

We shall endeavour to keep readers fully informed of further developments on the Knee versus No-Knee debate in late-night news presentation, and have just received word that the ABC has resolutely decided against plans for Tony Jones to begin presenting Lateline in a cocktail dress.

Jennifer Hawkins I hope that she talks just as fondly of being voted as the recipient of this award as she does of being Miss Universe . This is the one award that is the heart and soul of The Fuglies because it sums up exactly how seriously we take this entire event .

Extra Voting Insight : We were a little disturbed when star of We Can Be Heroes Ja'mie King got a few votes . I hope those voters were taking the piss otherwise Chris Lilley might have to explain some stuff to them if they ever meet Ja'mie .

Myf Warhurst 29.09%
Jennifer Hawkins 25.15%
FiFi Box 9.14%
Sarah Murdoch 6.85%
Sandra Sully 6.80%

VOTING PROCESS

Step 1
TV Fugly Awards voting opens on March 22.

Step 2
Highly educated Australian television viewers from all around this great country, visit the Fuglies site to cast their open response votes in 15 categories for the best and worst Aussie TV shows and personalities.

Step 3
TV Fugly Awards voting closes on April 15.

Step 4
On April 16, Fuglies winners announced and presented with a 100% genuine paper certificate printed on our office bubble jet to forever immortalise being part of Australian Television Industry history.

Step 5
Fuglies organisers arrive in court on April 19 to defend charges of defamation.

Anthony Dever - creator of the 'Fugly Awards'

If you think the Logies are the last word on Australian television, time to get acquainted with the Fugly Awards. The Fuglies have been created by a man who loves bad Australian television so much, he wants to reward the people who create it.

So, Fuglies organiser Anthony Dever, welcome to Mondo Thingo.

ANTHONY DEVER, FOUNDER, 'THE FUGLIES': Thanks for having me on to spread the word.

AMANDA KELLER: Spread the word. What's your favourite moment of the Logies?

ANTHONY DEVER: Those big dodgy pan shots of the audience, and you see a 'Home and Away' or 'McLeod's Daughter' star dancing or doing a big 'TV Week' smile, looking for attention.

AMANDA KELLER: I'll look out for that. So, Anthony, what are the Fuglies?

ANTHONY DEVER: The humorous and sarcastic alternative of the Logies that I created a couple of years ago, just to honour the worst of television over the last 12 months. And also to highlight some of the good things on Aussie TV with some fun and meaningful categories.

AMANDA KELLER: What's wrong with the Logies, you think?

ANTHONY DEVER: What's wrong with the Logies? They're three hours too long. There's too much backslapping, there's too much self-indulgence.

AMANDA KELLER: What are some of the categories you've got - some of the more unusual ones?

ANTHONY DEVER: 'Worst TV Show', 'Worst Male Personality'. Also, 'Most Biased Sporting Commentator', 'Most Overexposed TV Personality'. Also some good categories - 'Most Underacknowledged TV Show', and 'Most Underacknowledged TV Personality'. And also our token categories, which are ... 'Best Reality TV Show of 2003' - but from the general population - and also 'Biggest Blubbering Male on Reality TV in 2003'.

AMANDA KELLER: Anthony - we're very excited - I believe you have something exclusive to announce to the Mondo Thingo viewers.

ANTHONY DEVER: We're proud to announce that Daniel 'Saxon' Small was the winner.

AMANDA KELLER: I knew he could do it! Oh...

ANTHONY DEVER: 47% of the vote.

DANIEL SMALL: But the problem I had last week was only delayed by a week, so ...

GRETEL KILLEEN, 'BIG BROTHER' HOST: Oh, look at little Saxon. Everyone in the house has cried. Except for Kim.

AMANDA KELLER: Goodness me - and some of your other categories, like - I like this one - 'Most Spankable Female TV Personality'. Was I nominated? Come on. And why not?

ANTHONY DEVER: I'm sorry, Amanda, we don't actually have nominations. It's up to the voters themselves.

AMANDA KELLER: I accept that. Is being spankable good or bad?

ANTHONY DEVER: Being spankable is a very good thing.

AMANDA KELLER: Who's won in the past years?

ANTHONY DEVER: Last year was won by Toni Pearen from Channel 9's 'Funniest Home Videos'.

AMANDA KELLER: Fair enough.

[TONI PEAREN, IN A CLEAVAGE REVEALING DRESS, IS INTERVIEWED AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE LOGIES CEREMONY.]

INTERVIEWER: How do you keep this on?

TONI PEAREN, 'FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS' PRESENTER: Hollywood tape, baby. Hollywood tape all the way. Hollywood tape is my best friend.

ANTHONY DEVER: And the year before that was Sami Lukis from the 'Today Show'. There's some pretty tough competition up there. If you do some campaigning, maybe next time, Amanda.

AMANDA KELLER: Maybe. How do people vote? For example, if I should be most spankable TV personality, how do people vote?

ANTHONY DEVER: We've made it as independent as possible. We're not aligned with any magazine. You don't have to buy a magazine, ring a 1900 number. Just jump onto our website, click on the big thing that says "vote now", go through the categories, you vote there. Vote for who you want to be the most spankable female. Go through the categories, fill out the ones you want.

AMANDA KELLER: That's it?

ANTHONY DEVER: Yep. We tally up the votes, do some sort of analysis, clear out all the ones that we can obviously see have come from the same source, obviously the repeated votes, to keep the data integrity as high as possible. And, yeah, announce the winners on Friday 16, two days before the Logies.

AMANDA KELLER: You're going from strength to strength. Think you'll take over from the Logies?

ANTHONY DEVER: Well, we had 25,000 votes last year. This year, we look like we're gonna just surpass that, maybe around 27,000. I've heard from the 'CNNNN' guys originally they tried to rig the Logies one year. And I think their figures were around 50, 60,000 is what the Logies get. So, yeah, hopefully, one day we can surpass them.

AMANDA KELLER: Oh, what an exciting time for Australian television. First the Fuglies, then the Logies.

AMANDA KELLER: It's a big week.

ANTHONY DEVER: It certainly is.

AMANDA KELLER: Thanks for coming in.

ANTHONY DEVER: Thank you very much, Amanda.

Anthony Dever is twenty-four and based in Queensland. Although he actually loves watching television, he created the TV Fugly Awards as a joke because he didn't want to buy TV Week magazine just to vote in the Logies. He also needed a creative outlet and thought the awards could make a statement that he felt Australian audiences deserved better Television programming. He currently combines organising the Fuglies each year with studying Business/Arts and walking a small Internet business that he owns.

Jennifer Hawkins stumbles

VOTING PROCESS

Anthony Dever - creator of the 'Fugly Awards'

Anthony Dever

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