Inside the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour, radio’s “Oscars” got under way on October 29, with a cavalcade of the airwaves’ most famous voices, from Kyle Sandilands and Ben Fordham to Amanda Keller and Chrissie Swan, parading down the red carpet.
It all appeared to go to plan, but nearly two months after the Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRA), tempers have frayed behind the scenes with at least one judge quitting in protest over one of the evening’s most prestigious awards.
Heidi Tiltins winner of the best news presenter at the 2022 Australian Commerical Radio Awards.
The congratulations poured in when Heidi Tiltins from Smoothfm 95.3 was named Best Metro FM News Presenter. She beamed with her trophy for photographers, clearly chuffed her short, 60-second audio entry and brief bio had been whittled down from dozens of entries from across the country.
The winning decision was based on voting from three judges, all respected senior journalists within the industry with decades of radio under their collective belts: Lloyd Jones, Mark Collier and Jason Morrison.
Each judge went through the nominations remotely online, marking each contender out of 10, though one of the judges – Jones – had pre-emptively raised his concerns about a potential conflict of interest involving fellow judge Morrison, who is married to Tiltins.
Offended: ACRA judge and veteran Sydney radio and television newsman Jason Morrison.Credit:Edwina Pickles
When it was discovered Tiltins had won, Jones and Collier, both judges of the awards for many years, were incredulous. Long-time professional acquaintances, they compared notes. Tiltins was not their highest scorer, but even more concerning, they deducted Morrison had given his wife a “perfect 10” to win.
“I hate to admit it, but no newsreader has ever been judged a perfect 10,” Jones told PS.
Morrison said he was unable to recall what mark he gave his wife, was unaware of how many judges there were nor did he see a problem in his adjudicating role given his wife won. He had judged “many times before” for the ACRAs without incident, while his marriage to Tiltins, the mother of his children, “was no secret” within the industry.
Morrison also told PS he deliberately refrained from revealing his judging role to his friends in the industry because invariably it would “lead to awkward conversations”.
“The situation is farcical,” Jones fumed, a now-retired veteran of Sydney radio news, citing ACRA’s rules about judges being objective and unbiased. “How can there be no conflict of interest when the judge is married to the winner? I raised this issue at the start of the process when I learnt Morrison was going to be judging the award. I have brought it up again and again with Commercial Radio and Audio chief executive Ford Ennals, but absolutely nothing has been done about it. This is a journalism award, good journalism is about impartiality. I won’t be judging again.”
Morrison, a former radio newsman who is now news director of Seven’s Sydney television newsroom, told PS his wife was “unaware” he was one of the judges, arguing he had judged the award “many times before” without issue and that he was “very good friends” with many previous nominees and winners.
“I find it highly offensive that there would be any suggestion something inappropriate has happened here,” Morrison said, adding he had also been his wife’s boss in the past, again without any suggestion of “preferential treatment”.
When asked if he understood why the other judges saw his marriage as a potential conflict of interest, he said, “it was not an issue, I have spent years recognising good talent, and there is no question that Heidi is excellent talent”.
On Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for the ACRAs said the rules did not prohibit judging of entries by family members; however, the process would be reviewed for next year’s awards “to ensure the event is reflective of industry standards and expectations”.
If the suit doesn’t fit…
A glittering Georgie Parker at the 62nd TV Week Logie Awards on June 19.Credit:Chris Hyde/Getty Images
Georgie Parker positively sparkled at this year’s Logies, wearing a custom-made sequinned cocktail suit created by Adelaide fashion designer Cristina Tridente and her label Couture+Love+Madness, which has previously created gowns for the likes of Dannii Minogue, Lucy Durack and Michala Banas.
When the television star, a recipient of two Gold Logies over the years and well versed in the dark arts of red carpet dressing, posted on her Instagram account wearing the outfit, Tridente wrote on Parker’s feed: “You look incredible! So glad we could make this suit for you”, adding a love heart emoji, which was returned with two love heart emojis from Parker.
Six months later and the warm and fuzzies have turned into cold and barbed, as Tridente launched a scathing account of what she claimed had happened in the months following the awards.
The designer posted on Facebook: “We made a custom outfit for the Logies earlier this year. The stylist went and took it to a tailors (sic) and changed the shape of the suit without getting permission from us.
“Butchered” : Adelaide fashion designer Cristina Tridente.Credit:Instagram
“It wasn’t a fitting issue – the whole pants were butchered to change the shape. I only found out as we were tagged in a post from the Sydney tailor on Instagram and contacted them. They were lovely and had no idea it was a loan as the changes couldn’t be restored.
“From there, I contacted the stylist saying she would ‘pass on the costs to the network’ and then she ghosted me and blocked me on both my Insta accounts, obviously hoping our conversations would disappear (but I have screen shots). After 6 months of hassling her agency I finally got the suit back this week.”
However, what Tridente received had 28cm of fabric trimmed from the pants. She has since deleted the post but confirmed its contents to PS before declining to comment further. Parker’s stylist Pip Cook declined to comment on the situation, but confirmed she was aware of Tridente’s post and added the garment was custom-made for Parker, but had to be altered because “it didn’t fit”.
Trio’s Bondi ambitions shut down
Stop work: David Avidan.
Three sons from three prominent Sydney families have landed in hot water over their fledgling property development ambitions in Bondi.
David Avidan, son of property developer Danny Avidan and former fashion designer Charlie Brown; Max Moran, son of healthcare heir Mark Moran and wife Yvette; and Jack Keighery, son of the late fashion pioneer Mark Keighery and his widow Lisa, have fallen foul of Waverley Council over unauthorised work on a property in Francis Street.
The three are described as founders and directors of South Head Developments, which was slapped with a stop-work order in October.
The site, a semi-detached dwelling the company paid $3.23 million for in February, is subject to a Complying Development Certificate (CDC) issued in May by a private certifier. Demolition of the property on the site was not covered under the conditions of consent of the CDC. In August, the council issued three penalty notices to the developer, of which two were for non-compliance with the conditions of the CDC.
McLachlan’s show canned
Craig McLachlan’s big showbiz comeback appears to have been derailed at the 11th hour with his New Year’s Eve show Hey Good Lookin’ With Craig McLachlan quietly cancelled.
Cancelled: Craig McLachlan’s stage comeback has been derailed.
Described as a tribute to American country music star Hank Williams, the show was meant to take place at Adelaide’s historic Thebarton Theatre.
The return to the stage was intended to relaunch McLachlan’s career after he discontinued his defamation proceedings against the Herald, ABC and former The Rocky Horror Show cast mate Christie Whelan Browne in May, on the same day the defence case was set to begin.
Craig McLachlan enters NSW Supreme Court with partner Vanessa Scammell in May.Credit:Oscar Colman
The former Neighbours star has to pay the defendants’ court costs – understood to be in the millions – after abandoning the hearing on day 10.
McLachlan had sued in the NSW Supreme Court in 2018 over a media investigation detailing allegations of inappropriate behaviour during the 2014 tour of The Rocky Horror Show.
The reports alleged the now 56-year-old had indecently assaulted, bullied, harassed and exposed himself to female cast members. McLachlan denied the claims and said they had ended his acting career. His now cancelled show in Adelaide promised audiences to “see Craig McLachlan as you have never seen him before”.
To further entice ticket sales, “premium” ticket holders were also being given access to a private New Year’s Eve after-party with McLachlan at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, “complete with drink and food package”.
The Body bounces back
Elle Macpherson knows how to play to the tabloids, wheeling out the old bikini bottoms routine once again this week. But really, the Daily Mail et al, which gobbled up Elle “flaunting” her “impressive” figure, are missing the real story: how Elle conquered her “brain fog”.
Apparently it’s all due to a little golden pendant she is wearing around her neck, which looks not too dissimilar to the chains dangling from the bargain carousels of Lovisa. But this pendant is special. The veteran supermodel claims it protects her from “harmful” electromagnetic rays and Wi-Fi exposure.
Brain fog: Elle Macpherson.Credit:Janie Barrett
“I’m sleeping better since I’ve been wearing it, I’m not getting as much brain fog,” she says, without a trace of irony. Wearers of the pendant must “harmonise” it with their bodies once a week by holding it 30cm from their sternum for two minutes.
Of course Elle has also been spruiking the wonders of her green powder supplements for years and has a long history of, ahem, interesting health habits, like carrying around a kit in her purse to regularly test the PH levels of her urine.
More recently she revealed her discovery of Russian banyas, an ancient tradition of steam sauna that includes flaying one’s self with dry tree or herb branches called veniks. Sounds awfully scratchy.
Surely, after 58 years of faithful service, The Body deserves a bit better treatment?
Wine magazine corked
Stan Sarris’ embattled wine magazine publishing company, described by administrators as “hopelessly insolvent”, GT Wine Magazine Pty Ltd is to be wound up and liquidated. Angry creditors welcomed the Federal Court decision on Friday, despite many of them being out of pocket tens of thousands of dollars.
The court order comes more than a year after creditors voted in favour of a schedule of payments after more than $1 million worth of debt crippled the publication, formerly known as GT Wine, after creditors had accepted a deed of arrangement to be paid 10¢ in the dollar.
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