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There's a surprising silver lining to this year's Gold Logie controversy.

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The nominations  for the 2017 Logie Awards are finally here, but not without a side of controversy.

The annual Logie Awards celebrate the best Australian television talent and programs of the previous year.

The controversy around this year’s awards began after it was revealed Jessica Marais was the only woman to be nominated for the top honour of the night, the TV Week Gold Logie.

Listen to Laura Brodnik and Tiffany Dunk interview TV Week editor Emma Nolan and find out the surprising silver limning behind the  Logie controversy. 

Marais, who starred in popular dramas The Wrong Girl and Love Child,  was previously nominated for the award in 2011 but lost to Karl Stefanovic.

The other 2017 nominations went to game show host Grant Denyer, actors Rodger Corser and Samuel Johnson, and presenters, Peter Helliar and Waleed Aly.

The inclusion of only one female nominee may seem unfair and sexist, but the Gold Logie nominees aren’t purely determined by one select group.

The list begins as a large pool of names put forth by television networks before viewers’ votes determine the final contenders.

Jessica Marais in The Wrong Girl. (Source: Network 10.)
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TV Week' editor Emma Nolan spoke to Mamamia podcast hosts Laura Brodnik and Tiffany Dunk about the controversy on the latest episode of The Binge.

Tiffany began by introducing Nolan to some of the criticism that's been shared in the wake of the Gold Logie list.

"They're calling it the Blokies, instead of the Logies," she said.

Jessica Marais in Love Child. (Source: Nine Network.)
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Emma said such criticisms diluted the power of each nominees' achievement.

"I feel like it takes away from Jessica Marais' achievements... and also the five other gold contenders, yeah, they're blokes but they're also very popular," she said.

Emma said the criticisms drew focus from the achievements of each nominee.

"My first thought was, 'Oh, we've got an even split between presenters and actors this year,'" she said.

"It's been pretty heavily focused on presenters for the last few years."

Did you miss last year's awards? Here are all our favourite looks. Post continues after gallery.

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Tiffany also brought up how this year's list holds contenders who haven't previously been nominated.

"People who haven't been up for Gold before, too, because sometimes it can get a bit boring," she said.

Listen to the latest episode of The Binge for all the biggest TV news of the week.

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