Natalie

And the Gold Nominees Are
Fiona Byrne
2nd April 2005

The battle for this year's Gold Logie has taken a glamorous turn with some of TVs most stylish young stars being nominated for the prestigious award.

Neighbours vixen Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Dancing with the Stars champ Ada Nicodemou will be announced tomorrow as nominees for TV's top prize.

The two accomplished performers will join Blue Heelers' stalwart John Wood and triple Gold Logie winner Rove McManus in the race.

And persistence seems to have paid off for Home & Away favourite Kate Ritchie.

Ritchie, a Summer Bay local for the past 18 years, is understood to be in the Gold Logie nominee category.

McLeod's Daughters star Bridie Carter, who quit the show in September to spend time with her husband and young son, is also expected to be among the nominees.

Meanwhile, new mother Bec Cartwright could be a suprise nominee for Gold, thanks to the huge interest in her life as the wife of tennis star Lleyton Hewitt.

Cartwright left Home & Away in June to concentrate on family matters.

But she has rarely been out of the headline since, thanks to her lavish wedding, the birth of her daughter Mia and the tug of war being waged by various women's magazines for access to the Cartwright/Hewitt family.

This year's TV Week Logie Awards have had a shake-up, with the number of nominees for Gold increased from five to eight.

And for the first time in the awards' 48-year history, the Gold Logie winner will be decided not only by the magazine's readers, but by the general public. You will be able to vote via SMS or 1900 number until the beginning of the awards dinner at Crown on May 7.