Australia's Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Isabella Clarke has come in third place at the annual singing (and song) competition. Clarke, 13, scored 172 points with the song Speak Up; she was narrowly beaten by Russia, who won the competition with 188 points, and Georgia, who came second with 182 points. Blink TV's Paul Clarke, who heads the Australian delegation at both the junior and adult Eurovision competitions, praised Clarke for her historic win and said it was "a big stage to perform on. Her energy, focus and amazing vocals really made an impact with the audience." Australia is slated to compete in both the Eurovision Song Contest and the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2018.

Soap legend lands Dynasty

The reboot of Dynasty has found its Alexis Carrington: actress Nicolette Sheridan. The dynastic family soap opera is a remake of the 1980s-era soap of the same name, about the wealthy Carrington and Colby families. The original series foundered in its first season but was transformed into a ratings hit when it cast British actress Joan Collins in the role of Alexis Carrington, American pop culture's self-styled superbitch. Sheridan's casting may be a bone thrown at fans of the original series, who have been cool on the remake, rather than a pitch to the show's young-skewing, CW-network audience; Sheridan, like Collins, is a 1980s-era soap star, having played Paige Matheson on the Dallas spin-off Knots Landing. Sheridan's first episodes will be filmed in early 2018 and the character will debut in the final episodes of the show's first season.

TV Week hits milestone

The weekly television magazine TV Week has marked its 60th anniversary. The magazine first appeared as TV-Radio Week, with its first edition appearing on December 5, 1957. At the time the magazine was published in Melbourne only; its Sydney edition would follow in 1958. Though Australia's television industry was in its infancy, with just two markets and two channels, there were no shortage of television magazines; early competitors included Television Preview, TV News and TV Times. The magazine's annual awards, launched in 1958, acknowledged Melbourne's most popular television personalities; those awards subsequently became known as the TV Week Logie Awards.

Fox under fire

Chairman of 21st Century Fox Lachlan Murdoch was forced to defend the perceived bias of the Murdoch-owned news channel Fox News during an appearance at the Ignition media conference. Business Insider chief executive Henry Blodget suggested to Murdoch that the news channel's uncritical reporting on US president Donald Trump effectively made it an "American version of state television." Murdoch disagreed. "I don't think that's true," Murdoch said. "I don't think any media organisation should be behind an individual." Pressed by Blodget, Murdoch said a left-wing media talent would struggle to succeed on Fox. "You have got to be careful with changing the format too much," he said.