Browning special garners Geminis

TORONTO (CP) - A Kurt Browning skating special led CBC's domination of the first round of the Gemini Awards honoring excellence in English-Canadian television.

Kurt Browning: You Must Remember This won three awards Thursday night for best picture editing and photography in a comedy, variety or performing arts program or series and best overall production design or art direction.

The top-rated CBC production featured Browning, a four-time world champion, assuming Humphrey Bogart and Gene Kelly personas on the ice.

The first night of the Geminis also saw CBC clean up in the top journalism categories, winning the best documentary series award for Witness and best lifestyle information series for On the Road Again.

Linden MacIntyre of the Fifth Estate was named best overall broadcast journalist and Anna Maria Tremonti of Prime Time News won the best reportage award for covering the war in Bosnia.

The CBC Evening News also won for best local news program while CBC's The Health Show won for best information segment for an episode called Scatology.

One surprise was MuchMusic's Election Night '93, which beat out three CBC productions, including Newsworld's coverage of the South African election, for best special event coverage.

Elvis: Airborne, a skating special featuring Elvis Stojko and co-produced by Baton Broadcasting, won for best picture editing in an information-documentary program or series.

A total of 21 awards in technical, craft, design and journalism categories were handed out during the Geminis' opening night at the downtown Sheraton Centre.

The only other production to pick up multiple awards was the documentary Shadows and Light: Joaquin Rodrigo at 90 which won for best sound and direction in an information-documentary program or series. The co-production with Toronto-based Rhombus Media looked at the work and life of Rodrigo, the Spanish composer.

Other notable winners included the made-for-TV movie Heads starring Jennifer Tilly and co-produced by Toronto-based Atlantis Films, which won for best sound in a dramatic program or series.

The CBC movie The Diary of Evelyn Lau, starring Sandra Oh, won for best picture editing in a dramatic program or series.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television will continue handing out Geminis at the industry gala on Saturday, March 4, and during the televised awards show on Sunday, March 5.

Due South star Paul Gross and North of 60's Tina Keeper are co-hosting the TV ceremony on CBC beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

Despite a leading 14 nominations, Due South was shut out of the first night of the awards ceremonies, where it had five nominations.

The series, seen in CTV in Canada and CBS in the United States, is about a displaced Mountie (Gross) working in Chicago.

ADVANCE - 9 p.m. ET TODAY FEB. 23

Here is a list of winners from the first night of the Gemini Awards, to honor excellence in English-Canadian television. Two more nights of Gemini Awards are scheduled for March 4 and March 5.

BEST SOUND IN A DRAMATIC PROGRAM OR SERIES
Heads, Leon Johnson, Jaqueline Cristiani, Paul A. Sharpe, Dean Giammarco, Bill (Otis) Sheppard, Credo Group Ltd. Sojourn Pictures, Atlantis Films Ltd.

BEST SOUND IN A COMEDY, VARIETY OR PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM OR SERIES
Concierto de Aranjuez, Onno Scholtze, Rhombus Media Inc. in co-production with ZDF - German Television.

BEST SOUND IN AN INFORMATION-DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM OR SERIES
Shadows and Light: Joaquin Rodrigo at 90, Onno Scholtze, Rhombus Media Inc.

BEST PICTURE EDITING IN A DRAMATIC PROGRAM OR SERIES
The Diary of Evelyn Lau, Jeff Warren, CBC.

BEST PICTURE EDITING IN A COMEDY, VARIETY OR PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM OR SERIES
Kurt Browning: You Must Remember This, Lisa Regnier, CBC.

BEST PICTURE EDITING IN AN INFORMATION-DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM OR SERIES
Elvis: Airborne, Mark Hajek, Silent J Entertainment, Baton Broadcasting.

BEST REPORTAGE
CBC Prime Time News, War in Bosnia, Anna Maria Tremonti, CBC.

BEST PHOTOGRAPHY IN A DRAMATIC PROGRAM OR SERIES
Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad, Rene Ohashi, Atlantis Films Ltd.

BEST PHOTOGRAPHY IN A COMEDY, VARIETY OR PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM OR SERIES
Kurt Browning: You Must Remember This, Maris Jansons, CBC.

BEST PHOTOGRAPHY IN AN INFORMATION-DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM OR SERIES
The Global Family, Clayoquot: The Sound of Wonder, Janet Foster, John Foster, TVOntario.

BEST LOCAL NEWS PROGRAM
CBC Evening News, producers Jill Troyer, Jamie Purdon, CBC.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Sorceress: Kiri Te Kanawa, Dinorah Iorio, Rhombus Media Inc., NOS - Dutch Television.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN OR ART DIRECTION BEST INFORMATION SEGMENT
The Health Show, Scatology, Chris Mullington, Edmund Egan, CBC.

BEST SPECIAL EVENT COVERAGE
Election Night '93, producer Denise Donlan, MuchMusic.

BEST LIFESTYLE INFORMATION SERIES
On the Road Again, producer Paul Harrington, CBC.

OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Computer Animated Stage and Television Lighting (CAST), creators of the WYSIWYG lighting design system.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Witness, producer Mark Starowicz, CBC.

BEST DIRECTION IN AN INFORMATION-DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM OR SERIES
Shadow and Light: Joaquin Rodrigo at 90, Larry Weinstein, Rhombus Media Inc.

BEST WRITING IN AN INFORMATION-DOCUMENTARY PROGRAM OR SERIES
Blood and Belonging, Yugoslavia - The Road to Nowhere, Michael Ignatieff, TVOntario.

BEST OVERALL BROADCAST JOURNALIST (GORDON SINCLAIR AWARD)
The Fifth Estate, Linden MacIntyre, CBC.