Tonight's the night, NTA!

Image: NTA

As I'm sure you are all aware, from seeing the countless adverts on TV, tonight is the National Television awards!

Hosted by the lovely, ever-popular Dermot O'Leary for the fifth year running! Who can deny that Dermot is one of the best presenters on our screens at the moment? That wouldn't make you surprised to hear that he has been nominated for an award! But who else has been nominated? Well the voting has now been closed, with only hours left to go, lets take a look at all the viewer's choice nominees and I'll give you my predictions on who will win.

Talent Show

First up is the nominees for the best Talent show:

• The Voice UK
• Britain's Got Talent
• Strictly Come Dancing
• Dancing on Ice
• The X Factor

The X Factor has won this award a lot since the show started, but in recent years (most likely due to Simon Cowell leaving) it has lost a large amount of viewers. Strictly Come Dancing, the winner of this award last year, has beaten The X Factor in viewer's ratings, making it a high competitor. Strictly is a great talent show and has become increasingly popular over the years. Plus who cannot love a little bit Of Brucie (Bruce Forsyth), even if his jokes are cringeworthy!

Predicted Talent Show award winner: Strictly Come Dancing

Serial Drama

• Eastenders
• Coronation Street
• Hollyoaks
• Emmerdale

It's the battle of the soaps! I personally think this is going to be an easy one to call with Corrie being plastered all over the newspapers this month. I used to be a big fan of Hollyoaks back in the day, but over the years what with bosses and writers changing, the show has gone downhill. I may sound like an old woman now ( I'm only 22!), but the storylines have become ludicrous and only concentrates on the young generation sleeping around the town.

The victors of this award are sure to be Coronation Street. They have had a strong storyline on Cancer featuring Roy and Hayley continuing for months, causing big debates and articles in the news. The story only came to a conclusion last week so the story is still fresh in everyone's minds.

Predicted Serial Drama Winner: Coronation Street

Comedy

• Mrs Brown's Boys
• The Big Bang Theory
• Miranda
• Derek

The Big Bang Theory and Derek can take a backseat for this award because those two shows are not up to the standards of Mrs Brown's Boys and Miranda. Personally I love The Big Bang Theory. When it first started I didn't get the humour or the characters, but after watching a few episodes I saw it in a new light and instantly became hooked. If you haven't given it a chance, do, because it does grow on you. It is not a show that appeals to all ages so that combined with the strange humour and characters is most likely why it won't win.

Mrs Brown's Boys is a big hit! It is very unique and comedian, Brendan O'Carroll does a great job portraying a funny, old lady. The writing on this show is fantastic, providing us viewers with a load of laughs, but the funniest parts are when O'Carroll improvises leaving his fellow actors striving not to laugh, live on stage and carry on with the show. Mrs Brown's Boys were the comedy award winners last year but sources predict they will be pushed aside this year.

Predictions show that Miranda will be the new comedy winner. Miranda is like Marmite, you either love or hate her! She may not be my favourite to win but she has certainly won the hearts of viewers. However, I'm still going to stick with Mrs Brown's Boys on this one.

Predicted Comedy Winner: Mrs Brown's Boys 

Drama

• Broadchurch
• Doctor Who
• Call the Midwife
• Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey were the winners in 2013 but this year, the competition is between Broadchurch and Doctor Who.

Broadchurch proved to be a big hit last year, everyone was talking about it. The programme features great acting skills from David Tennant and Olivia Colman. However, ex-Doctor Who, David Tennant is piped to be beaten by fellow Doctor Who actor Matt Smith.
Doctor Who has been popular since it returned on our screens in 2005. Matt Smith, who left the show at the end of 2013, proved he is a great actor and came up to the standard of Tennant. The last series focused on the run up to The Doctor re-generating into the new doctor, Peter Capaldi. Viewers were desperate to see how they introduced the new doctor, now we have to wait to see him in full action as The Doctor this year.

Predicted Drama Winner: Doctor Who

TV Detective

• Bradley Walsh - DS Ronnie Brooks in Law & Order: UK
• Olivia Colman - DS Ellie Miller in Broadchurch
• David Tennant - DI Alec Hardy in Broadchurch
• Benedict Cumberbatch - Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock
• Idris Elba - DCI John Luther in Luther
• Suranne Jones - DC Rachel Bailey in Scott & Bailey

Beloved actor David Tennant could be in the pipeline for this award, especially as Broadchurch became very popular, and lets not forget his fellow actress Olivia Colman who also gave a good performance in the show.
Yet Benedict Cumberbatch known for his fantastic acting skills as Sherlock Holmes is the competitor to beat.

Predicted TV Detective winner: Benedict Cumberbatch - Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock

Drama Performance

• Miranda Hart - Chummy Noakes in Call The Midwife
• Maggie Smith - Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey
• Martin Clunes - Dr. Martin Ellingham in Doc Martin
• Matt Smith - The Doctor in Doctor Who

After reading the predictions on the winner for the Drama award, it'll come as no surprise that The Doctor, Matt Smith is most likely to win an award for Drama Performance. When Matt Smith first appeared in Doctor Who there was much debate on whether he could keep up to the standard of ex-doctor, David Tennant. Boy did he prove everyone wrong! Matt has now left the show, but deserves to win this award for his acting throughout his entire time as The Doctor.

Predicted Drama Performance Winner: Matt Smith - The Doctor in Doctor Who

Factual Entertainment

• An Idiot Abroad
• The Great British Bake Off
• Top Gear
• Paul O'Grady For the Love of Dogs 

Personally I would love An Idiot Abroad to win this award. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant thought up the best idea for a TV show that they have done in years. It features such a unique character, the simple, yet hilarious Karl Pilkington. The one liners that come out of his mouth can make you cry with laughter. Nonetheless, An Idiot Abroad is targeted towards the younger generation and therefore is unlikely to win the award that it deserves.
The Great British Bake Off  is the predicted winner this year, featuring top bakers Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood as the judges and comedy duo Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc to throw in a few jokes. The show was popular with all ages and had everyone watching.

Predicted Factual Entertainment Winner: The Great British Bake Off

Daytime

• This Morning
• Chase
• The Jeremy Kyle Show
• Pointless

This Morning have won NTA awards almost every year, so why wouldn't they be my predicted winner this year?
Usual Presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield work well as a team, sometimes bursting out with laughter which could be deemed unprofessional only leaves a bigger smile on our faces. This Morning is packed with all the latest news and entertainment, interviews, recipes, fashion, etc. They keep you glued to the TV all morning.

Predicted Daytime Winner: This Morning

Newcomer

• Michelle Hardwick - Vanessa Woodfield in Emmerdale
• Marc Baylis - Rob Donavon in Corontation Street
• Khali Bestman - Dexter Hartman in Eastenders
• Anna Passey - Sienna Blake in Hollyoaks

None of these are really screaming at me, but will have to say the best newcomer has to be Khali Bestman who plays Dexter in Eastenders. He is such a strong, feisty character, and has already become a big part of the show.

Newcomer Winner: Khali Bestman - Dexter Hartman in Eastenders

Drama Performance

• David Neilson - Roy Cropper in Coronation Street
• Michelle Keegan - Tina McIntyre in Coronation Street
• Julie Hesmondhalgh - Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street
• Jessie Wallace - Kat Moon in Eastenders 

As stated earlier on in this post, Coronation Street has been all over the news and talked about by everyone due to the moving storyline of Roy and Hayley Cropper about Cancer. David Neilson (Roy) and Julie Hesmondhalgh (Hayley) have been praised for their accurate, emotional performances on the show so one of them are tipped to be the winner.
Although, feisty Tina McIntyre played by Michelle Keegan is also a big character in Corrie. Michelle has recently announced she will be leaving the show in May which is set to be a big storyline. So could she win?
Either way, it's going to be a Coronation Street win!

Drama Performance Winner: Julie Hesmondhalgh

Documentary

• Inside Death Row with Trevor McDonald
• Penguins - Spy in the Huddle
• Paul O'Grady's Working Britain
• Educating Yorkshire

The Documentary that truly deserves this award is Penguins - Spy in the Huddle. The amount of time and effort that must have been put into this documentary is staggering. The spy cameras that were made for filming were fantastic quality and gave viewers a unique insight that normal cameras could not give. Also it was narrated by the great David Tennant.
However, Educating Yorkshire has been tipped to win, for its realistic view into the lives of staff and students at a school in Yorkshire.

Documentary Winner: Educating Yorkshire

Entertainment Presenter 

• Dermot O'Leary
• Ant & Dec
• Graham Norton
• Keith Lemon
• Alan Carr

This one is going to be kept short and sweet because it is the most obvious one every year, it might as well be called the Ant & Dec award.
The duo Presenters have won this award a massive 12 times in a row! Although they are up against popular presents like Dermot O'Leary and Graham Norton, everyone knows they won't stand a chance against the reigning winners Ant & Dec.
Who doesn't love Ant & Dec?

Predicted Entertainment Presenter: Ant & Dec

Entertainment Programme

• I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!
• Celebrity Juice
• Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
• The Graham Norton Show

Ant & Dec are dominating the NTA's yet again, as the two shows they present are set to be the big winners.

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway made a big comeback last year after 4 years missing from our screens. Featuring the new little Ant & Dec and the usual challenges, the show didn't disappoint.

Contraband, Contraband, Contraband! I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! was all the talk in 2013 with celebrity contestant Amy Willerton sneaking in countless items, including make-up, and refusing to hand it in. The show featured lots of drama and entertainment especially in the challenges we all know as the Bushtucker trials.

Predicted Entertainment Programme Winner: I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

So there we have it. Those are my predictions, now it's time to wait for the NTA's to start and see who the real winners are! In the meantime why don't you let me know what your predictions are? Do you agree or disagree with me? Leave your comments below.

Don't forget to tune in to the National Television Awards on ITV at 7:30 pm!