Rose d’Or Winners Announced

LUCERNE: The winners of the Rose d’Or Awards have been announced, and two Golden Jubilee Awards, specially created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the event, were presented to Coronation Street and Simon Cowell for their outstanding contribution to entertainment television.

Hosted by Ben Shephard and Nazan Eckes, the awards presentation featured celebrity presenters and guests including former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, DJ Bobo, Carol Vorderman, Marie-Luise Marjan and Gaby Roslin.

The Golden Rose for best of 2010 went to Belgian comedy Benidorm Bastards, distributed by SevenOne International. The jury said: “This program is so much more than a candid-camera show, it is a prime-time ratings winner that has taken the most undervalued element of society and given them the power of the punch line. Benidorm Bastards proves that this type of humor is ageless.”

A 50-year record was broken this year, with 515 programs from 40 countries entered into the competition. Eleven programs from Argentina, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K. were awarded Golden Roses at the event.

Festival director Rolf Probala commented: "This week has been a great start to the next decade of the Rose d’Or and we are already looking forward to next year’s festival."