Could you choose between Bad Girls and The Bill, and do you think Tracy's trickery in Conronation Street is enough to win actress Kate Ford a best newcomer title?

Its your chance to pick the winners in the National Television Awards next week.

THEY'RE the TV awards voted for by the public. But they're just as likely to get it wrong as a professional team of judges. I mean, what sort of competition puts old hand David Jason up against cheeky soap newcomer Shane Richie? Or expects people to choose between Bad Girls and The Bill? And, most bizarrely, finds the old codgers from Last Of The Summer Wine battling the considerably younger cast of Friends for most popular comedy programme?

The National TV Awards does just that and then packages the results in a glitzy, glamorous night out at London's Royal Albert Hall.

The age-old battle of the soaps between EastEnders and Coronation Street fuels the rivalry in the keenest-fought categories. The fight for the most popular newcomer features five hopefuls, but we can discard three (Charley Webb from Emmerdale, Daniel MacPherson from The Bill and Zoe Kennedy from The Royal) to concentrate on just two.

Kate Ford, the Street's Tracy, has certainly been up to plenty of tricks, what with spiking Roy Cropper's champagne with date rape drug and now claiming to be carrying his baby (it's Steve's, but don't tell him). Who didn't applaud when mother, dreary Deirdre, snapped at her: "That kidney was wasted on you", a reference to her daughter's organ transplant.

But the hottest newcomer must be Nigel Harman, alias Dennis Rickman, alias Dirty Den the Second in EastEnders. Young ladies around the land (and probably a few lads too) have hot flushes at the mere mention of his name. He may not win any prizes for acting (probably because he has yet to prove he can) but it's reached the stage when one magazine is so besotted with young Nigel that they're filling their pages with gratuitious (their word) photos of him.

He told Heat magazine not to expect so many scenes with him topless in future. "It was all part of the show, showing off Denis' physique and all that. Although I was very keen not to be thought of as just a pair of tits."

Talking of pairs, Geordie-land's very own duo Ant and Dec have a tough time ahead in the most popular entertainment presenter category. They're certainly on a high with Pop Idol and, more notably, their very own Saturday Night Takeaway, and should see off Graham Norton (showing signs of strain doing his show five nights a week), Jonathan Ross (who rarely lets his guests get a word in) and Davina McCall.

Back with soap - sorry most popular serial drama - it's the Street versus East-Enders again. Emmerdale and Hollyoaks should be grateful for a mention, but they haven't a hope of winning. The Albert Square mob took the award last year, although the Enders have been a bit off recently, with all that boring stuff about Shirley, her dead moggy and Gavin the neighbour from hell. The recent return of Dirty Den might well swing the vote in their favour. But it'll be a close run thing.

The Queen Vic's Alfie Moon, Shane Richie, is hoping for the most popular actor title. The former funny man has certainly proved a worthy addition to the Walford soap, but needs to see off the Street's serial killer Richard Hillman to win. Actor Brian Capron may have departed in a body bag some months ago, but tricky Dickie's memory lingers on. Not enough to win him the award, I suspect.

That leaves the two Jasons vying as best actor. David Jason is, as we're constantly being reminded, one of our most popular actors. A Touch Of Frost - there's a new episode on ITV1 tomorrow - is a surefire ratings winner. So he must be favourite. The other Jason, Jason Merrells, is nominated for hairdressing drama Cutting It. The bad news for him is that his new medical drama, Sweet Medicine, has been relegated from peaktime Thursday to late-night Sunday following poor ratings. He'll go home empty-handed from the awards too.

The most popular actress category is a toughie. The two Amandas are both strong contenders - Amanda Redman for At Home With The Braithwaites and Amanda Burton for Silent Witness. Perhaps an award would bring a smile to the icy face of Burton's forensic pathologist Sam Ryan.

Sarah Parish did sterling work in BBC1's Cutting It as it became increasingly unconvincing as the second series wore on. But it could come down to another soap battle. Suranne Jones is getting better and better as Corrie's volatile Karen MacDonald. I'd give her the award over EastEnders' Slater sister Kat (Jessie Wallace), but voters may think differently.

Bad Girls also wins my vote for most popular drama. I can't resist a dose of girls behind bars and back it over The Bill (another favourite), A Touch Of Frost and Cutting It.

Which leaves us with most popular reality programme. Big Brother got most of the publicity, mainly with people telling us how boring it was. Whatever happened to Cameron, Nush and all the others, and do we honestly care? I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here was much better, and considerably shorter - just two weeks instead of BB's three months. SAS: Are You Tough Enough? just doesn't look like a winner to me.

My vote goes to Jamie's Kitchen, which showed chef Jamie Oliver was a true star for putting his money where his mouth is and backing a scheme to turn a dozen unemployed teenagers into chefs. He deserves a prize for putting up with their often lazy, lackadaisical, irresponsible ways.

You can register a telephone vote on 0906 680 6000. Calls costs 25p a minute and should last no longer than four minutes (mobile rates may vary).

* The National Television Awards 2003 are screened on ITV1 on Tuesday at 8pm.

Published: 25/10/2003