So last night held many firsts for me. My first time working the ARIAs (or attending at all for that matter), my first time doing red carpet interviews and my first time meeting Kylie Minogue (assuming asking a question in the press centre is “meeting”). But more on all that later…
Firstly, let it be said that the show went down smoothly on the night. It was a pity it wasn’t live, but this allowed the organisers to avoid last year’s fiasco and focus on the best awards and most spectacular performances – of which there were plenty. Gurrumul ft. Missy Higgins, Boy and Bear and Art Vs Science all put on particularly noteworthy performances. Playing it safe served the awards organisers well for their 25th anniversary – but let’s definitely get it live again next year. An award show can’t exist in the Twitter age if it’s not live! Too many spoilers…
Now, let’s backtrack and move onto our adventures on the red carpet. In a first for the AU – and possibly a first for Australia – we streamed LIVE from the red carpet thanks to Soundcloud. Well, just about live… you could hear it about a minute later. Through these you get a good idea what life on the red carpet is like. You’re constantly missing interview opportunities while you’re chatting to someone, and people who are friends to the website (like Art Vs Science for instance), might get taken away mid-interview by the interviewers on your right, in a world of confusion!
Live on the ARIA Red Carpet by theAUreview
It’s a very entertaining escapade, and one that I hope to do again, now that I have half an idea of what we’re doing. Once we moved backstage, things were a little bit easier. You can hear me ask a question to Cut Copy below:
Backstage at the ARIAs: Cut Copy at Allphones Arena by theAUreview
I also asked Kylie Minogue a question, which was surprisingly a nerve wracking experience for me. It’s a pretty entertaining recording so I’ll be sure to get it online as soon as I can.
As we close up our award coverage, we’d like to congratulate all the winners, especially the big ones – Boy and Bear, who walked away with five trophies. Them, along with fellow winners Art Vs Science, have been featured on the AU review since their beginnings and ours, so we can’t help but feel proud. My night ended as the sun was about to come up, celebrating with Boy and Bear at the Universal party and we had an amazing night. Ah ARIAs, you’re an amazing night. Thank goodness the entire industry takes today off! I need time to rest off this hangover…
The full press release with all the winners is featured below!
The 2011 ARIA Awards were presented tonight in a star studded ceremony held at Allphones Arena in Sydney Olympic Park before a capacity audience comprised of members of industry heavy weights and music fans.
The event kicked off with a “hair raising” performance by West Australian MC, DRAPHT and included stunning performances by GOTYE and KIMBRA, BOY & BEAR, ART vs SCIENCE, GURRUMUL with MISSY HIGGINS, CUT COPY, THE LIVING END and GUY SEBASTIAN, as well as a surprise appearance by DELTA GOODREM who performed a moving tribute to those artists who have passed away over the ARIA AWARDS’ 25 year history.
It was a special night for ARIA HALL OF FAME recipients, KYLIE MINOGUE and THE WIGGLES, both of whom shared the night with their family and friends. PRIME MINISTER JULIA GILLARD inducted our international pop princess, KYLIE MINOGUE, while Killing Time star, DAVID WENHAM took on the induction duties for THE WIGGLES. It was a double celebration for THE WIGGLES who also took out BEST CHILDREN’S ALBUM, their tenth, for Ukulele Baby!
Sydney quintet, BOY & BEAR, capped off a busy year by winning five ARIA AWARDS for their critically acclaimed, self-produced, debut album, Moonfire. The band, who has already won accolades like Rolling Stone’s Artist to Watch of 2010 and triple j’s Unearthed Artist of the Year, won BEST ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM, BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST – SINGLE, BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST – ALBUM, BEST GROUP and the coveted ALBUM OF THE YEAR for 2011.
Capping off an extraordinary year, GOTYE has taken out the much coveted ARIA AWARDS in the categories of SINGLE OF THE YEAR, BEST POP RELEASE and BEST MALE ARTIST adding to the three Awards (PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, BEST VIDEO and ENGINEER OF THE YEAR) already bestowed at the ARIA Awards Nominations Event in early October, all for the hit single, Somebody That I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra).
New Zealand born, KIMBRA, who rose to fame in 2011 for her work with GOTYE, has taken out her first solo ARIA AWARD as BEST FEMALE ARTIST for her debut album, Cameo Lover.
Singer/songwriter KASEY CHAMBERS has proven that she is Australia’s official Queen of Country Music taking out her ninth BEST COUNTRY ALBUM Award for her 5th solo album, Little Bird.In an ARIA AWARDS first, the legendary BILLY THORPE has posthumously won an ARIA AWARD for his final masterpiece, Tangier. Collecting the ARIA AWARD on the night were Billy’s wife, Lynn, and daughters Lauren and Rusty.
Two-time ARIA AWARD winners, THE AUDREYS, collected their third BEST BLUES AND ROOTS ALBUM, for their third album, Sometimes the Stars.
Sydney three-piece, ART VS SCIENCE, who in 2008 were named triple j’s Unearthed Artist of the Year, tonight added their first ARIA AWARD to their mantles for their debut album, The Experiment, taking out the Award for BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE.
West Australian MC, DRAPHT, whose album The Life of Riley debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Album Chart, has taken out his first ARIA AWARD for BEST URBAN ALBUM.
Three time ARIA Award winners, THE LIVING END, added two more pointy trophies to their collection taking out the hotly contested BEST ROCK ALBUM Award for their 6th long player, The End is Just the Beginning Repeating. The hard-rocking threesome also took out the inaugural ARIA Public Voted Award, presented by HP and Intel, in the category of MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN LIVE ARTIST.
Radio and TV funny men, and all round nice guys, HAMISH & ANDY have won their second BEST COMEDY RELEASE ARIA Award, this time for their Celebrating 50 Glorious Years Album.
Sydney hard rock outfit, FRONT END LOADER, won their first ARIA Award today taking out the BEST HARD ROCK/HEAVY METAL ALBUM AWARD and Melbourne dance outfit, CUT COPY, also took out their first Award for BEST DANCE RELEASE.
Taking out the Awards for HIGHEST SELLING ALBUM of 2011 was ALTIYAN CHILDS for his self titled debut album and four-time ARIA No. 1 Chart Award and ARIA Award winner, GUY SEBASTIAN took out the HIGHEST SELLING SINGLE Award for Who’s That Girl?
The people have spoken! In the Public Voted ARIA Awards presented by HP and Intel music fans have made their voices – and choices – heard!
Last year’s BEST ROCK ALBUM winner, BIRDS OF TOKYO, took out the Award for MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST, and (almost) honorary Australian, P!NK, took the honours as MOST POPULAR INTERNATIONAL ARTIST as voted by the Australian public.
ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) proudly congratulates all the winners in the 2011 ARIA Awards season.
The 2011 ARIA AWARDS were presented by PRIME MINISTER JULIA GILLARD, DAVID WENHAM, STEVIE NICKS, RICHARD WILKINS, CHRISSY AMPHLETT, HAMISH & ANDY, MISSY HIGGINS, JOEL & BENJI MADDEN, NOAH TAYLOR, DELTA GOODREM, TOM BALLARD & ALEX DYSON, IVA DAVIES, RUBY ROSE, JAMES KERLEY, KATIE NOONAN, ADAM HILLS, RICKI-LEE COULTER, ERIN McNAUGHT and MOLLY MELDRUM.
The 2011 ARIA Awards were broadcast on GO! at 7.30pm on Sunday, 27 November and for the first time streamed on any 3G mobile, thanks to Optus, on ariaawards.mobi.
