ARIA AWARDS 2016 RECAP
Well, what a night it was! With high profile international acts and our best Aussie artists all in one room for the biggest night of the Australian music industry, the ARIA Awards at the Star in Sydney. With The Veronicas hosting the big night, we were in for a treat with many great performances.
AWARD WINNERS
ARIA BEST POP RELEASE: FLUME – NEVER BE LIKE YOU FEAT. KAI. I really don’t like this song that much. Ugh BEST VIDEO OF THE YEAR: TROYE SIVAN - YOUTH – Troye was drenched from the red carpet still. Was hoping Guy Sebastian would get this award, but I’m not mad Troye won! I love ‘Youth’. It is a jam.
BEST ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM – BERNARD FANNING – CIVIL DUSK
BEST DANCE RELEASE – FLUME – SKIN. Flume spoke about Keeping Sydney Open and I was sold quickly by that.
BEST ROCK ALBUM – VIOLENT SOHO – WACO –
BEST LIVE ACT – HILLTOP HOODS – SOLID!
APPLE MUSIC SONG OF THE YEAR: TROYE SIVAN – YOUTH. Why was Papercuts, which was also nominated playing when he won?
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST – MONTAIGNE
BEST GROUP – VIOLENT SOHO. Well they just about missed their win and had to run on the stage from the Bar… typical Aussies
CROWDED HOUSE INDUCTED IN TO THE AUSTRALIAN HALL OF FAME
BEST FEMALE ARTIST – SIA – THIS IS ACTING. JESS MAUBOY GOT RIPPED OFF. SHE WON IN MY EYES. BUT BLESS SIA FOR CHEAP THRILLS
BEST MALE ARTIST – FLUME – SKIN
ALBUM OF THE YEAR – FLUME – SKIN. Surprise, surprise. Can you let others win something Flume thanks?
PERFORMANCES
Jimmy Barnes and Jess Mauboy opened up the show singing ‘Good Times’ together. JESS MAUBOY SLAYED MY EXISTENCE WITH HER VOCALS AND MOVES. Put the two together, and it was absolutely amazing. This was one of my favourite performances of the night!
Flume Performed ‘Say It’ with Swedish’s Tove Lo! I was surprised she was performing! It was a slight change to have some pop performances as you don’t see many at the ARIA awards like the award shows in America! Then Kai came out to sing her song ‘Never Be Like You’ with Flume. Don’t ask me if Flume was actually mixing live cause you can’t tell these days.
THE VERONICAS – Their performance looked like a music video! Their performance of ‘In My Blood’ was so well thought out and professional. All that glitter though. They were topless covered in glitter which got everyone talking. I say, YOLO. Great vocals and harmonising which is what the girls’ always bring.
VIOLENT SOHO – typical rock performance.
ILLY AND VERA BLUE – ‘Papercuts’ is one of my favourite songs so far, and the performance did not disappoint. Smoke and flames to make the performance more powerful. Vera Blue aka Celia Pavey was amazing, especially in her solo bridge. Illy was very strong in this performance, and the two of them together put on a show! Definitely one of my top picks for performance of the night.
MISSY HIGGINS, BERNARD FANNING AND CROWDED HOUSE DID A PERFORMANCE TOGETHER. Unique performances, showcasing a different side of Aussie music to the other performances.
Troye Sivan performed Youth. What a jam. Troye brought his slick vocals and Lorde-like dancing to the stage. Loved it. After the second chorus, the tempo of the song and beat changed to a faster track. Great change up.
John Farnham closed the show with the unofficial national anthem of Australia, ‘You’re the Voice’. What an iconic way to finish off the awards show.
While I believe the show was better than previous years, I was still left wanting more, and pretty bored. I think with the biggest night for Australian artists and music, there needed to be more performances that grabbed your attention and had more flare to them. More pop artists were needed to perform to entertain. More money and considerations needs to be put in to the Award show with bigger and better performances needed.
