Last years ARIAS show was excellent. Great performances, solid hosting, deserved winners. This years… not so much.
Here’s a bunch of my random thoughts on this years ARIAS show:
Gabriella Cilmi. I’ve got a bit to say about her at the end of this post, but even after she won her first two awards from the night I found myself saying “Really??”
The Living End. Great performance to properly kick-off the night. Their win was well deserved. A great example of a band that is in it for the art.
Sam Sparro. Looks spastic in that ridiculous cape. Karma almost gets him when he almost wipes out going up the stairs. Damnit! That would have been awesome. Apart from that I like ‘Black And Gold’.
The Veronicas. What a try hard stage display (gas masks on the string section!). Appreciate that one of them has dyed their hair so we can tell which one is the lesbian now (um, I don’t know which…. can we get a ruling on this please?)
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. Beautiful performance and well-deserved win for best Independent Album. I’ve never seen him play before but I was captivated.
Faker. Nathan Hudson can’t help himself. He must have monkey genes as he jumps and bounces and swings himself around the stage. They didn’t sound great unfortunately, just a very muddy mix.
Pink. What a tacky stage display for her performance. Um, why does every act tonight have to look like they are performing in the Rock Eisteddfod?
Host Hamish and Andy. Normally I love these guys, but most of their “comedic” set pieces during the show were awful. Way too staged and unfunny. If you’re going to go to the effort of set pieces, at least make sure they are well written. Otherwise, if you’re naturally funny, just improvise!
The Presets. They make Sam Sparro look muted with their get-up (Julian Hamilton is wearing Agro’s mutant brother as a headpiece). Sorry, but their music does nothing for me. I always feel like it could be written by just about anyone with a synthesizer, drum machine and fifteen minutes. Blah. Can’t believe they win Album of the Year for ‘Apocalypso’. Over-rated snore inducing dance blerg. Lame. Particularly against their competition.
Cilmi wins 6 of 6. What a joke. Can I put money on her fading into obscurity within 3 years? That’s easy money. Man, is she undercooked. I know she’s young, but surely she could have prepared something to accept one award. Two visits to the stage was more than enough. Six was brutal. She talks likes a bogan and gives the impression she has about three active brain cells.
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t mind ‘Sweet About Me’. It’s a fairly decent soul-pop song. But talk about a one trick monkey. What else has she done!!??!! Wow, she sounds like a 40 year old! I mean, that seems to be it, right? Six awards!!! She just leaves me cold.
Apart from that, what a great ARIAS!