New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ ARIA Awards) - With just weeks until the 2010 ARIA Awards take place at the iconic Sydney Opera House (Sunday, 7 November on Network Ten) the nominees across a record 31 categories were announced today at the ARIA Nominations event at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Also announced were the winners in the four ARIA Artisan Award categories, the first cabs off the rank to be acknowledged by their peers for their creative contributions.
The nominations are an intriguing mix of new and established music artists and set the scene for what should be the most unique ARIA Awards yet. The nominations feature six brand new categories including four which will be open to the music loving public to add their voice to the final outcome. The nominations encompass the new peer voted categories of BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST, [formerly Breakthrough Single and Album] BEST HARD ROCK / HEAVY METAL ALBUM and BEST ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM.
In what is sure to be a hit among music lovers, for the first time in ARIA Awards history, Australian music fans will be given the opportunity to vote in four brand new categories. Three of these categories - MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN SINGLE, MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ALBUM and MOST POPULAR INTERNATIONAL ARTIST - the final nominees are based on the top selling singles and albums in the eligibility period (Friday, 28 August, 2009, to Saturday, 21 August, 2010 inclusive). The remaining category is MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST and the nominees for this Award are pooled from the finalists in 26 categories of this year's ARIA Awards (excluding ARIA Artisan Awards nominees).
Australian music fans will be given the first ever opportunity to determine who will take home these Publicly Voted ARIA Awards presented by V Energy Drink. The winners of these four Awards, as determined by Australian music fans, will be announced during the telecast for the 2010 ARIA Awards on Sunday, 7 November.
From 14 October, fans can go to www.ariaawards.com.au/venergypopularvote and cast their vote to determine the first ever Popular Voted ARIA Awards across all four categories. You can also vote from www.facebook.com/venergyoz or www.facebook.com/aria.official.
The first round of voting finishes on Thursday, 28 October, with the final 5 nominations in each category announced on Sunday, 31 October and everyone gets a second chance to vote one last time up until 11:59pm on Saturday, 6 November with the winner announced at the ARIA's on Sunday, 7 November.
Now, let's get down to business! Leading the nominations for 2010 are a number of artists who have received six nominations a-piece for their outstanding work.
Sensational sibling duo, ANGUS & JULIA STONE, have received six nominations for their critically acclaimed No. 1 album Down the Way, acknowledged by their industry peers in the categories of BEST GROUP, SINGLE OF THE YEAR (Big Jet Plane) and for the coveted ALBUM OF THE YEAR. They are also nominated in the brand new categories of BEST ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM, MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ALBUM and MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST.
Also receiving six nominations is pop powerhouse, SIA, whose album We Are Born has proven to be a big hit with the ARIA voting academy. She is nominated for BEST POP RELEASE, SINGLE OF THE YEAR (Clap Your Hands), ALBUM OF THE YEAR, BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE. She is also nominated for BEST FEMALE ARTIST, and in the new category of MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST.
Perth quartet BIRDS OF TOKYO have scored six nominations for their self titled album in the categories of BEST ROCK ALBUM, BEST MUSIC DVD, SINGLE OF THE YEAR (Plans), BEST GROUP, MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST and ALBUM OF THE YEAR.
Pop-soul singer GUY SEBASTIAN has picked up six nominations for his hit album, Like It Like That. He is recognised in the categories of BEST POP RELEASE and BEST MALE ARTIST. He is also nominated twice for MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN SINGLE (Art of Love and Like it Like That), MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ALBUM and MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST.
Singer/songwriter MEGAN WASHINGTON (who performs under the name WASHINGTON) makes her ARIA Awards' debut by picking up six nominations for her impressive album, I Believe You Liar. She is nominated in the categories of SINGLE OF THE YEAR (How to Tame Lions), BEST FEMALE ARTIST and ALBUM OF THE YEAR. She is also nominated in the brand new categories of BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST, BEST ADULT ALTERNATIVE ALBUM and MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST.
Two Perth acts at the opposite end of the music spectrum have received five nominations apiece for the 2010 ARIA Awards. On the back of the Number 1 album, April Uprising, multiple ARIA Award winners JOHN BUTLER TRIO have been nominated in the categories of BEST BLUES AND ROOTS ALBUM, BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE, MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ALBUM and MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST. Lead singer/songwriter JOHN BUTLER is also nominated in the category of BEST MALE ARTIST.
Newcomers TAME IMPALA make their ARIA Awards debut with their psychedelic rock album Innerspeaker. They have received five nominations for BEST ROCK ALBUM, BEST GROUP and ALBUM OF THE YEAR and are also nominated in the new categories of BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST and MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST.
The irresistible TEMPER TRAP return with five ARIA Award nominations for SINGLE OF THE YEAR (Love Lost), BEST GROUP and in three new categories MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ALBUM (Conditions), MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN SINGLE (Sweet Disposition) and MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST.
In their swansong year, POWDERFINGER have racked up four ARIA nominations for their final album - the Number 1 hit Golden Rule. Currently on their mega farewell tour of Australia, the quintet is nominated for BEST ROCK ALBUM and BEST GROUP and in the two new categories MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ALBUM and MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST.
Charismatic singer / songwriter DAN SULTAN has also been given four ARIA nods off the back of his album Get Out While You Can. He is nominated for BEST BLUES AND ROOTS ALBUM, BEST MALE ARTIST, BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE and MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST.
Artists who have been nominated for three ARIA Awards each are CLOUD CONTROL (Bliss Release), EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING (Rush To Relax), KYLIE MINOGUE (Aphrodite) and VANESSA AMOROSI who is nominated for MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ALBUM (Hazardous), MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN SINGLE (This Is Who I Am) and again in the same category for Mr. Mysterious. Also receiving three Finalist placings are
ART VS SCIENCE, CLARE BOWDITCH, EMPIRE OF THE SUN, JIMMY BARNES, KATE MILLER-HEIDKE, STAN WALKER and YOLANDA BE COOL & DCUP
With an impressive list that also includes DEAD LETTER CIRCUS, PAUL DEMPSEY, BLUEJUICE, DAN KELLY, LISA MILLER, AMY MEREDITH, ADAM HARVEY, BLISS N' ESO, PHILADELPHIA GRAND JURY, LISA MITCHELL, AIRBOURNE, ANGIE HART, ARJ BARKER, ASH GRUNWALD, BASEMENT BIRDS, BRIAN McFADDEN, CATHERINE BRITT, CROWDED HOUSE, HOODOO GURUS, CROWDED HOUSE, GABRIELLE CILMI, GRETA BRADMAN, GRINSPOON, HEATH FRANKLIN, JASON WALKER, JAY LAGA'AIA, JEFF LANG, JOSH PYKE, JIMEOIN, JUSTINE CLARKE, LEE KERNAGHAN, LITTLE KASEY CHAMBERS, POPPA BILL AND LITTLE HILLBILLIES, LOWRIDER, M-PHAZES, MIAMI HORROR, MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS, PARKWAY DRIVE, PENDULUM, PERRY KEYES, SARAH BLASKO, SPACE INVADAS, THE AMITY AFFLICTION, THE BEDROOM PHILOSOPHER, THE CAT EMPIRE, THE McCLYMONTS, THE WIGGLES, THE WILSON PICKERS, URTHBOY and VIOLENT SOHO the class of 2010 highlights the depth of talent and continuing strength in the Australian music industry.
The winners of the 2010 ARIA ARTISAN AWARDS were announced and presented to ANGUS & JULIA STONE in the category of BEST COVER ART for Down the Way and KRIS MOYES in the category of BEST VIDEO for Sia's Clap Your Hands. Respected engineer WAYNE CONNOLLY has scored the ARIA Award for ENGINEER OF THE YEAR for his work on Paul Dempsey's Fast Friends. And in their debut as record producers ANGUS & JULIA STONE also take out the category of PRODUCER OF THE YEAR for their work on the songs Black Crow, For You, Santa Monica Dream, Yellow Brick Road, Walk It Off, Hush from their No. 1 album, Down The Way.
Members of the ARIA Awards voting academy will be asked to vote in a 2nd and final round of voting which will commence on Tuesday, 5 October to Friday, 8 October. This second round of voting will only heighten and intensify the speculation as to who will take out the coveted ARIA ALBUM OF THE YEAR.
Nominations in the categories of BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM, BEST JAZZ ALBUM, BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM and BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK/CAST/SHOW ALBUM have also been announced and feature an impressive collection of musicians including Alexander Tsiboulski, Paul Dyer and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, David Hobson, Geoffrey Lancaster, Richard Tognetti, Christopher Moore, The Australian Chamber Orchestra, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Dick & Christa Hughes, James Morrison, Joe Chindamo, Joseph Tawadros, The Necks, Burkhard Dallwitz, Christopher Gordon, Archie Roach, Mamadou Diabate, Bobby Singh & Jeff Lang, The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, Xavier Rudd and a number of artists who have contributed to Soundtrack/Cast/Show Albums.
