They started late, Keith Urban opened the show with a low key song and then Underbelly stars Kate Ritchie and Gyton Grantley began to read the autocue…. the start of the ARIA Awards 2009 was decidely underwhelming.
It couldn’t resist plugging some of Nine’s wares including having two Getaway hosts, Nine’s Entertainment Editor Richard Wilkins, but also included Andrew Gunsberg and Rove McManus -who must have been pretty happy with the productions as staged by Roving Enterprises. The night served to make the TEN events look like a ‘How To..”
Last night’s ceremony was lacking some serious ‘wow’ factor until Robbie Williams came along to rescue it.
Having two actors who relied on written material as hosts, the show missed spontaneity and irreverance. Even the winners seemed to behave themselves.
HIGHEST SELLING AUSTRALIAN SINGLE Jessica Mauboy : Running Back
BEST URBAN ALBUM Hilltop Hoods – State Of The Art
BEST MUSIC DVD Sia – TV Is My Parent
HIGHEST SELLING AUSTRALIAN ALBUM AC/DC – Black Ice
BEST ROCK ALBUM AC/DC – Black Ice
BEST DANCE RELEASE The Presets – Talk Like That
BEST POP RELEASE Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream
BEST COUNTRY ALBUM Troy Cassar-Daley – I Love This Place
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST – SINGLE Ladyhawke – My Delirium
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST – ALBUM Ladyhawke – Ladyhawke
BEST ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM Josh Pyke – Chimney’s Afire
BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE Bertie Blackman – Secrets and Lies
BEST MALE ARTIST Daniel Merriweather – Love And War
BEST BLUES & ROOTS ALBUM C.W. Stoneking – Jungle Blues
BEST GROUP WINNER Empire Of The Sun
BEST FEMALE ARTIST Sarah Blasko – As Day Follows Night
SINGLE OF THE YEAR Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream
ALBUM OF THE YEAR Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream
This post updates.
I just wonder how many people here on this forum actully work in tv/know anything about tv? Some of you make some great points, but most of you are way off. For example “how budget were those lasers in Robbie’s performance” – I somehow dont think they would have skimped on Robbie’s performance…does that make sense to anyone? Lasers cost thousands of dollars!!!!!!
@ vid – sorry mate, the other guys are right. When a network outsources a live, high profile event like this they appoint their own EP to supervise the project. Nine would have signed off on the structure of the show, the set, the presenters, the performers, and key crew such as the director. To say Nine had no control over the production is simply incorrect. A network just doesn’t spend in excess of million dollars on a massive television event they have no control of. But I’m glad you for one enjoyed it.
I hope TEN pick this up again next year. Please, TEN, do it for me, and everyone else who hated the telecast (ie: 99.99% of people).
It may have been expensive for TEN and not rate that well, but if you guys had it in a timeslot on say Monday or Tuesday or have it from 7 or 8 instead of 6:30 I reckon it’d rate much better.
Awards were soo poor, who were most of the ppl anyway? the biggest winner of the night so sad the costume was verry flamboyant and u know what that means
Isn’t CH9′s audio always out of sync?
@ craig… oh grow up! they cant be blamed for the quality of the pictures or sound. they outsourced it… the production company are to blamed…. nine just aired it along with some of their on air talent.. and no.. iam not bias…just stating facts… i would of said the same if 7 or 10 aired it.
for all we know if was produced in SD. we all know either 7,9 or 10 would of done it in HD!!….. Nine just took the feed from the venue… end of story!
so stop embarassing yourself by cheap comments towards others!
Hall of Fame was staged earlier this year and broadcast on a weekend, but it was traditionally referenced in the big night yes…
Looks like everyone has taken the words right out of my mouth.What a crock of a show.I didn’t think they could do a worse show than the pitiful Logies but it had the same cringe effect to it.Channel 10 always did a great job and really made it an event to be proud of, typical of Nine.Where were the Hall of famers performing?
I wont even waste my time next year!
Jess Mauboy looked like she didn’t know what she was doing!!
Gyton Grantley and Kate Ritchie were painful, absolutely terrible hosts. Shameless cross promoting of other Nine shows. The set looked like it had a total budget of 0.99c. Channel Nine are hopeless at this sort of thing, they struggle with anything pitched towards a younger audience. Its tanking in last night’s ratings was thoroughly deserved.
Missed it, but like others have said – doesn’t look like I actually missed much. Where’s the Rock, where’s the performers behaving badly, where is that Wow factor.
All the ‘celebrities’ look like they’re heading to, dare say it, the Logies of all places!
gyton grantly is already type cast as carl wiallims, his facial expressions say it all, terrible at best
I didn’t see it, but it sounds more interesting than last year when that one-hit-wonder managed to win 6.
makes me glad I missed it, based on most of the more recent comments. Although slagging off people for their own musical tastes is a bit redundant. this is a place to air your views. So it is somones opinion, and we are all entitlted to ours
So embarrassing. If I see Gyton Grantley flogging one more thing I’ll scream. It was like Carl Williams on prozac hosting.
Slydoggie, that’s completely true! And I bet if people looked hard enough they’d realise that the album sales for a lot of the ‘obscure nobodies’ are more than respectable – The Temper Trap have recently found huge success in the UK even.
man empire of the sun suck!
their song walking on a dream is s**t
@ Vid… you’re comments are embarassing. If Nine can’t be held responsible for the poor quality of a locally produced which aired on their network, featuring countless 9 personalities… then who can.
I’m sure they had a few co-execs on board over-seeing things at ACER last night.
But I suppose your comments are always hideously bias… so meh..
For those who are slagging off Empire of the Sun and some of the other “obscure” bands…I’m tipping you normally listen to commercial FM stations…try listening to Triple J for some real music, made from passion, not just for a buck.
The sound quality was horrible last night…don’t know how CH9 could get it so wrong. And the number of “fly-by’s” by the camera crew was nauseating. Please, oh please return to Ch10 next year!!
vid says:
November 26, 2009 at 11:13 pm
@ todd…new zealand is part of the aria family. thats why!
No not true – Neil Finn was told he was no longer eligible when he moved back to Auckland – you have to be Australian or spend a significant amount of your career in Australia. Ladyhawke’s inclusion was quite controversial, as the reason she was included was because she apparently “lives” in Australia – but in fact has spent the last year in London.
That was the worst arias I have ever seen. Empire of the sun really turned me off viewing.
I would have thought with all the bagging of Britney Spears for lip synching, that Jessica would have been singing live. What a crock. To call that live is like saying Jimmy Barnes is softly spoken.
Lisa Miller….ugh…embarrassing. I’m over this trend of female singers sounding like frail little girls.
All I can say, the Australian music business is in a sorry state if last night was the ‘best of the best’ of Australian music. I’ll sound like a grannie, but I miss the good old days of when music was something to be proud of.
Lets all whinge about the awards being rigged because our favourites didn’t win.
How pathetic are you all?? Really!!
How budget did the green lasers in Robbie Williams performance look.
Never in my life did I think I would utter these words…. Richard Wilkons would have been better. I mean, my lord (incidentally, someone who was thanked more then anyone who had worked on the music in reality!) I would have taken Lund or even Stefanovic, over that! It is a national embaressment that that is our premium music award show. If I was somebody who held any credibility, I would never stand foot in an ARIA award show until written promises were made of at least Footy Show standard, at least then I would only be physically sick a few times in the night, not constantly.
Was Delta nominated for anything?
It’ll be better next year broadcasted in Perth!
i just dont get these awards. How could Jess mauboy walk waya with just one award? she has had hit after hit, and yet her album wasnt even nominated for album of the year or not even single of the year. also not wining female artist or even breakthrough artist….typical arias…awards go to the obscure bands that u never end up hearing about again…..
@ Wally
Yeah I could definitely hear Jess’ backing track because it was way too loud, and louder than the vocals. How very Britney Spears of the mixing desk!
was it just me or was all the presenters people who all work for the TEN network?
The Aria’s Sucked! The telecast was poor, boring and the audio was s**t! The awards i think were rigged. I hate Empire of The Sun. Jess so deserved to win every award she was nominated in and instead she got the highest selling award which is what We buy.
Compared to the AMA’s and CMA’s which i have watched in the past couple of weeks this telecast was extremely poor. Imagine if US television did Awards shows like Nine just did the Aria’s there would be bloodshed (Not literally of course)
But i am not surprised this is channel 9 we are talking about. They wouldnt know how to produce a damn thing let alone a live telecast. **rolls eyes**
Talk about a case of bad casting host wise. Both talented people – Kate Ritchie and Gyton Grantley – but so miss cast as Aria hosts…felt sorry for them – totally out of their depth. Typical of the Nine Network – let’s get a couple of high profile named personalaties who have done well in our dramas to host the Aria awards…so totally wrong. How about choosing hosts that fit the show – that’d be a novelty. As Natalie Gruzlewski said tonight or words to this effect – don’t know anything about music but great to be here – and she and her fellow Getaway reporter presented one of the most important awards of the night….please!!!
Missed the pazzaz of Craig Campbell and the Roving Enterprises team.
@ Tim: agree 100%. Where’s Gabriella Cilmi now? Where Empire of the Sun will be next year LOL.
@ Andrew …oh please…thats a silly comment. nine cant be held responsible for the quality…
Horrible! After watching the AMA’s a couple of days ago, you can really see how boring our ARIAs are! Once again, the Idols were snubbed – Jessica Mauboy only received one award (for ‘highest selling single’) which couldn’t be rigged, yet lost the other 6. A little weird considering she completely dominated sales and airplay more than any other Australian artist these past 12 months. Lisa Mitchell also did not pick up a single award in her 5 nominations. It’s funny because these awards end up going to a bunch of random ‘nobodies’ who end up being forgotten within a couple of years. Once again, ARIA proved how it’s award show lacks all credibility.
Very poor effort from Nine. Looked very cheap. No HD and audio was horrible. Was the same on the AFL footy show grand final. I have also been wondering if there is a feed problem to Adelaide.
Saw the American Music Awards on Foxtel on Monday and the production was just so much better.
I only really watched on the outside the universe chance that The Temper Trap would be rewarded, if only for making the effort to come back from the middle of a European tour. They weren’t of course, no surprise.
Even though the production was pretty ordinary, it was good to see Empire of the Sun sans Nick Littlemore take all the big awards, and Sarah Blasko keep Jessica Mauboy from the “important” awards.
Particularly love the self-promotion at the end with Kate saying the awards were back on Nine where they belong – or something to that effect. haha autocue… the only professional was Rove, a stark reminder that while he has his distractors, he knows how to put on a better show…
@vid: If Nine chooses to outsource the production, and the production is crap, then yes that is Nine’s problem. Because if the production was top notch, you can bet Nine would take the kudos for it. It works both ways.
I’ve only ever seen it before when it was on Ten so I couldn’t really appreciate Roving’s work until tonight. Gyton Grantley was too polished and fake and I could barely hear any of the singing in the performances.
When they teased that Kate Miller Heidke, Sarah Blasko and Lisa Mitchell were going to be sharing the same stage in an Aria first (they really built it up) I assumed that they were going to be doing something…y’know together. I was really let down to find out that they were just doing 3 separate performances and they weren’t even on the same stage.
Out of the presenters, Jabba was the only one worth a damn. Getaway presenters? Really? They did this whole thing about Australian music being around the world to try and mask this blatant cross-promotion, but it had absolutely nothing to do with the award they were presenting (Best Male Artist). Also, Rove McManus was surprisingly a bit of a jerk.
i only watched it from 9:30. but god that was terrible.
i am embarrassed for australia, i wonder what robbie was thinking standing back there listening to those painul acceptance speeches?
Oh my god, the mix is absolutely awful!!!!
Can barely hear anything!
And I must admit, the quality of the feed here in Adelaide is absolutely abysmal! Don’t know whether it’s just us or across the board, but the picture quality is really bad!
was a well produced show. colourful graphics.
yes the sounds wasnt the best but hey u get that when its a live gig..
before u all bag out Nine, it was product by another company for nine!
so nine cant be blamed for how it was produced.
yes no screens at the show.. and why would u have screens,,it was designed so the crowd didnt need them was they were close to the action!
far better product that rove’s company has produced in the previous year.
@ todd…new zealand is part of the aria family. thats why!
One of the worst award shows I’ve ever seen.
Terrible hosts, terrible production and terrible sound on most of the performances.
Channel 10 do a much better job.
@ Ben
Did you notice how Gyton made a point at the start of saying that all acts were singing live? No mention of anyone playing live. I wonder if some of that “echo” has anything to do with that? I don’t know how these things really work but if they are playing to a taped backing track perhaps that has something to do with it?
I’ve refused to watch this year’s seeing as it’s been so boring in the past (and that was when it was on Channel 10 and had some decent staging), but the results – and more to the point, the nominations – seem to be promoting more commercially viable artists over genuine talent. Jess Mauboy is hot though and I find her songs heaps catchy. However, I don’t see how anyone could genuinely feel that she’s more deserving of awards than the absolutely magnificent Ladyhawke even if she is a Kiwi.
Seems I didnt miss out on much.. How many awards did Jess take home? Surely not just one!?
What a horrendously boring show! Robbie totally outshone anybody else, and there’s clearly a problem with the mix on the lead vocalist, sounds like we are only getting an echo from the other mics.
I’m with philm
Where are the screens and the rock star staging that we have had for the last few years? There used to be fire, stuff falling from the roof, hosts who had some connection with music however vague it might have been.
In fairness I haven’t seen a lot, just watched the first 10 min (popped it on the IQ for a quick fast forward later) but even the pics on here don’t look that great… and Richard Wilkins??? give me a break… is that why nine have been pushing Barnesy and ACDC as opposed to artists that are relevant today?
From the little I saw it was the Footy Show end of year staging and presentation.
I didn’t even know this was on. I put it on FTA which is unusual for me, and flicked through the channels and found this on Nine. The picture quality looks awful, and I had it on the HD channel, so I assume the broadcast is not in HD. Or dodgey old Channel Nine Adelaide (WIN owned) didnt bother getting the HD feed.
Isn’s this normally on in September or October? It really should have stayed on TEN with Roving Ent as the producers. This seems really cheap and nasty (just like Nine). The voice over guy is terrible, as if he is trying to read his script without his glasses on, he has no skills to get us to listen to what he is saying. And what I did hear him saying is utter rubbish that no one could care less about.
The entire show seems very awkard and cheaply put together as the last ditch effor for live programming in Nine this week. And what is with it being on a Thursday night, the target audience are out shopping until 9pm, or starting their weekend early by going out.
Loving it go Jess
Is it just me or were Kate Ritchie and Gyton Grantly standing so far apart when it started?
How is Ladyhawke even eligible? She’s a Kiwi!! Jessica Mauboy has been robbed, just further proof of ARIA snubbing Idols in the “real” award categories… What a joke!
oh that was a horrible opening. What a horrible set. No colour. hardly any screens and performers having their back turned to the audience. Talk about a cheap show.
I lasted all the way until that underbelly bloke started to talk.
I miss roving enterprises.
I forgot this was even on… Whoops.
Damn that Jess Mauboy is hot!!