ARIAs 2016 Wrap Up: Questionable Fashion, Drunk Tweets, & Pointy Awards Galore

We’re coming into the pointy end of the year, and that means we’ve got awards ceremonies coming out of our ears. At AAA, we don’t mind too much about those Oscars or the Globes of Gold, but when it comes to music, we’re all over it. We spent our Wednesday nights wrapping our journalistic minds around Australia’s biggest musical commendations the ARIAs just so that we could bring you the best (and the worst).

Pour your champers, don a nice suit/gown/trackies, find your hot date, and settle in for the AAARIA coverage.

The Red Carpet

What’s an awards ceremony without a red carpet? There were some stunning and steezy fashions on the maroon mat, from Violent Soho’s best flannos to international guest Tove Lo looking beauterus with her uterus.

Peking Duk had the cutest dates by far on the Crimson rug.

Havana Brown was kicking ass in her Britney inspired faux-double denim number.

Ben Lee wore a suit, and it was called Yellow.

Carissa Walford was in such a rush that she forgot her shirt.

Shannon Noll hit the carpet with his finest “When does a meme get old?” attire.

Robbie Williams had MC Esher on the case for his design work.

The Winners

Without any doubt the big winner of the night was producer and early Movember bailer Flume. Harley Streten picked up a total of five pyramids for his latest release ‘Skin’ and its singles. In the end, he walked away with Best Male Artist, Best Pop Release for Never Be Like You, Best Independent Release, Best Dance Release and the big one, The Gold Logie Album of the Year.

When he took the stage to say his thank yous, Flume used his moment on national television to express his support for #KeepSydneyOpen, saying that younger artists needs spaces and venues to practice and hone their work so that Australia’s music scene can thrive.

Violent Soho were another big winner taking home Best Rock Album and Best Group #QLDREPRESNT. In true Euphoric fashion, the boys sank Milton Mangoes as they hit the stage for their Best Rock Album award, before thanking their mentor, the late Dean Turner of Magic Dirt. The second acceptance was almost disastrous when the band were still downstairs knocking back a few bevvies after their killer performance which saw the fellas better halves take the stage to accept on their behalf. Thankfully VOHO made it back triumphantly pick up their award with James Squires firmly in hand.

Classic Aussie music 😂🍻 #ARIAs pic.twitter.com/HuZQhz1Wne

— Channel 10 (@Channel10AU) November 23, 2016

Sydney’s Montaigne picked up Best Breakthrough artist, and with “People Over Profit” written on her chest in bold letters, proceeded to talk sh*t (literally) and quote French philosophers.

Speech goals. WINNER!!! @actualmontaigne – Breakthrough Artist – Glorious Heights #ARIAs #Montaigne pic.twitter.com/OSKfNAPKVa

— LiSTNR Entertainment (@LiSTNR_ent) November 23, 2016

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard picked up Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album for their ‘Nonagon Infinity’ album, confusing many. I guess the ARIAs felt they needed to reward the band, but didn’t quite know what was going on with their brains after they listened to the album.

Sia picked up her 22nd ARIA for Best Female Artist, which makes for one very crowded mantle. Unable to pick up her shiny trophy, she instead asked Equality Australia’s Angie Greene to speak on her behalf to advocate for marriage equality. This was also the topic of choice for Kylie Minogue and her new Fiancee, bearded Michael Fassbender.

Former Powderfinger front man Bernard Fanning picked up the gong for Best Adult Contemporary for his third solo album, ‘Civil Dusk’ and Sarah Blasko’s electropop ‘Eternal Return’ picked up Best Adult Alternative.

When it came to the publicly voted awards, Troye Sivan took out a solid few wins, with Song of The Year and Best Video, while Hilltop Hoods picked up Best Australian Live Act. In a stunning victory, One Direction picked up the coveted Best International Act, but were unable to receive their award in person due to not giving a flying bag of d*cks.

For a full list of winners and losers, check out the list below!

The Hall of Fame

This year’s Hall of Fame entrants were the always catchy Crowded House, as inducted by New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk comedy band, Flight Of The Conchords, in one of the only (or maybe the only) genuinely funny intro monologues about Australia stealing Kiwi artists. This was followed up by two heartfelt tribute performances from Bernard Fanning and Missy Higgins and a performance of Distant Sun from the band themselves.

Sorry New Zealand, but @CrowdedHouseHQ are Aussies thru and thru 😜 #ARIAs #ARIAsHallOfFame https://t.co/Pzk1vIcmNI

— Channel 10 (@Channel10AU) November 23, 2016

The Not-Quite-But-Totally Winners

Brisbane’s Ball Park Music may not have picked up a gong, losing Best Rock Album to their fellow Brisbaniacs Violent Soho, but they certainly picked up their Twitter presence, drunkenly live tweeting the entirety of the events.

Some highlights of their coverage included “Our manager is so bored he’s sexting #ARIAS”, “Jimmy Barnes is about to perform live #Horny”, “Lockouts are shit. Most people are cool. Stop being c*nts #auspol”, and the ever simple “Need to piss”.

The Others

There were more than a few banging performances, including from award winners Flume and Violent Soho.

Flume brought Kai and Tove Lo on stage to perform his massive hits Never Be Like You and Say It mashed into one giga-bangee, while Violent soho got on stage and tore it apart with a rendition of their first single from WACO, Like Soda. Troye Sivan also belted his pipes to his track Youth.

What an amazing performance of 'Never Be Like You' by @flumemusic and @listentokai! #ARIAs https://t.co/Nhx8tM0ikb

— Channel 10 (@Channel10AU) November 23, 2016

The lads in @violentsoho bringing the rock 🤘 #ARIAs https://t.co/VcSKAyGyM4

— Channel 10 (@Channel10AU) November 23, 2016

Brisbane rock-turned-pop duo The Veronicas, who hosted the evening with some ‘Elder Scrolls: Oblivion’-level stiffness even took to the stage with their track In My Blood, complete with some bare-ish skin. Television viewers didn’t get the pleasure of seeing an audio glitch which forced the pair to have to redo their entrance to the music hall, as it was edited out by fun wreckers Channel 10. No really, WLY Channel 10.

Now THATS how you make an entrance! 💋💄❤️✨ #ARIAs #ariastheveronicas @Lisa_Veronica @Jessicaveronica pic.twitter.com/OjCtRgcLpt

— Love The Veronicas (@LoveTheVs) November 23, 2016

There was a slew of international guests on stage too, with EDM king Steve Aoki, and pop star/crooner/football fan Robbie Williams handing out awards, just to name a couple.

But it was John Farnham’s closing performance of You’re The Voice that got everyone on their feet, including a empassioned sing-along from Violent Soho’s James Tidswell.

The true meaning of a legend. @johnfarnham bringing the #ARIAs to a spectacular close. Until next time ✌️ pic.twitter.com/iw24cRZSkx

— Channel 10 (@Channel10AU) November 23, 2016

Oh yeah, and Ball Park Music went on a twitter rampage…

ARIA Awards 2016 winners full list:

Album Of The Year

WINNER: Flume – Skin (Future Classic)
RÜFÜS – Bloom (Sweat It Out/Sony Music)
Sia – This Is Acting (Monkey Puzzle/Inertia)
The Avalanches – Wildflower (Modular/EMI)
Troye Sivan – Blue Neighbourhood (EMI)

Best Male Artist 

WINNER: Flume – Skin (Future Classic)
Bernard Fanning – Civil Dusk (Dew Process/Universal Music)
Guy Sebastian – Black & Blue (Sony Music)
Illy – Papercuts (feat. Vera Blue) (Warner Music Australia)
Troye Sivan – Blue Neighbourhood (EMI)

Best Female Artist 

WINNER: Sia – This Is Acting (Monkey Puzzle/Inertia)
Delta Goodrem – Wings of the Wild (Sony Music)
Jessica Mauboy – This Ain’t Love (Sony Music)
Montaigne – Glorious Heights (Wonderlick Recording Company)
Sarah Blasko – Eternal Return (EMI)

Best Dance Release

WINNER: Flume – Skin (Future Classic)
Hayden James – Just A Lover (Future Classic)
L D R U – Keeping Score (feat. Paige IV) (Audio Paxx Agency/Sony Music)
RÜFÜS – Bloom (Sweat It Out/Sony Music)
The Avalanches – Wildflower (Modular/EMI)

Best Group 

WINNER: Violent Soho – WACO (I Oh You)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity (Flightless Records/Remote Control Records)
RÜFÜS – Bloom (Sweat It Out/Sony Music)
The Avalanches – Wildflower (Modular/EMI)
The Veronicas – In My Blood (Sony Music)

Breakthrough Artist

WINNER: Montaigne – Glorious Heights (Wonderlick Recording Company)
DMA’S – Hills End (I Oh You)
L D R U – Keeping Score (feat. Paige IV) (Audio Paxx Agency/Sony Music)
Olympia – Self Talk (EMI)
Safia – Make Them Wheels Roll (Warner Music Australia/Parlophone)

Best Pop Release

WINNER: Flume – Never Be Like You (feat. Kai) (Future Classic)
Illy – Papercuts (feat. Vera Blue) (Warner Music Australia)
Sia – This Is Acting (Monkey Puzzle/Inertia)
The Veronicas – In My Blood (Sony Music)
Troye Sivan – Blue Neighbourhood (EMI)

Best Urban Album

WINNER: Drapht – Seven Mirrors (The Ayems/Sony Music)
Citizen Kay – With The People (ASP/MGM)
Koi Child – Koi Child (Pilerats Records)
L-FRESH The LION – Become (Elefant Traks/Inertia)
Urthboy – The Past Beats Inside Me Like A Second Heartbeat (Elefant Traks/Inertia)

Best Independent Release 

WINNER: Flume – Skin (Future Classic)
Jarryd James – Thirty One (Dryden Street Limited/Universal Music)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity (Flightless Records/Remote Control Records)
Sia – This Is Acting (Monkey Puzzle/Inertia)
Violent Soho – WACO (I Oh You)

Best Rock Album

WINNER: Violent Soho – WACO (I Oh You)
Ball Park Music – Every Night The Same Dream (Stop Start Music)
Boy & Bear – Limit Of Love (Boy & Bear/Universal Music)
Gang Of Youths – Let Me Be Clear (Mosy Recordings/Sony Music)
The Living End – Shift (Dew Process/Universal Music)

Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album 

WINNER: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity (Flightless Records/Remote Control Records)
Hellions – Opera Oblivia (UNFD)
Parkway Drive – Ire (Resist/Cooking Vinyl Australia)
The Amity Affliction – This Could Be Heartbreak (Roadrunner Records)
Twelve Foot Ninja – Outlier (Volkanik/MGM)

Best Adult Contemporary Album

WINNER: Bernard Fanning – Civil Dusk (Dew Process/Universal Music)
Bob Evans – Car Boot Sale (EMI)
Paul Kelly – Seven Sonnets & A Song (Gawd Aggie Recordings/Universal Music)
Robert Forster – Songs To Play (EMI)
Tina Arena – Eleven (EMI)

Best Adult Alternative Album

WINNER: Sarah Blasko – Eternal Return (EMI)
Jarryd James – Thirty One (Dryden Street Limited/Universal Music)
Matt Corby – Telluric (Mercury Records Australia/Universal Music)
Peter Garrett – A Version of Now (Sony Music)
The Temper Trap – Thick As Thieves (Liberation Music)

Best Country Album

WINNER: Sara Storer – Silos (ABC Music/Universal Music)
Adam Brand and the Outlaws – Adam Brand and the Outlaws (ABC Music/Universal Music)
Bill Chambers – Cold Trail (Checked Label Services)
Fanny Lumsden – Small Town Big Shot (Social Family Records/Universal Music)
The Wolfe Brothers – This Crazy Life (ABC Music/Universal Music)

Best Blues & Roots Album

WINNER: Russell Morris – Red Dirt Red Heart (Chugg Music/MGM)
Jimmy Barnes – Soul Searchin’ (Liberation Music)
Kev Carmody – Recollections… Reflections… (A Journey) (One Louder Recordings/Universal Music)
The Cat Empire – Rising With The Sun (Two Shoes Records)
The Wilson Pickers – You Can’t Catch Fish From A Train (ABC Music/UMA)

Best Children’s Album

WINNER: The Wiggles – Wiggle Town! (ABC Music/Universal Music)
Justine Clarke – Pyjama Jam! (ABC Music/Universal Music)
Pat Davern – Alexander The Elephant In Zanzibar (ABC Music/Universal Music)
Play School – Famous Friends: Celebrating 50 Years of Play School (ABC Music/Universal Music)
Sam Moran – Play Along With Sam: BEST. DAY. EVER! (6 Degrees Records/MGM)

Public Voted Awards

Best Australian Live Act

WINNER: Hilltop Hoods – The Restrung Tour (Hilltop Hoods/Universal Music)
Courtney Barnett – National Theatre Tour (Milk!/Remote Control)
Flume – St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival 2016 (Future Classic)
Gang Of Youths – Gang Of Youths National Tour (Mosy Recordings/Sony Music)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity Tour (Flightless Records/Remote Control Records)
RÜFÜS – Bloom Tour (Sweat It Out/Sony Music)
Tame Impala – Australian Tour (Modular/Universal Music)
The Living End – Shift Tour (Dew Process/Universal Music)
Violent Soho – The WACO Tour (I Oh You)
You Am I – Bargain Bin Bon Vivants Tour (The You Am I Set/Inertia)

Song of the Year 

WINNER: Troye Sivan – Youth (EMI)
Flume – Never Be Like You (feat. Kai) (Future Classic)
Hilltop Hoods – 1955 (feat. Montaigne & Thom Thum) (Hilltop Hoods/Universal Music)
Illy – Papercuts (feat. Vera Blue) (Warner Music Australia)
Kungs vs. Cookin’ On 3 Burners – This Girl (UNI/UMA)
Keith Urban feat. Carrie Underwood – The Fighter (Capital/EMI)
L D R U – Keeping Score (feat. Paige IV) (Audio Paxx Agency/Sony Music)
Marcus Marr & Chet Faker The Trouble With Us (Detail Records)
Sia – Cheap Thrills (Monkey Puzzle/Inertia)
The Veronicas – In My Blood (Sony Music)

Best Video

WINNER: Troye Sivan – Youth Acoustic (Sydney Session) (EMI)
Courtney Barnett – Elevator Operator (Milk!/Remote Control)
Delta Goodrem – Dear Life (Sony Music)
Flume – Never Be Like You (feat. Kai) (Future Classic)
Guy Sebastian – Black & Blue (Sony Music)
Hilltop Hoods – 1955 (feat. Montaigne & Tom Thum) (Hilltop Hoods/Universal Music)
Illy – Papercuts (feat. Vera Blue) (Warner Music Australia)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – People-Vultures (Flightless Records/Remote Control Records)
Sia – Cheap Thrills (Monkey Puzzle/Inertia)
Violent Soho – Like Soda (I Oh You)

Best International Artist 

WINNER: One Direction – Made in the A.M & Four (SYCO/Sony Music Entertainment)
Adele – 25 (XL/Inertia)
Beyonce – Lemonade (Columbia/Sony Music Entertainment)
Coldplay – A Head Full Of Dreams (PLG/Warner)
Drake – Views & If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (Universal/Universal Music Australia)
Meghan Trainor – Title & Thank You (Sony Music Entertainment)
Justin Bieber – Purpose (DEF/Universal Music Australia)
Taylor Swift – 1989 (BIG/Universal Music Australia)
twenty one pilots – Blurryface (Atlantic/Warner)
The Weeknd – Beauty Behind The Madness (Universal/Universal Music Australia)