NZ Music Awards Honour Stars Young And Old
19th October 2007 - c/o stuff.co.nz


Atlas performs at the New Zealand Music Awards.
Photo / Dean Purcell, nzherald.co.nz

Christchurch rockers Atlas opened the 2007 Vodafone NZ Music Awards in Auckland on Thursday night with a live performance of their number one hit 'Crawl', the song which earnt them a Tui for Highest Selling Single. It was The Mint Chicks night however with the foursome - headed by brothers Kody and Ruban Nielson - beating Brooke Fraser, Hollie Smith, Evermore and Opshop to win the Album of the Year Tui for their highly acclaimed second album Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!

The Mint Chicks also took out awards for Best Group and Best Rock Album, while the video for the title song earned the clip's director Sam Peacocke a Tui for Best Video. Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! was named last year's best album by critics at Stuff.co.nz. Though trumped by The Mint Chicks for Album of the Year, all the other contenders won at least one other Tui at the awards ceremony in Auckland's Aotea Centre.

Wellington vocalist Hollie Smith, considered unlucky not to win single of the year in 2006 with Mt Raskil Preservation Society for the Don McGlashan-penned Bathe In The River, earned ample consolation this year with three awards. She won the Best Female Solo Artist, Breakthrough Artist and Best Aotearoa-Roots Album awards for her work on her debut album Long Player.

Australian-based Feilding trio Evermore won the coveted Single of the Year award for Light Surrounding You and also took out the International Achievement Award. Light Surrounding You earlier this year became the first song by a New Zealand artist to top the Australian singles charts for more than 10 years.

Opshop won the People's Choice Award, voted on by the public, while Fraser won the Highest Selling Album for Albertine and the Airplay award for her song Deciphering Me.

Two veteran male artists also earned Tuis. Ex-Split Enz frontman Tim Finn was named Best Male Solo Artist for his album Imaginary Kingdom, while pioneering 1950s "New Zealand Elvis" Johnny Devlin won the Legacy Award.
There was a touch of poignancy when an album featuring remixes of landmark recordings by the late Hirini Melbourne, a pioneering Maori musician who died in 2003, and Richard Nunns won the Best Maori Album for Tui for Te Whaiao: Te Ku Te Whe Remixed. The album featured remixes by SJD, Sola Rosa, Pitch Black, Salmonella Dub and Warren Maxwell of 1993 recordings by Melbourne and Richard Nunns, both major figures in the research, revival of knowledge and performance of traditional Maori instruments.

The Highest Selling Single Award went to Atlas for their song Crawl. Other winners included PNC for Best Urban/Hip-hop Album, Shapeshifter for Best Dance/Electronica Album, Rapture Ruckus for best Gospel/Christian album and John Psathas for Best Classical Album.

Earlier in the evening the stars brought all the glitz and glamour of a Hollywood red carpet event to Auckland.
Rock bands OpShop and Evermore, singers Brooke Fraser and Hollie Smith, and hip-hop star Scribe were among those that walked the red carpet leading up to Auckland's Aotea Centre. A slight drizzle of rain dampened proceedings, and a small crowd of fans, photographers and interviewers greeted stars as they arrived for the ceremony.

Kody Nielson, whose band the Mint Chicks is nominated for four awards, said: "I'm not expecting to win any, but I'd like to win the rock album."

Evermore said they were looking forward to performances by the Mint Chicks and Jon Toogood.
Rock band Goodnight Nurse were caught by a Stuff.co.nz film crew avoiding the red carpet and sneaking in a back entrance. The show opened with a bizarre performance by the lycra-clad host Dai Henwood and the Vodafone cheerleading team, before rock act Atlas performed their hit single Crawl.

Other performers included Brooke Fraser, the Mint Chicks, Hollie Smith and Evermore.

The winners:
Album of the Year: The Mint Chicks - Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!
Single of the Year: Evermore - Light Surrounding You
People's Choice Award: Opshop
Best Group: The Mint Chicks - Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!
Best Male Solo Artist: Tim Finn - Imaginary Kingdom
Best Female Solo Artist: Hollie Smith - Long Player
Breakthrough Artist of the Year: Hollie Smith - Long Player
Best Rock Album: The Mint Chicks - Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!
Best Urban/Hip Hop Album: PNC - Rookie Card
Best Aotearoa Roots Album: Hollie Smith - Long Player
Best Music Video: Sam Peacocke - Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! (The Mint Chicks)
Best Dance/Electronica Album: Shapeshifter - Soulstice
Best Maori Album: Richard Nunns & Hirini Melbourne - Te Whaiao: Te Ku Te Whe Remixed
Best Gospel/Christian Album: Rapture Ruckus - I Believe
Best Classical Album: John Psathas - View From Olympus
Legacy Award: Johnny Devlin
International Achievement: Evermore
Highest Selling Album: Brooke Fraser - Albertine
Highest Selling Single: Atlas - Crawl
Airplay Record of the Year: Brooke Fraser - Deciphering Me.
Best Album Cover: Ruban Nielson for Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! by The Mint Chicks
Best Engineer: Chris Van Der Geer, engineer on Parlour Games by Revolver
Best Producer: Jeremy Toy and Hollie Smith for Long Player by Hollie Smith
-With NZPA

Edited highlights of the 2007 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards are being screened tonight (October 18) on C4 from 8.30pm and on TV3 this Sunday (October 22).

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About the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards: 
The Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards are presented by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) and are held annually to celebrate the achievements of New Zealand musicians. The 42nd Annual Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards ceremony takes place in the ASB Theatre of Auckland’s Aotea Centre - The Edge® on Thursday October 18.  For the first time, people will be able to catch all the action on the night by tuning into C4 from 8.30pm. TV3 also broadcasts the show on Sunday 21 October at 10.30pm.

Vodafone is 100% dedicated to music and as such is New Zealand’s Number One seller of digital music, and the biggest overall seller of singles in this market. Vodafone has exclusive content from some of NZ’s best artists including Fat Freddy’s Drop, Shapeshifter and Hollie Smith and is committed to getting more music, to more Kiwis, more often. Now you can rely on NZ’s number one communications company to deliver your music wherever you are, whenever.

Tuis awarded at separate functions throughout the year, and again recognised at the awards are Best Folk Album, Best Pacific Music Album and Best Country Music Album.

The Best Jazz Album Tui is to be presented at the Wellington International Jazz Festival in November and the winner will be acknowledged at the New Zealand Music Awards 2008.

For more information about the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards go to www.nzmusicawards.co.nz and www.myspace.com/nzmusicawards