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The 2010 ARIA Awards

Last night's ARIA Awards, ambitiously presented on the Opera House forecourt, were an exercise in how not to stage a live awards show.

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Gosh that was awkward….

I love award nights for the times when they veer off script. But last night’s ARIA Awards seemed so far off-script I was praying it would get back on it.

FremantleMedia Australia broadcast the 2010 event from the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House. It has previously staged Australian Idol finales there before. Apparently it’s uber-cool. But while it works great for pre-show entertainment and Red Carpet, it just makes me wish they had booked  the Concert Hall instead.

Indoor events on a stage may be very traditional, but they are a lot more focussed than the scary montage I watched last night. A relaxed show also lends itself to moments of chemistry. The only chemistry I saw last night was Myf Warhurst awe-struck by Silverchair’s Chris Joannou.

Now I understand why Jimmy Barnes had criticised the event in the lead-up to the event, likening it to trying to recreate a Countdown concert instead of it actually being about the industry.

Last night the industry was left to wander around sipping a glass in the wind on the steps of the Opera House. Cheers for your year in music, guys. Have another bubbly.

On the positive side, most of the performances were entertaining -and that can’t have been easy in an outside broadcast. Washington turned it on with a performance practically channelling Marilyn Monroe’s “Diamond are a Girl’s Best Friend”. Guy Sebastian’s closing number “I Like It Like That” continues to show his versatility. Dan Sultan was a great fit with INXS.

But the hosts weren’t given enough to distinguish themselves from presenters. Natalie Bassingthwaighte spent the whole night yelling.

And where do we start with the Presenters? Awkwardly staged like gatecrashers, they were frequently shot from low angles with shadows cast everytime somebody moved. Bob Katter (calling them the “ARIARIAs”) took forever to announce a winner. The Church’s Steve Kilbey took longer still, until somebody off camera told him to get on with it. Lara Bingle’s contibution was to ask Jason Derulo “How are you?” The kids from Operator Please seemed a bit dazed by the autocue.

And Jessica Mauboy? Calling “Debut” as “De-butt” was bad enough once. What the hell, let’s do it a second time. The word “rehearsal” springs to mind, Jess…

Things were also awkward when winners had to make their way to a point somwhere in the crowd to receive their trophy. There were issues assembling winners to face the camera. It was worse when people tried to slink away after speeches. A couple of cutaways didn’t help.

Marcia Hines acknowledged the passing of James Freud. What a shame all we saw was a long-distance shot on a screen (not even acknowledging any of his music). Nobody remembered Dame Joan Sutherland and we’re at the bloody Opera House. A crime.

The big winners of the night were Angus and Julia Stone (they thanked their dog… bit of a change from thanking God), Washington, Powderfinger and The Temper Trap who each received two trophies.

After last year’s disappointing ARIAs on Nine, it was a shame this felt more like an ARIAs-progressive dinner. It paled beside ARIAs that were produced by Roving Enterprises, and reminds us how creative some awards can be: Kid’s Choice Awards, anyone?

Finally, Modern Family‘s Eric Stonestreet politely kept up the enthusiasm, but couldn’t help but admit he really wanted to be on the stage of the Sydney Opera House.

We’re with you on that one, Eric.

108 Responses

  1. The 2011 ARIA’s was like a functioning motorcyle with its front wheel missing. It could have been slick, entertaining and relevant, instead it was disorientating and cringe-filled. I thought the live performances were ace, the staging was awesome. The nomination packages and surrounding graphics looked cool but everything else (aka the other 50%) was painful.

    The guest presenters were ill produced, the camera angles sucked and the chemistry between the dual presenters lacked. None of the presenters knew where to look and when, let alone what to say to one another. I thought the lack of actual awards was a shame. ARIA should have demand the Hall Of Fame induction remain. This for me is always a highlight. A good homage to the Australian music industry as a whole.

    The 2011 ARIA’s will go down as the awards night that could’ve been but just wasn’t. Clearly the result of Network Execs demands crushing the producers capacity to execute a show that works. 2hrs was never going to be long enough. The blown-out broadcast time and rambling acceptance speeches is all a part of the ARIA charm. Last night’s show, quite simply, left me feeling dizzy.

  2. @ Bella, I’d be willing to bet someone told Ricki-Lee that it was going to be hilarious. Shame it fell flatter than a pancake!

    Overall, I can see what they were trying to do – they just failed to come even close to pulling it off! Give it back to the team from Roving!

  3. IMO Rebel and the performance by Washington were the standouts for the night.

    However, whoever chose to dress Rebel in such a hideous, insulting manner needs to be put up against a wall. She looked 100% better before the show even started with her hair pulled back and wearing jeans and a jacket.

    Was it a joke outfit or what!?

    Also I think Ruby Rose forgot to look in the mirror before she left the house!!

  6. Isn’t all of the “banter” scripted? In that case, Rikki-Lee didn’t write what she said, and the actor was in on it. He deliberately mentioned his girlfriend, she “reacted” (very forced) and it was clear that they were both uncomfortable with the way it was going. Blame the writers, not the actors. I mentioned in another thread that I’m sure the atmosphere was fantastic for the live audience (as slam verified), but for a televised event, it was woeful. Congratulations to the winners and hats off to the professionals who had to perform under such terrible conditions.

  9. Have to agree on the review. Would live to have known what causes the edit to Jess Mauboy’s speech…a big wideshot of the harbor with no sound whatsoever suggests something needed fixing – not the “dee-butt” debacle sadly.

    What was with the voice-over girl? Did she just walk past the mike and thought she’d have a crack?

    I admire them for being brave enough to play with the format but clearly more rehearsal was required. How on earth it would have worked had it rained I have no idea!

  10. Unfortunately this is the result of a production company and/or broadcaster deciding ” let’s do an awards night completely differently” only to discover that the success of any vision, conventional or otherwise, is solely dependant on a solid foundation of production values, good judgement, sober and competent talent and precise organisation.

  11. David,
    Considering the avalanche of criticism Wendy Harmer got after she hosted the Logies, I’m amazed at how “quiet” the tabloids are on last night’s disaster ?
    Maybe some of the writers are happy with the “alternative” slant this year ?

  13. Oh good grief … I only watched part of it and what I saw just made me cringe. Ricki-Lee was downright offensive. NatBass was just not right and it reminded me of all the mistakes she did on SYTYCD. It was good having it outside (is this what it’ll be like for Oprah?) but agree with David the whole set up of having the winners walk through a crowd to get their award didn’t work (plus carrying around glasses of wine). Also the “trophy” girl was always in the shot or handed the winner the trophy instead of the presenter, which didn’t work for me. Also the juggling of the mikes to the winner and getting them back off the them looked strange. I can’t remember who it was but the person who was with Carmen Electra literally snatched the award out of her hands and gave it to the winner.

    Oh well we learn from our mistakes don’t we?

  14. Yumi Stynes and James Mathison were good. They have credibility and warmth and humour. They totally should host next year! Anyone who pays Nat Bass to host gets what they deserve.

  15. Natalie Bassingthwaighte was a great choice for host to be honest. She was one of the only people who were able to string words together the whole night. Honourable mention to Stan Walker’s presenting skills – fluent and likeable.

  20. @Kev

    That’s understandable, what’s best may not be the best seller, but what is the criteria to judge what’s best? That is my concern regarding certain awards, such as “Best Single”.

  24. The stage design i liked, but clearly the music industry is being bought out by the church in this country. Goodbye sex, drugs & rock’n’ roll (although I’m more of a dance gal!)
    Please spend the money on proffessionals with experiance(they are out there!)and put on a show of excellance. washington tried but liza or marilyn she ain’t! she needs more training. besides Kylies already done it & well!
    Take risks & be creative Please but make sure your production guys know their sh*t!

  25. I was there last night and had an awesome time. I went to the ARIA’s a few years back when it was at Homebush and that was abysmal- the flow of the evening was to the detriment of the audience who were there in person.

    Last night was great, with the DJ’s playing between sets the atmosphere was really good but the actual presentaion side of things was a let down (not withstanding Rebel’s good job). Projection issues were evident, we really don’t need to see the file screen at an event as big as this and the ratio of young children to adults needs to be addressed but on the whole it was a fun night.

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