Thirty-two finalists vie for 16 Tuis

Friday September 2, 2005

Thirty-two finalists vie for 16 Tuis at the 2005 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards

Variety is the watchword with a heady mix of veteran artists, previous Tui Award winners and new faces as the organisers announce the finalists for the 2005 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards.

And in celebrating 40 years of awards, it’s fitting some of the big guns of New Zealand music join rising stars for the event that celebrates the best in Kiwi music over the preceding 12 months (01 June 2004 – 31 May 2005).

The finalists for the 16 award categories at the 2005 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards have been announced at a function at the Hilton Auckland tonight (September 2).

P-Money, DJ extraordinaire and one of the country’s finest hip hop producers, leads the field with nods in six categories.

Pacific purveyors of hi tech soul Fat Freddy’s Drop join former Tui award winners Savage and Shihad, each vying for top honours in four awards categories.

Finalists in three categories each are iconic Kiwi rockers the Finn Brothers and the talented Brooke Fraser together with newcomers Breaks Co-Op and Dei Hamo.

Finalists in two categories each are Dave Dobbyn, The Phoenix Foundation, Tha Feelstyle and Yulia Townsend.

Other finalists include Audiosauce, Baitercell & Schumacher, Chris Graham (Best Music Video), Dan Poynton, Debbie Harwood, Del Rey System, Goldenhorse, Greg Page (Best Music Video), Jonathan Lemalu, Jordan Reyne, Katchafire, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Pluto, Reuben Sutherland (Best Music Video), SJD, The Checks, The D4, Tower New Zealand Youth Choir, Trinityroots and the feelers.

The Tui awards will be presented by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) at the 40th annual awards ceremony in Auckland on October 5.

RIANZ music awards spokesperson Adam Holt is delighted with the wide variety of artists amongst the finalists.

”There is a broad representation of musical styles and talent indicative of the depth in New Zealand music right now.

“And it’s fantastic to see the mix of new faces and well known artists – it’s a real sign of our industry coming of age.

“Again we see the primary aim of the awards being fulfilled – that is, to promote and celebrate the talented pool of New Zealand artists and musicians who continue to produce world-class recordings. says Holt.

P-Money is a finalist in six award categories; KIWI Single of the Year and Highest Selling New Zealand Single for Stop The Music and Best Male Solo Artist and Durex Best Urban / Hip Hop Album for Magic City. He’s also a finalist for the Vodafone People’s Choice Award and a co-finalist with Greg Page in the C4 Best Music Video category for Stop The Music.

P-Money won two Tuis last year for co-writing Scribe’s Not Many-The Remix (Scribe, P-Money, Con Psy & Savage) and as producer of Scribe’s album, The Crusader.

Wellington based seven piece band Fat Freddy’s Drop is a finalist in the PlayStation® 2 SingStar™ Album of the Year, Best Aotearoa Roots Album and Coke Fridge Best Group for its debut album Based on a True Story. The group is also a finalist in the Vodafone People’s Choice Award category.

Savage’s Moonshine delivers four finalist nods in Best Male Solo Artist, Durex Best Urban / Hip Hop Album and Highest Selling New Zealand Single. Savage is also up for the Vodafone People’s Choice Award. In 2004 Savage garnered a Tui award for co-writing Scribe’s Not Many-The Remix (written by Scribe, P-Money, Con Psy & Savage).

Shihad makes a welcome return to the music awards with four finalist nominations in PlayStation® 2 SingStar™ Album of the Year, Coke Fridge Best Group and Best Rock Album with the platinum selling album Love Is The New Hate. The band is also a finalist in the Vodafone People’s Choice Award. Shihad has picked up several Tui awards since the group’s debut in 1992 when it won Most Promising Group. The band’s last success was in 2001 with a second International Achievement Award.

The Finn Brothers’ Everyone Is Here and the album’s stand-out single Won’t Give In are finalists in PlayStation® 2 SingStar™ Album of the Year, 42BELOW Highest Selling New Zealand Album and KIWI Single of the Year. The Finn brothers, Neil and Tim are no strangers to the Tui hall of fame having received six awards collectively between 1985 and 1999.

Brooke Fraser’s three finalist nominations are for 42BELOW Highest Selling New Zealand Album (What To Do With Daylight) and KIWI Single of the Year and The New Zealand Herald Songwriter of the Year for Arithmetic. In 2004 she won two Tuis following the release of the triple selling platinum album What To Do With Daylight.

Dei Hamo is a finalist in Clean & Clear® Breakthrough Artist of the Year for his album First Edition and Highest Selling New Zealand Single for his platinum selling debut single We Gon Ride. He is a co-finalist with Chris Graham in the C4 Best Music Video category for the We Gon Ride music video.

Breaks Co-Op earns three finalist nods, for The Sound Inside in the PlayStation® 2 SingStar™ Album of the Year and the single The Otherside in the KIWI Single of the Year category while band members Andy Lovegrove, Zane Lowe and Hamish Clark are finalists in The New Zealand Herald Songwriter of the Year for The Otherside.

Two additional Tuis will be presented at the gala event at the Aotea Centre The EDGE®, for International Achievement Award and Outstanding Contribution Award. There are no ‘finalists’ for either category.

NOTE TO EDITORS: The full list of finalists for the 2005 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards accompanies this release. Also attached is a news release announcing the winners of the Technical Awards.

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. 2005 is the 40th anniversary of the awards and television audiences will see delayed broadcasts on C4 on Thursday October 6 from 8.30 pm repeated on Sunday October 9 at the same time. TV3 also broadcasts the show on Saturday October 8 at 11.30pm.

The winners in the following categories will be announced and Tui trophies presented on October 5:

PlayStation®2 SingStar™ Album of the Year, KIWI Single of the Year, Coke Fridge Best Group, Best Male Solo Artist, Best Female Solo Artist, Clean & Clear® Breakthrough Artist of the Year, The New Zealand Herald Songwriter of the Year, 42BELOW Highest Selling NZ Album, Highest Selling NZ Single, Best Rock Album, Durex Best Urban/Hip Hop Album, Best Dance/Electronica Album, Best Aotearoa Roots Album, C4 Best Music Video, Best Classical Album, Vodafone People’s Choice Award, International Achievement Award & Outstanding Contribution Award.

The Country, Folk, Pacific and Jazz music Tuis are presented at functions organised by the relevant industry associations and the technical awards at a separate function at which the main award finalists are announced. Two awards for Outstanding Contribution to the Growth of NZ Music on Radio were presented at the NZ Radio Awards in April. All winners are again recognised at the main event on October 5.

The Vodafone People’s Choice Award Finalists for the Vodafone People’s Choice Award in 2005 are Fat Freddy’s Drop, Shihad, the feelers, Savage and P Money.

Members of the public can vote for their favourite artist by TXT: TXT A for Shihad, B for Fat Freddy’s Drop, C for the feelers, D for Savage or E for P Money to 3939. TXT votes cost 20c each. Voting opens at 6pm Friday September 2, 2005 and closes at 5pm Wednesday September 28, 2005.

ENDS

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