Troye Sivan has dominated this year’s Arias by winning four awards, including song of the year and best solo artist for his single Rush.
But the ceremony in Sydney on Wednesday night was marked by calls for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war by another multiple award winner, the Australian-Ghanaian singer Genesis Owusu.
The artist, real name Kofi Owusu-Ansah, appeared via video link from London and used his acceptance speech for album of the year for Struggler to appeal for peace in the Middle East.
“There are a lot of atrocious, atrocious things happening in the world right now,” he said. “We must do what we can to stop it at any junction that we can. With that being said: ceasefire now, ceasefire now, ceasefire now. Free Palestine.”
Owusu, who also won best hip-hop/rap release and best independent release for his second album, was not alone in using the awards platform to make a political point.
The Melbourne rock outfit Jet, who are this year celebrating the 20th anniversary of their 2003 debut album Get Born, were inducted into the Aria hall of fame, prompting their frontman, Nic Cester, to make a plea for peace.
“It’s impossible to … not be confronted by the destruction being committed by war, racism, politics,” he told the audience at the Hordern Pavilion. “I know a lot of people have been divided and are struggling with this, and it’s often in moments like this that I’m reminded of the importance of art and music, which I think sit at the opposite end of that spectrum. Music has always been an antidote in our lives during troubled moments.”
On the artistic front, the night was a triumph for Perth-raised Sivan who, along with his producer Stylaz Fuego, picked up best engineered release and best produced release.
Sivan’s sweep is particularly impressive given that his third album, Something to Give Each Other, was only released in October after the Aria nominations were finalised. That means it was not eligible for nomination in the best album category this year – and that the popstar could well be back in 2024 to pick up another prize.
It’s not the first Aria win for Sivan, who previously picked up two awards in 2016 for his breakthrough single, Youth. But this win comes in the biggest year yet in the musician and actor’s career. In the past week alone Sivan has picked up two Grammy nominations (his first nods from the US recording academy) and, in a reliable mark of cultural relevance, been lampooned by the actor Timothée Chalamet on Saturday Night Live. 2023 has also seen him enjoy a high-profile acting role in the controversial series The Idol, while Rush has hit the top 10 in in seven countries.
“Guys, this has been the most insane week of my life ever,” Sivan said, accepting the award for song of the year. “I try and play cool like it’s normal but it’s really, really tripping me out and it’s so exciting .... I’m 28 now and I’ve been doing this for 10, 11 years at this point, so to feel this much energy and love, I’m confused, but I’m so, so happy.”
Rush, which was described by the Guardian’s Michael Sun as “pure gay smut”, was inspired by the queer nightclubs in Sivan’s adopted home of Melbourne. But his racy video clip for Rush – the popularity of which played a big role in propelling the song to success – was apparently ineligible for the publicly voted best video award, as it was filmed in Germany.
That prize instead went to the Melbourne instrumentalist G Flip, who also picked up the Aria for best live act. In perhaps the most exciting celebrity appearance of the night, G Flip was joined on the red carpet by their reality star wife, Chrishell Stause, who flew out from LA for the ceremony.
Elsewhere in the awards ceremony, MK and Dom Dolla took out best electronic release, and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard won best rock album. Other winners included the Sydney rock group DMA’s, who were named best group, and Kylie Minogue, who edged out Sivan to pick up best pop release for her runaway hit Padam Padam. The Mornington Peninsula four-piece Teenage Dads took out the Michael Gudinski breakthrough artist category.
And newcomer Forest Claudette nabbed their first Aria for best soul/R&B release, while celebrity guest presenters included Dolly Parton, who appeared via video link to present the award for best country music to Fanny Lumsden. “It’s great to see country music doing so well down under,” Parton said in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance.
