2007 NZ Music Awards Finalists and Technical Tui Winners Announced

13th September 2007

The winners of the three Technical Awards in the Vodafone NZ Music Awards 2007 were announced in Auckland last night and the musicians themselves were prominent in proceedings.

Studio whiz/stellar* guitarist Chris Van Der Geer picked up the Best Engineer award for his work on the "Parlour Games" album by Revolver.

Jeremy Toy (recognised along with an absent Hollie Smith) picked up the Best Producer trophy, the first of what will likely be a clutch of 2007 Tuis going the way of Hollie for her impressive debut "Long Player".

The Best Album Cover award went to Ruban Nielson, guitarist and evidently also artist/designer par excellence of The Mint Chicks for their Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! album. Ruban didn't have much to say but may just have been saving his breath for the main awards night in mid October when The Mint Chicks can reasonably expect to climbing up on stage almost as often as Hollie. They are finalists in the Album of the Year, Best Group and Best Rock Album categories while Hollie Smith is also up for Album of the Year, Best Female Solo Artist, Breakthrough Artist and Best Aotearoa Roots Album.

It was also announced that Johnny Devlin will become the recipient of the inaugural NZ Herald Legacy Award and he will also be inducted into the recently announced NZ Music Hall of Fame when the 'glittering' Vodafone NZ Music Awards happens at Auckland's Aotea Centre on October 18th.

Hollie Smith and The Mint Chicks are among the front runners for more trophies to add to their Technical Awards.

But it's mainstream for young and old popsters Evermore and Opshop who lead the pack of finalists by figuring in five categories. Smith and Brooke Fraser have made it into four, The Mint Chicks and Liam Finn three, while Shapeshifter and The Black Seeds feature in two categories.

Most of that list are finalists for the People's Choice Award in which the public can vote for their preferred act by TXTing to 787:
To vote for Black Seeds TXT Blackseeds
To vote for Brooke Fraser TXT Brooke
To vote for Evermore TXT Evermore
To vote for Opshop TXT Opshop
To vote for Shapeshifter TXT Shapeshifter

FINALISTS FOR THE VODAFONE NZ MUSIC AWARDS 2007

Nokia Album of the Year
Brooke Fraser "Albertine"
Evermore - "Real Life"
Hollie Smith - "Long Player"
Opshop - "Second Hand Planet"
The Mint Chicks - "Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!"

Vodafone Single of the Year
Brooke Fraser Deciphering Me
Evermore Light Surrounding You
Liam Finn Second Chance
Opshop Maybe
The Tutts - K

Vodafone People¹s Choice Award
Evermore
Brooke Fraser
Opshop
The Black Seeds
Shapeshifter

Steinlager Pure Best Group
Evermore - "Real Life"
Opshop - "Second Hand Planet"
The Mint Chicks - "Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!"

Best Male Solo Artist
Greg Johnson - "Anyone Can Say Goodbye"
Paul McLaney - "Edin"
Tim Finn - "Imaginary Kingdom"

Mazda Best Female Solo Artist
Brooke Fraser - "Albertine"
Hollie Smith - "Long Player"
Hayley Westenra - "Treasure"

KIWI FM Breakthrough Artist of the Year
Atlas - "Crawl"
Hollie Smith - "Long Player"
Liam Finn - "Second Chance"

PPNZ Best Rock Album
Evermore - "Real Life"
Opshop - "Second Hand Planet"
The Mint Chicks - "Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!"

Best Urban/Hip Hop Album
4 Corners - "The Foundations"
Deceptikonz - "Heavy Rotation"
PNC - "Rookie Card"

Best Aotearoa Roots Album
Age Pryor - "Shanks Pony"
Hollie Smith - "Long Player"
The Black Seeds - "Into the Dojo"

C4 Best Music Video
Angus Sutherland and Liam Finn - Second Chance (Liam Finn)
Sam Peacocke - Crazy?Yes!Dumb?No! (The Mint chicks)
Stephen Tolfrey - Maybe (Opshop)

Best Dance/Electronica Album
Bulletproof - "Shake The Foundations"
Shapeshifter - "Soulstice"
State Of Mind - "Take Control"

Best Maori Album
Adam Whauwhau - "Tukuna Mai"
Richard Nunns & Hirini Melbourne - "Te Whaiao: Te Ku Te Whe Remixed"
Toi Hautu - "Na Te Atua"

Best Gospel/Christian Album
Hannah Donald - "Unfinished Journey"
Magnify - "Alive Within"
Rapture Ruckus - "I Believe"

Best Classical Album
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and James Judd - Lilburn - "Orchestral Works"
John Psathas - "View From Olympus"
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa - "Kiri Sings Karl"

Presentations will also be made for the Highest Selling NZ Single, Highest Selling NZ Album, Radio Airplay Record of the Year and International Achievement awards.