The ARIA Awards came and went. Yawn. A wrap up is on The Age. For the uninitiated, the ARIAs are the Australian Record Industry Awards.

I don’t recall them being this shitty. And full of ring-ins. As Brendan Maclean tweeted: ‘Because when I think music I think: Bob Katter, Carmen Electra, Lara Bingle and Geoff Huegill.’ The ARIAs were deemed a sellout by Jimmy Barnes this week. And its future was debated.

I was excited about the ‘new guard‘ nominated for awards. Some quality artists. I thought those who attended and hosted the awards would be too. Pity the award show wasn’t the same quality. I love Australian music and I expect more from the industry to honour and recognise our fine artists. It was shameful. And shambolic.

Most presenters seemed uninformed and disinterested. The main hosts didn’t actually host. The logistics of the show were disorganised. Most performances other than Megan Washington’s and Angus and Julia Stone’s were lacklustre I hated it.

I read some incredibly funny tweets about the ARIA awards tonight. I loved the observations people made.

Here are my twitter comments as the awards unfolded (click on pictures for sources):

I wish Powderfinger could have played a classic song of theirs for their last TV performance. Passenger. These Days? #ARIAS

What has Rebel Wilson got to do with the Australian music industry?

Megan Washington and Yumi Stynes. Two new girl crushes. #ARIAS

Anti drug ads on in ARIA ad breaks. Do the musos at the ARIAS see the ad breaks? #ARIAS #justsaying

Bob Katter is like a cartoon character. Why is he there??? #ARIAS

Bob Katter needs to work on his pronunciation. ‘Ah-rar-ia’ #ARIAS

Sia has overtaken Connie from Sneaky Sound System for most interesting outfit at the #ARIAS. Connie now dressed by Cue?

I like the fact that Sia’s dress can be reused to rope off the forecourt of the Opera House post #ARIAS
Is Sia just singing/ad-libbing over a recorded version of her song? Can’t work it out, mesmorised by her dress. #ARIAS

Taking a phenergan for hayfever. It will be a race to see which puts me to sleep first. #ARIAS or phernergan?

Shut the fuck up British guy fawning to Carmen Electra. Australian music is NOT about Carmen Electra’s body. #ARIAS

Clare Bowditch I hope you are correctly forecasting the rest of the ARIA awards when you said ‘it just keeps getting better’. Please. #ARIAS

Powderfinger’s announcement they’re playing 2011 Big Day Out was met with NO RESPONSE. Is it a fable? #ARIAS

I just want to hear Rebel Wilson tell me how many minutes until someone turns the #ARIAS off at the switch.

Tim Rogers to Kasey Chambers: ‘please, please can you tell me what the hell we’re doing here’ – quote of the night. #ARIAS

The guy from Jet is superfluous next to James Matheson. Good looking, but disinterested. And uninformed. ‘their single from their album’

Stan Walker (neck tatt) couldn’t read Dan Sultan’s name. He needed Fuzzy to help. Idol clearly wasn’t a remedial reading class. #ARIAS

Best bit of the #ARIAS = seeing Angus and Julia Stone’s video clip.

I love how Angus Stone didn’t dress up for the awards. It’s like a middle finger to the trainwreck #ARIAS

Is that Ruby Rose’s real hair? I can’t keep up with her hair changes. #ARIAS

Megan Washington you are the best thing about the #ARIAS. Holy shit you sure can turn it on.

I love the feathers. And the dress. And the haircut. And the performance. I love Megan Washington. #ARIAS

Jess Mauboy pronounced ‘debut’ as de-butt. Again, clearly Idol wasn’t remedial reading class. #ARIAS

Axl Whitehead, are you gonna get your wang out? It could make the night more interesting. #ARIAS

Yes indeed. The ARIAS are a little bit of a disappointment. Modern Family guy, you said it. #ARIAS

Angus and Julia Stone. Wow. 🙂

A 5 sec montage and a small, feint, clap? Seriously, James Freud deserved a bit more of a tribute than that.

Nat Bass is a trillion times more upbeat than Angus and Julia Stone. But I love The Stones a trillion times more.

Isn’t someone legendary meant to close an awards show? Then why do we see Guy Sebastian close the #ARIAS?

>>End of tweeting. Following the Twitter feed was far more entertaining than the ARIAs.

I felt embarrassed by the ARIAs tonight. It has become less about the music and more about… well, I can’t pin point what it’s about. D-Grade celebs? Apathy? A clear disinterest in and lack of awareness about our fine artists? I hope if the awards continue, it won’t be as bad as this year.

I can’t find Megan Washington’s gorgeous performance online yet. I have to find it!!

On a side note, this new romance was suggested today. Cute couple. Angus Stone and Isabel Lucas. Though I can’t imagine they’d be too talkative around each other.