Lorde To Dominate Again?

At the nominations for this year’s awards, unveiled Oct. 16 at Auckland’s Pullman Hotel, the 17-year-old picked up five nominations: best album, single (“Team”), female solo artist, pop album (Pure Heroine), and the People’s Choice award. Classical trio Sol3 Mio, whose self-titled album outsold Lorde’s in the home market, also picked up five including best album, group and breakthrough artist.

Other nominees included nu-soul singer Ladi6, part-Samoan hip-hopper David Dallas, alt-rock band The Naked and Famous, rising siblings Broods, folk singer Tiny Ruins, Australian-based R&B singer Stan Walker, rock performer Liam Finn, roots act House of Shem and singer-songwriter Tama Waipara. Lorde’s producer, Joel Little, was awarded two of the three technical awards given out at the nominations event. Nineties funk-rock band Supergroove, which won six Tuis (as the awards are called) in 1995 and 1996, were handed the Legacy Award for its role in shaping the New Zealand music industry.

After spawning half a dozen hits from their debut album Traction, the band broke up in 1997 and reunited in 2007. During that time singer Che Fu landed a number of chart toppers and is considered a pioneer of the country’s hip-hop and Pasifika music.

Supergroove will be inducted into the NZ Hall of Fame.

The New Zealand Music Awards ceremony is Nov.20 at Auckland’s Vector Arena and broadcast live on Four channel. Performances will come from Tiny Ruins, singer-songwriter Benny Tipene, alt-metal band Blacklistt, Sol3 Mio, Vector Arena and David Dallas.