NZ music awards announced

The Checks, Opensouls, Stan Walker, David Dallas, Phoenix Foundation and Gin Wigmore all took away Tuis.

Gin Wigmore and Stan Walker might have been the major winners of the
2010 New Zealand Music Awards tonight but it was still a night of surprises across the categories.

At the Tuis which are sponsored by Vodafone and held at Vector Arena, Wigmore came away with four awards - album of the year for her debut Holy Smoke, as well as breakthrough artist of the year, best pop album and highest selling LP.

Australian Idol winner Walker also won four, mainly from the popular vote with the people's choice, airplay record of the year, highest selling single and international achievement awards.

But Kids of 88 and Anika Moa stopped a Wigmore clean-sweep. Auckland pop duo Kids of 88 took out best single for Just a Little Bit which also won director Tim Van Dammen the video prize.

Relative veteran Moa pipped Wigmore in the solo female artist category.

Losing out to Wigmore in most of the other categories he was nominated in, pop guy Dane Rumble was able to grab the Tui for best male solo artist.

Among the bands, Wellington's the Phoenix Foundation added best group to their three earlier technical prizes for album Buffalo but lost out to The Checks's Alice By The Moon for best rock album, helping make it, with Wigmore's wins, a big night for acts from Auckland's North Shore.

Auckland retro-soul outfit The Open Souls took away the Aotearoa roots album prize while Bulletproof won the electronica album for his recent dubstep LP Soundtrack to Forever over higher-profile acts Shapeshifter and P-Money.

The ceremony finished with Shihad receiving the New Zealand Herald Legacy Award and being inducted into the NZ Music Hall of Fame in recognition of their years as a dominant and influential force in Kiwi rock.