Taika Waititi divides audience as music awards host

Presenter Taika Waititi on stage at the Vodafone NZ Music Awards at the Vector Arena, Auckland. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Broods were the undisputed winners at the New Zealand Music Awards but host Taika Waititi has divided viewers, with many criticising his "unprofessional" performance.

The acclaimed Boy director is known for his quick wit and dry sense of humour,
and many hoped he would bring a breath of fresh air to the event.

Hosts in recent years have included Dai Henwood, Ben Boyce and Shannon Ryan.

But an abundance of penis jokes and Waititi's belligerent attitude didn't go down well with some viewers.

"Found Taika very unprofessional tonight," read one tweet, while another Twitter user said they were "so gutted" at how little they were enjoying his act.

Taika you dick. Mind you, Dom and Dai are so much worse. Maybe get some women to run things next year. #VNZMA

— Mark Cubey (@markcubey) November 19, 2015

Twitter user Grace picked up on the overwhelmingly negative response to Waititi's hosting job, sarcastically tweeting: "From what I gather, Taika did a superb job last night and you all can't wait to have him back next year."

Some questioned whether Waititi was following a script, but despite an array of odd anecdotes - including one about Teuila Blakely giving him a poo wrapped in a banana leaf for his birthday - he did manage a few successful one-liners.

"It's New Zealand - if you win, we hate you," he joked at the start of the night.

And perhaps he really was ad-libbing the whole night. "I'm not reading off this piece of paper at all, I just really like it," he said at one point, staring at a cue card.

Opera trio Sol3 Mio were the surprise hit of the night, charming audiences with their light hearted banter when accepting their award for highest-selling album and when presenting an award later in the evening.

Some suggested they might be a better bet for host of next year's event.

Well the #VNZMA kept up with the tradition of being really awkward and not funny 😂 Thank god for @SOL3MIO !! Ya'll are hilarious

— Kaylie (@KaylieGarden) November 19, 2015

Solo mio stole the show - they should present next year #VNZMA

— Ross Churchouse (@RossChurchouse) November 19, 2015

- nzherald.co.nz