So the ARIA Awards, huh… Where to start!?

“An evening of epic proportions” just doesn’t do it justice… November 26, 2009 certainly was the Day of The Empire, but did someone say ROBBIE WILLIAMS, and Keith Urban too!?

So I can’t deny the red carpet was fun (PS keep an eye out for our own Jukebox from Hell’s Darryl B escorting Robbie Williams down the red rug), the performances were breathtaking (check out the on-stage pyrotechnics during Walking On A Dream), and the afterparty went past dawn… but the real highlights of the evening were Empire of the Sun cleaning up every major award of the night. That makes a total of seven ARIA awards, including Artisans, for Emperor Steele and Lord Littlemore.

Emperor Steele represented Empire of the Sun to accept all four awards on the evening, thanking Lord Littlemore, Donnie Sloan, Pete Lusty, Luke’s stunning wife Snappy Dolphin, his parents, all us at EMI (high fives all around!), and the incredible creative team behind Empire, including Mathematics and Debaser. Check out all of Emperor Steele’s awards speeches below:

Robbie Williams‘ performance of Bodies blew the roof off, as did his brown leather brogues and self-confessed dad robot dance moves. Young ladies screamed appropriately:

And don’t forget you can, for the first time, purchase and download the 2009 ARIA Awards live performances from Robbie, Keith, the Temper Trap, Lisa Mitchell, Kate Miller-Heidke, Sarah Blasko, Ladyhawke, the Hilltop Hoods, and Jess Mauboy’s  fromthe Australian iTunes Store. All the proceeds from the sale of the live digital tracks will be donated Youth Beyond Blue, the youth arm of beyond blue: the national depression initiative.

Congratulations to all the winners and our nominees Paul Dempsey, Bob Evans, JET, The Cat Empire, Bindi Irwin, and Rodney Rude.

LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!