The winners of the 2008 ARIA Awards, proudly presented by Motorola, have been announced and pop and electronic dance music have ruled the day in the form of multiple winners GABRIELLA CILMI and THE PRESETS. They join an eclectic group of ARIA Award recipients who include THE LIVING END, KASEY CHAMBERS and SHANE NICHOLSON, NICK CAVE and GEOFFREY GURRUMUL YUNUPINGU, THE PANICS and BLISS N’ ESO, among others.

In what is an extraordinary success story, vocal powerhouse GABRIELLA CILMI, a pop singer who had yet to emerge on the Australian music landscape this time last year, has taken out an incredible 6 ARIA Awards on the back of her debut album, Lessons To Be Learned, and her breakthrough smash hit single, Sweet About Me. The Melbourne-born, London-based Cilmi has received ARIA Awards in the categories of BEST FEMALE ARTIST, BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST – SINGLE (Sweet About Me), BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST – ALBUM (Lessons to be Learned), BEST POP RELEASE (Lessons to be Learned), HIGHEST SELLING SINGLE (Sweet About Me) and the coveted ARIA Award for SINGLE OF THE YEAR for Sweet About Me. With the world at her feet, GABRIELLA CILMI’s ARIA Awards triumph is nothing short of a phenomenal achievement for the Dandenong girl who has just celebrated her 17th birthday.

Electronic duo THE PRESETS has also had a cracking year with the release of their widely acclaimed second album Apocalypso. They fought off stiff competition in the prestigious categories of ALBUM OF THE YEAR and BEST GROUP to take out both for the hugely popular Apocalypso. The album has also seen THE PRESETS receive the pointy trophy in the category of BEST DANCE RELEASE taking their tally to 3 ARIA Awards (plus 2 ARIA Artisan Awards, including Producer of the Year for Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes). The self-produced Apocalypso, which spawned the gritty hit single My People, has sealed THE PRESETS as Australia’s premiere electronic act.
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