The stars were out in force at the New Zealand Music Awards last night (heck, Paul Holmes even made an appearance in a stunning white suit!) but the clear winners were Auckland rockers, The Mint Chicks, and soul songstress, Hollie Smith.

Minty fresh winners
Alternative rock group, The Mint Chicks are the “rocky, poppy” musical vehicle of brothers Kody and Ruban Nielson. They outshone other NZ music stars Brooke Fraser, Hollie Smith, Evermore and Opshop to win the Album of the Year Tui for their well-received second album Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!. The Mint Chicks also won accolades for Best Group and Best Rock Album, as well as a Best Video nod for the album’s title song.

Soul songstress wins…finally
The velvety tones of Wellington soul singer, Hollie Smith, were enough to bring her the coveted Best Female Solo Artist, Breakthrough Artist and Best Aotearoa-Roots Album for her work on debut album Long Player. Smith’s 2007 winnings should more than make up for 2006, when she was strangely overlooked in the Single of the Year category for her popular and spine-tingling rendition of Don McGlashan’s Bathe In The River.

Evermore, Brooke Fraser and Opshop join the ranks
Single of the Year award went to Evermore for Light Surrounding You. They also claimed the International Achievement Award (originally from Feilding, they now call Oz home) for their single, which rose to top spot in the Australian singles charts. It was the first New Zealand song to do so in ten years!

Opshop was the winner with the masses, taking out the People’s Choice Award as voted by the New Zealand public. Brooke Fraser also got a vote of confidence from New Zealanders, winning the Highest Selling Album award for Albertine and the Airplay award for her song Deciphering Me.

For more great Kiwi tunes, check out our New Zealand music section.