Kiwi band The Checks are up for the New Zealand Artist Award.
After years of claiming New Zealand artists as their own, Australia's music industry will finally have to acknowledge our leading musicians for the true blue Kiwis they are.
Nominations for next month's MTV Australia Awards were announced this morning, and amidst the international line up, there is a
special New Zealand Artist award.
Opshop, Scribe, The Mint Chicks, Atlas and The Checks are all in contention for the prize, which will be announced at the awards ceremony in Sydney on April 26.
The award is a viewer voted category and fans can vote online from now until April 25, at mtv.co.nz.
Amidst the usual awards for Music Video of the Year and Best Live Performance, are two more obscure categories - the Good Karma Award and Bad Karma Award.
The Good Karma Award acknowledges organisations and campaigns that have raised awareness for worthy causes, including Movember for prostate cancer and the Sea Shepherd Crew for their efforts to stop whaling.
But perhaps the most curious award is the Bad Karma Award, which sees one man sweep the category with four nominations.
Australian politician Kevin Andrews, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, earned the wrath of the MTV generation last year when he refused rapper Snoop Dogg entry into the country.
He is also nominated for for saying, "He doesn't seem the sort of bloke we want in this country", for defining bad hair days and "for all of the above, especially the hair, and the Snoop Dogg thing".
The MTV Australia Awards 2008 will air on MTV, on Monday, April 28 at 7pm.
- NZHERALD STAFF
