Vodafone Music Awards: What Taika will do at the awards

Taika Waititi. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Waititi says his job as MC will be to tell jokes and make sure audience has a good time.

There's a new host for this year's Vodafone NZ Music Awards: Taika Waititi.

On Thursday, November 19, the multi-talented director/writer/actor/comedian, best known for his films Eagle vs Shark, Boy, and What We Do In The Shadows, will entertain the audience in between award presentations, and even though he doesn't have a plan yet, he's looking forward to it.

"I've been to the awards a few times, and I always find them really fun. I've presented an award once, and I found that a lot of fun, because it's a good opportunity to be quite loose, and sort of uncensored. It's such a good crowd, a good group of people, and you can keep it light, you can keep it funny, it's not a stiff event.

"Everyone's there to have a good time. They've asked me a couple of times before [to host the event], and it's just never worked out with my schedule, but I've always been keen to do it, and this year it actually worked out timing wise."

Speaking from Hawaii where he's currently working, Waititi seems at ease with being a solo host, with the organisers clearly deciding he's got enough talent to fill the stage.

"Yeah, I don't get a Shannon [Ryan, who has co-hosted the awards in many recent years]. But I think I can do it, I think it'll be okay. The whole thing is very professionally produced, and I think my involvement, really, as with all award MCs, is to try and keep things moving along. It might sound weird coming from me, but I want to keep things fast, and not be on stage too long, so I think my job really is to make sure we get out of there in the allocated time, and also to entertain a little bit - I'll try my hardest."

He might include some of his many past characters in the show, or get some special guests involved, but mostly it'll be about the jokes.

"I think it just needs more jokes. Ceremonies need jokes. I'm not going to be too indulgent, and too full on with making it all about me, because it's not all about me, it's only 80 per cent about me! No, I think my job is to keep the train moving, I'm like the guy on the locomotive, shovelling the coal into the furnace to keep things going, while the audience gets to sit in the carriages and have drinks and have a good time."

The awards are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, and will be broadcast live on TV3 for the first time, so Waititi's aware of making it a good show, but his overarching aim is to help celebrate the music.

"I think the ceremony itself is kind of a reward for everyone involved, and it's about celebrating the fact we have a healthy music industry. The fact that we have such a wide range of artists, from mainstream, through to hip hop, and musicians who are recording in reo Maori, we really run the gamut, and it's great to celebrate how diverse our local musical artistry is."

The technical awards finalists will be announced on October 1, while the rest of the finalists, as well as this year's NZ Herald Legacy Award winner and Critics Choice finalists, will be announced on October 13.