“Daham is daham, isn’t it?” Presenter Conchita Wurst was happy about the return of the event to the Volkstheater in Vienna. At the 22nd edition, singer Josh and rapper RAF Camora were the winners of the evening.
Even before things really got going, Willi Resetarits, who died on Sunday, received a well-deserved tribute from the presenter: He had always worked for those disadvantaged in life and “truly loved” musicians. When saying goodbye, the drag queen recalled the words that Resetarits used to address to the audience after their concerts: “Be careful and don’t lose anything.” As part of a quartet that also consisted of Ernst Molden, Hannes Wirth and Walther Soyka, “Ostbahn Kurti” was awarded the posthumously amadeus in the Jazz/World/Blues section.
Prizes for Josh and RAF Camora
Five nominations turned into three awards for Josh. “Expresso & Tschianti”, in which he played tricks with the Italian language, ended up being song of the year and also made Josh and Co the songwriters of the year. The singer was visibly touched at the award ceremony: “I have to be careful not to cry, but this year I can do it.” He wasn’t able to do it on his own, he was sure and, like many others after him, thanked his audience and team. Many women were nominated, it was said before the award for songwriting. In the end, the award went to Josh, who at least wrote “Expresso & Tschianti” with Tamara Olorga and Ricardo Bettiol. And he was also able to take home the award in the pop/rock category. However, this was already known, as the organizers published the genre winners bit by bit before the gala for the first time.
Rapper RAF Camora also had every reason to be happy – he is the second artist to win more than one award: With the words “Simmering greets Rudolfsheim”, Marco Pogo presented the award for the best album to RAF Camora and his record “Zukunft” . He was happy – referring to the Turbobier frontman’s comparison that albums are like babies – about “having children and being able to make a living from them”. The rapper also took home one in the Hip Hop/Urban category amadeus away.
FM4 award to “Cari Cari”
In addition to the winners for Album, Song and Songwriter of the Year, the FM4 Award and Live Act of the Year remained secret in the run-up to the gala. “That’s what it’s about – real and direct emotions,” said Wurst. As in 2019, Sportfreunde Stiller awarded the prize for the best live act to the singing and cabaret duo Pizzera & Jaus. The two could not come to the Volkstheater and thanked them via video instead.
The indie rockers Cari Cari received the FM4 award, which previously went to today’s big Austrian bands such as Wanda and Bilderbuch. They immediately took up guitar, synthesizer and tambourine and played their recently released song “Zdarlight 1992”. And others weren’t just on stage to give and receive prizes: Feel-good sounds struck Josh with “Von dir ein Tattoo” and Folkshilfe with “Hau di her”, softer tones were there, for example, with Ina Regen’s “Wie du” listen.
Lifetime Achievement Award to Boris Bukowski
In the alternative category, the Graz band Granada sat down for the first time in the amadeus Awards, in the Schlager/folk music category Melissa Naschenweng won her fourth amadeus. Other prizes went to the electro duo Klangkarussell in the Electronic/Dance category and the band Turbobier in the Hard & Heavy category. The best sound of the year can be heard on the record “Honeymoon Phase” by singer Oska. Alex Pohn, Lukas Hillebrand and Patrick Kummeneker were responsible for recording and mixing.
Boris Bukowski was awarded for his life’s work – he follows the “Live is Life” creators Opus. The musician, born in 1946, celebrated success with the band Magic 69 (later Magic) and from 1970 delivered solo hits such as “Kokain” or “Your Fritze mit der Syringe”. Thomas Spitzer joked that he was eternally grateful for rejecting a pre-form of the EAV hit “Hoisse Nights (in Palermo)” before handing over the prize to Bukowski “quite rightly”. “Is there life before death?” During a performance after the award ceremony, he asked himself what the award-winning musicians would probably answer with an enthusiastic “yes”.
Source: Nachrichten
