Birds of Tokyo, Mitch Tambo and ILLY will perform at the ACRAS

ARIA award-winning rock band Birds of Tokyo will perform live at the Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAS) on Saturday, October 29, when the event returns for the first time in three years.

First Nations entertainer Mitch Tambo and hip hop artist ILLY will be joining them on the night.

Nearly 1,000 guests are expected to attend the black-tie event at the International Convention Centre in Sydney to recognise achievements across radio, entertainment, music, news, talk, sport and podcasting. 

Formed in Perth, Birds of Tokyo won fans across the country with songs like ‘Lanterns’ and ‘Plans’, and have amassed 200,000 plays on radio across 35 songs in the last five years alone, hitting an audience of over one billion. They have won ARIA awards for ‘Rock Album of the Year’ and ‘Most Popular Australian Band’.

“We’re looking forward to performing at the ACRAs for our radio friends. It’s great we can finally do this in the same room together,” the band said.

Singer-songwriter Mitch Tambo first came to notice when he performed a First Nations version of the iconic John Farnham anthem ‘You’re the Voice’ on the 2019 Finale of ‘Australia’s Got Talent‘.

Aussie hip hop favourite ILLY has released six studio albums and enjoyed multiplatinum success with singles including ‘Tightrope’, ‘Papercuts’ and ‘Catch 22’. This will be his second ACRAS showing, following up on his performance in 2019 in Brisbane.

“We’re thrilled to have such a creative and diverse lineup of Australian music talent on stage to help us celebrate the return of the ACRAS, the industry is ready for a huge night,” said Ford Ennals, chief executive officer of awards organiser Commercial Radio & Audio.

The 33rd annual ACRAS will be hosted by WSFM’s Amanda Keller and Brendan Jones (Jonesy & Amanda).  

Radio stars from across the country will join the hosts on stage to present awards, including:

• Kate Ritchie, Tim Blackwell & Joel Creasey – Nova Network (NOVA Entertainment)
• Carrie Bickmore & Tommy Little – Hit Network (SCA)
• Abbie Chatfield – Hit Network (SCA)
• Ben Fordham – 2GB (Nine Radio)
• Ben Harvey and Liam Stapleton (Nova 91.9 Adelaide)
• Jimmy Smith & Nath Roye – Hit Network (SCA)
• Melissa Doyle, Cameron Daddo and Richard Wilkins – smoothfm (NOVA Entertainment)
• Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald & Michael “Wippa” Wipfli – Nova 96.9 (NOVA Entertainment)
• Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine – 4BC Brisbane (Nine Radio)
• Tanya Wilks and Steve G – Triple M Newcastle (SCA)
• Deborah Knight – 2GB (Nine Radio)
• Jon Vertigan – 3MP Melbourne (ACE Radio)
• Sofie Formica – 4BC Brisbane (Nine Radio)

The Federal Government’s Special Envoy for the Arts, Susan Templeman, will present the Best Community Service Awards.

The finalists for the Best On-Air Team award (FM) are Jonesy & Amanda (WSFM), The Kyle & Jackie O Show (KIIS 106.5), Fitzy & Wippa (Nova 96.9), Kate, Tim & Joel (Nova Network) and The Christian O’Connell Show (Gold 104.3).

The Metropolitan Best On-Air Team AM title will be a contest between FIVEaa Breakfast (David Penberthy and Will Goodings, FIVEaa, Adelaide); 3AW Breakfast with Ross Stevenson & Russel Howcroft (3AW, Melbourne) and Laurel, Gary & Mark (Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare & Mark Hine, 4KQ, Brisbane). 

2GB’s Ben Fordham and Ray Hadley are nominated for Best Talk Presenter alongside Neil Mitchell and Tom Elliott from 3AW. Mitchell is also up for best Current Affairs Presenter alongside Deborah Knight (2GB, Sydney); Luke Bona (Triple M, Sydney) and Neil Breen (4BC, Brisbane).

The ACRAS red carpet will start at 5pm AEDT on Saturday, October 29, with the awards ceremony at 6pm AEDT. The list of finalists is available here.