On the 23rd November I attended the inaugural Eros Shine awards night in Melbourne. I went for a couple of reasons. One was to meet other industry people and do a bit of socialising/networking. The other was because For The Girls had been nominated for Best Website.
Alas, FTG didn’t win, although it seems we were a runner-up of sorts. The award went to Adult Voyeur, a new startup that is far more obviously Australian than us (they’ve even got an “AU” in their domain). I was happy for them and it was good to meet the guys behind it.
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The night itself was something of a mixed bag. The highlight was definitely the burlesque and strip performances which were innovative, classy and a lot of fun. Suzie Q and Toby’s trapeze act was truly breathtaking and Sina King’s quirky performance with paint was sassy. Unfortunately the Hunkmania strippers – the token “women’s entertainment” – only took their shirts off and the act resembled a boy band. I found myself longing for some real male burlesque, something not so cliched and more genuinely artistic.
The evening was let down by the compere who took every opportunity to make sexist, sniggering jokes. At one point he announced that all women over 30 were unattractive because our boobs went saggy. That’s when I got mad. He really lowered the tone of the night, a shame given that this was an attempt to showcase our professional, grown-up adult industry.
The show also featured a number of American porn star imports such as Jessica Drake and Michelle Bombshell McGee. I grabbed Jessica towards the end of the night and got a very short comment from her – as you can see on the video, the sound is atrocious. I was only using my little Cybershot camera.
Overall the event felt incredibly “mainstream” and I felt like I didn’t belong there. Australia has made a name overseas as the place for realistic, natural, alternative porn but there was no hint of that at the awards night. Maybe next year will be more inclusive.
In any case, have a look at the vid. I’ve tried to highlight the performances and give an idea of just how impressive they were.
Here’s another view of the night by filmmaker Gina Hanrahan.
Hi there, great to read your blog on the Eros shine awards. I would love to talk with you about the authenticity of the the voting for this…I question why it is that every year the boardroom manages to win this? Is there some kind of pay off going on here. I have many questions please feel free to email me.
Bisou bisou sienna
Everyone I talked to who was involved with the event emphasised how much effort they’d put into the voting and making sure it was above board. I wasn’t really aware that there were other award nights before this. I’ve really been out of the loop with the Australian industry for most of the time I’ve been working online. So much of it is meatworld based.